The Islanders

“When an elderly person dies, a library vanishes,” says a Mozambican proverb.

There are centuries of history among the island’s coral stone town and macuti (palm leaf) huts, with stories that need to be told, but this time by the people and not by the historians.

Moira says she wanted to capture their lives and memories, to pay homage to them and give them a name and a voice before it was too late. ‘Through their words and my photographs I could understand a little about their struggle and their frustrations. The more I got to know them the more determined I became. At first there were many more women eager to talk about their lives than men. Most of the men were away, working to support the family. Sadly, in some ways quite broken from their hard life. I found the women surprisingly free to talk about their lives, their conquests and their proud seductive powers. The cross-mixing of families, sometimes intermarriage for opportunistic economic reasons, kept these families linked and protected. I discovered that black, white and Indian marry and have children. Muslim mothers accept Christian sons-in-law and daughters who convert to Catholicism for opportunistic reasons.’

The island people are proud and love their ‘Ilha’ and their way of life and culture. This book shares their passion and is a tribute to Ilha’s special, resilient, warm people.