Mrs. ID

The Ministry of Education now requires 10th graders sitting for national exams to have some sort of photo ID to verify who they are. Out here in rural Mozambique it’s rare for a student to even have a birth certificate, so most of our kids don’t have anything official with their name on it. Many kids don’t even have an official spelling for their name, which makes alphabetizing anything difficult since a name like Xababe can also appear as Chababi. Official ID cards cost 200mets, about 6$, and can only be made in the city, over 100kms away. The process requires two trips, one to order the ID and another trip three weeks later to receive it, and the ID office is not open on the weekends. Plus, you need two mugshots, something else that can only be done in the city, so that requires yet another trip. Transport to and from the city costs about $6, even if you hitch on a semi, so it adds up and discourages most of our students from getting the fancy government cards. Last year our school’s solution was to have Janet, our resident computer whiz (haha), make student ID cards for the 10th graders without any ID. This basically involved taking pictures and inserting them into a little word document template Janet designed, and printing them, off six per page on some green card stock. We charged 10 mets each, about 25 cents US, to cover the costs and make a little extra for the school. The IDs were so popular and lucrative that this year the school director told every student to get one. Janet heard about this during the morning assembly, so no, she wasn’t consulted on how feasible this would be or how many extra hours she would have to put in to make it happen. Of course, everyone wants one of these little pieces of colored paper with their printed name and picture and an official school stamp; we’ve even had non-students asking about them, so over 350 people showed up. As this is one of the few times students are photographed, and indeed for some it is the first time ever, this turned into a big deal with some students even showing up in ties and jackets. Luc tried to collect money and biometric data from the hundreds of students, and maintain some sort of line so that each individual could stand in front of the white backside of the school digestive system poster we hung in front of the computer lab as Janet snapped away with her little camera. Of course every bystander crowded around her trying to catch a glimpse of the camera’s digital screen, and inevitably laughed at every one of their classmates’ portraits. The 25 cents are funds desperately needed by our cash-strapped school and we’re always glad to help when we can, but it is a major logistical hassle, especially during finals week!