Interview with Aurélio Manave
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Interview with Aurélio Manave http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.machel0005 Use of the Aluka digital library is subject to Aluka’s Terms and Conditions, available at http://www.aluka.org/page/about/termsConditions.jsp. By using Aluka, you agree that you have read and will abide by the Terms and Conditions. Among other things, the Terms and Conditions provide that the content in the Aluka digital library is only for personal, non-commercial use by authorized users of Aluka in connection with research, scholarship, and education. The content in the Aluka digital library is subject to copyright, with the exception of certain governmental works and very old materials that may be in the public domain under applicable law. Permission must be sought from Aluka and/or the applicable copyright holder in connection with any duplication or distribution of these materials where required by applicable law. Aluka is a not-for-profit initiative dedicated to creating and preserving a digital archive of materials about and from the developing world. For more information about Aluka, please see http://www.aluka.org Interview with Aurélio Manave Author/Creator Manave, Aurélio (interviewee); de Carvalho, Sol (inteviewer) Contributor Filipe, Eléusio dos P.V. (translator) Date 2003 Resource type Interviews Language English Subject Coverage (spatial) Mozambique, Tanzania, United Republic of Coverage (temporal) 1936 - 1975 Source Samora Machel Documentation Center Rights By kind permission of Anibal and Aurelia Manave, and the Samora Machel Documentation Centre (SARDC). Description This interview with Aurélio Manave, a long-time friend of Samora Machel who served as director of FRELIMO health programs during the armed struggle, covers their early time together as nurses in the colonial medical system in Maputo (then Lourenço Marques), as well as descriptions of their escapes from Mozambique to exile in Tanzania, and early years of the armed struggle. http://www.aluka.org/action/showMetadata?doi=10.5555/AL.SFF.DOCUMENT.machel0005 http://www.aluka.org Interview with Aurélio Manave Translated from the Portuguese by Eléusio dos P.V. Filipe, Doctoral Candidate in Spanish & Portuguese, University of Minnesota Reviewed by Jim Johnson, Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change, U of MN Mr. Manave, can you tell us a little bit about your life? Where were you born? Where did you work? How did you join [the liberation struggle]? How did you meet Samora Machel? Yes, I was born on 21 February 1936 in the locality of Massiene, in the administrative post of Chongoene, district of Xai-Xai, Gaza province. I grew up there and I attended primary school in the same area. I finished the third grade of complementary education as they called it. Blacks students had to attend primary school designed for blacks called indigenous education (ensino indígena) and then they had to attend primary school called complimentary education (ensino complimentar). So, on average black students had to attend 6 years of primary education. Then, I came to complete my fourth grade in Lourenço Marques in 1949. Since then, I never left this city. I grew up, and after I had finished fourth grade, I took the admission exams. I wanted to continue with my studies; I wanted to go to secondary school [liceu] or to commercial school where it is now called industrial school along 24 de Julho Avenue. During that time, the school was called Escola Técnica Sá da Bandeira [Technical School Sá da Bandeira]. After finishing my fourth grade and the admission exams, I went back to Massiene where I went to work at Tipografia Anglicana of the Anglican Church [typography of the Anglican Church]. That’s where I started to work; I worked in the printing-office as a typographer and compositor. I left the typography in the end of 1951 when I was admitted at the Railways Company. I had a contract with the railways company; then, I came back to the city to work at Lourenço Marques Railways Company. I worked there as … what did they call it? Yes, I worked as overseer in the Exploration Division[Divisão de Exploração]. I worked there for some months and the engineer João Filipe with whom I worked became interested in my work and hired me to work as overseer in the projects that he had outside the company. But I was still an employee of the railways company. That’s the way they did things. I went to live in his residence; I was given a place in those railways company houses. I stayed there and continued working for the company. But I was not very interested in that type of job. Since I was a young boy, I always wanted to work in a hospital and take care of people. I liked to work in the health services. In 1952, while still working for the company, I also went to work at the local office of the Jornal Diário de Moçambique [daily newspaper] in the afternoons. I was not a railways company employee, I worked in the projects of engineer João Filipe and he allowed me to find another part time employment. So, I worked in the afternoons in the local office of the Jornal Diário de Moçambique. At the same time, I prepared the paperwork to submit to the Direcção dos Serviços de Saúde [Directorate of Health Services] so that I could attend the school of nursing in 1952. I succeeded in getting all the paperwork and I submitted them. The result came out in February; I think the results were released in February and I was invited in March. I was one of the first to be called because I was one of the top students on the list. So, I went to the school of nursing in 1953. That’s how I got into nursing school. I attended the two year course; the first year was in 1953 and the second year of the supplementary course [curso auxiliar] was in 1954. That’s where I met comrade President Samora. Had Samora been admitted earlier? He had been admitted earlier. As I said, he would have finished his course in 1953. Since he complained a lot and wanted to be respected and didn’t allow himself to be looked down upon by his teachers and professors, he ended up failing and his fellow colleagues and friends moved ahead. Some of them include Mondlane and Ernesto Lemos. They were from the same class. António Mondlane works at the laboratory of chemical analysis. They all started together, but he failed. Instead of passing his course in 1953, he finished the course in 1954 with me and other students. As I said he was the top student in the assistant course [curso auxiliar]. Did he have problems with his teacher in particular or did he just complain a lot? He complained a lot. He always complained. He complained about real issues and he thought that things were not going in the right direction. He also complained about the nurses. The nurses were required to produce annual reports about the students who worked with them and students would pass or fail because of the content of such reports. So, in our school the nurses said, “Ah, that’s a stubborn and recalcitrant student … “ and they added other damaging information on him. There were some occasions when physicians wanted to hit him with an x-ray plate and he held and shook their hands. He didn’t hesitate a second. This behavior made some people afraid of him. But this attitude also had effects on his course. How did he react when he failed the course? He was not affected because he was confident that he knew as much as his fellow students. He knew that tests were not the only thing which would make him pass or fail. In fact, tests were not the only way to evaluate students. We had theory and practical lessons. We would go to the hospital to work with physicians in assisting patients. This was our practical experience which was not difficult at all. It didn’t last long to learn to do the job. However, it took more time to learn the theoretical issues. So, getting the practical experience was faster than learning the theory. He knew that his fellow students had passed, but he also knew that they were not better than he was. Since he wanted to finish his training as a nurse, he was patient enough to repeat the same course in the following year. It was under these circumstances, and when I passed my first year class, I ended up attending the second year course with Samora Machel who was repeating the same course. I was in my first year of nursing school between 1953 and 1954. So, it was in 1954 when Samora and I attended the same class. Since he knew everything, it was easy for him to pass the course and he became the top student in the class. He didn’t have any other problems. The teachers were not bitter with him anymore. In fact, they didn’t hold any hate or grudges against students. Since he had proved to know what they taught him, they passed him. [Question:……..} Yes he developed. I was a member of the group where Samora was the boss. He was the boss of the group that also included António Mondlane, and the late Salvador Machaieie. They were much older, and I was the youngest. The group also included Francisco Mutambe, Alberto Mapapá and Sebastião Cuna. We all belonged to the same group in the dorm.