What does a dollar buy you in Mozambique?

What does a dollar buy you in Mozambique?

I gasped when I read the prompt from blogging abroad challenge on the topic for this week’s post; it is money. Money is a touchy topic, isn’t it? I am going to assume that 9 out of 10 of my readers are nodding yes. We all could use a bit more money to complete something or to purchase some wanted item. Now I am one that doesn’t think the world revolves around money, I think that our cultures often distort the value of money, and mine (American) is guilty of valuing tangible materials too high. The American culture has this wacky ambition to make as much money as possible, often our lives are unbalanced and those things need to balance it out can’t be purchased – like time. 

Sorry I got off the topic.That is there.  Here in Mozambique people are rich with time but need more money just for the basics.

What can you buy here for one dollar? Nothing.  The ladies at the market don’t take dollars.  They work for meticais. Okay so I will convert the costs from meticais to dollars and you will be surprised how inexpensive items are.  Let’s do food, a simple basic necessity that everyone can relate to.

Dust off your micro-economic books and remember the simple supply and demand theory; the price of the good is balanced with how many items there are and how many people want to buy it. Now, I live in an agricultural area and homes have enough land to grow produce to sell it at the market – supply is high; costs are relatively low.

COMMMON FOOD ITEMS	US $
3 mangos	$       0.25
1/2 dz rolls	$       0.75
1/2 dozen eggs	$       1.00
can of tuna	$       1.00
box of spaghetti	$       0.50
1 lb plum tomatoes	$       0.25
1 lb onions	$       0.25
bunch of green herbs	$       0.25
2 red apples imported	$       1.00
1 avocado	$       0.10
4 romaine lettuce  heads	$       0.25
1 lb of brown sugar	$       0.85
1 lb of sweet potatoes	$       0.50

Pretty inexpensive, right? Now that you have an idea of the cost converted into dollars, but people don’t make dollars here.  Therefore, it is inequitable information, unless you were eating in Mozambique.  Let’s see how much it costs my co-worker:

·         Employee of the Federal Health Care System

·         Equivalent to having an associate’s degree in nursing (LPN)

·         His income is $1,990 per year – 3x more than the gross  national statistics ($660)

·         His weekly income is approx. $45

DIET OF ONE DAY EST.
3 fruits	$        0.25
bread roll	$        0.05
3 eggs	$        0.25
Chicken & rice dinner	$        2.00
day total	$        2.55
av. week	$      17.85
wks income	$       45.00
% of income just on food	40%

In this simple scenario comparing the cost of living with this higher-income is alarming.

It is difficult for me to fathom how the unemployed / under-educated families survive. I see the results of low-literacy and malnutrition every day. Intuition tells me with continued training, influence, and foreign investments this generation of children will yield the results that we are all striving for. 

Let's hope I'm right.  http://bloggingabroad.org/blog-challenge