I've found the toughest job in the world

And no it’s not yours. Or even mine (quite the opposite actually—mine’s amazing). Here in Mozambique the main form of transportation is a chapa. There’s a previous blog about my first experience that you can refer to for a refresher. Basically it’s a 12-15 passenger van that at a minimum 19 people get shoved in. Seriously, the chapa will not leave without at least 19 people on it. On average it’s about 22 people in this van. Over Christmas I heard of a new record from Derek of 32 adults, 8 children and 2 chickens (apparently people were sitting out the windows, unbelievable!!). Each seat has 4 people. Rows 1-3 have a flip up seat that can create an aisle for when someone from the back has to get out. I am now a pro at chapa maneuvers which are key so that half the van doesn’t have to empty out to get someone out of the back seat. It’s cramped and my American sense of personal space is out the window, trust me.
Back on subject—the hardest job in the world is the job of the Cobrador (or trocador as Audrey likes to say which is only funny if you live in Moz/know Portuguese—sorry America). There’s the driver of the chapa who actually drives and the cobrador is like his assistant. He signals the driver to pull over to get people or let people off; he does really intricate hand signals to see if any of the ton of people standing on the side of the road need to get on that chapa; he keeps track of where people got on and where there getting off to charge them the correct amount; he can keep track of who has or has not paid. And he does all this generally without a seat (meaning his standing up leaning over the majority of the day). Sometimes if the front row is really packed and you’ll see a chapa heading down the road with the sliding door open and the cobrador just hanging completely outside the vehicle. Emily told me of a cobrador on a 5 hour bus she was on who sat on the curved bar that opens and closes the door the entire time. And SLEPT. In Moatize over Christmas we took a lot of chapas around town, and they just amazed me. I don’t think they get the credit (or most likely the salary) they deserve.