Kidnapping

Yesterday, there was a terrible event in our town: the young son of a Nampula family was kidnapped at gunpoint right outside of his house while on his way to school. This family was certainly targeted because they are very wealthy, and a ransom of about $8,000 has been asked. This is a huge sum for people here, though this family is doubtless able to pay. Apparently the same thing happened in another big town last year, and although the money was paid, the child was not returned and has not been seen since.

I feel terrible for this family and hope and pray that they get their son back unharmed. The whole situation makes me very nervous for my family as well, since we are perceived to be wealthy since we are white, and American. The car we drive is the same make as the one the president drives (though ours is 15 years old, it looks much newer than that) and we live in a much larger house than your average Mozambican. Here, unfortunately, “white” equals “rich” and although it is true that we are much wealthier than your average Mozambican, our bank balance is still not very high. It is often frustrating to us to be perceived as limitlessly wealthy, and we know it is frustrating to local people here sometimes that we don’t give out more money.

Anyway, we just have to hope that none of the missionaries here will be targeted by this kind of crime. It is the first kidnapping for ransom that we have heard of in Nampula, though in the capital of Mozambique it has been happening for some time. We hope that this is not the start of a crime wave of this type.

I was speaking to a Mozambican about this event yesterday, and he said “Now you know how we feel. Black people are kidnapped all the time, and their families never see them again.” There are foreigners (other Africans, mostly) who “steal” people in Nampula (and in other places) and sell them as slaves, sending them to other countries. Stories are circulating about people stolen during the night when they went out of their house to use the bathroom, and about children who are stolen in the middle of the daytime. I’m not sure how many of these stories are just rumors, because there are lots of rumors also about how white people eat black children, and how much human trafficking actually does go on. I have seen statistics, though, that do show that trafficking does come through Mozambique, whether it is people stolen from other parts of Africa and brought through Moz on the way to somewhere else, or people stolen from Moz I don’t know.

How will I protect my family? Mostly just pray. Also we don’t leave the kids unattended, or allow them to be escorted around town by local people, who are much more likely to be assaulted. It seems unfair that there is yet one more thing to have to be on our guard against, when there is so much already! But we are thankful that we live in a secure home and have people to watch out for us. - C