Since the beginning of our presence in Maputo, the Community has given importance to its actions in the social field. In a context marked by serious problems, which are common for many poor areas of the big cities, we operate at the service of the weakest ones with special attention to children and adolescents. We believe in the importance of conveying good values and preventing social risks. It’s a continual aim of ours to help people be the protagonists of the growth of the communities where they live. Our programs aim to put people at the center, to enhance their talents, giving opportunities for development and fostering each person to play an active role in building a more fair and fraternal society.
Ongoing Projects
The Daily Center For Children: The Tree of Life
Every day at the entrance to The Three of Life, children are welcomed by a signboard with the colorful writing “Você é especial”, which means “You are special”.
Children are the ones most affected by poverty in our mission in Maputo. To cope with the high rate of malnutrition, the deficiency of the public school systems, and the worrying situations many families have to deal with (school dropout, violence, alcoholism, drugs, etc.), the Missionary Community of Villaregia is implementing projects aimed to support the littlest ones.
For this reason The Tree of Life children’s center was built, providing children with daily school courses, a healthy and nutritious diet, and medical and social assistance. Thanks to the construction of three nutritional centers, classrooms and the launch of Portuguese and mathematics courses, every year around 250 children are welcomed into an environment that guarantees them balanced growth and lots of affection.
Alcina is 26 years old and, with many sacrifices, she managed to achieve the qualification that allows her to work as an educator at the children’s center since 2012.
“I am very happy to work here. This project is a great help for the children, but also for me. Thanks to the work I do here, I can contribute to the household expenses of my family and I finished my college course. I often meet on the street the parents of the children who attend the educational activities we organize: they thank us for what we do, for the possibility the project offers to their children to learn to read and write, in view of a better future.”
Women Empowerment
Central figures of each house and family, women represent the face of hope for Mozambique, characterized by an enviable tenacity and strength. Our Community wants to give a prominent place in its human promotion activities to women, providing various initiatives such as literacy for the women in the workforce and better family conditions for pregnant women. Included in these initiative is a desire to help the women cultivate and sell moringa, and healthier practices for mothers with babies – including breastfeeding and a time for maternity leave.
Women Literacy
Flora is one of 180 women enrolled in the literacy courses in the past two years. She usually wears her hair gathered on her shoulders and dresses with the inevitable capulana covering her skirt. She always comes with her son, Victor, age 10, who attends The Tree of Life children’s center.
“When I was a child I hadn’t the opportunity to go to school. Now I am attending the literacy course and I am learning many things: Portuguese, mathematics. It’s very important for me. I hope this project will continue and won’t stop. It is important to help other mothers, other parents who cannot even read and write, who cannot do anything”.
Paolina, 37 years-old, is an educator and social worker. She started working in the literacy project first as a volunteer and later as an employee.
“My life has been totally transformed thanks to this project. My knowledge has increased and I have learned to stay and work with children and adults. Thanks to the salary I have received, I completed my studies and built my house.”
The Natural Pharmacy
In the district of San Teodosio, in the northern part of the mission, there is a natural pharmacy promoted and supported by the Community, an initiative which enhances the traditional knowledge of the healing properties of plants. There moringa – a plant rich in proteins, iron and vitamins – is processed and then used for both its healing and nutritional properties.
Three women beat the leaves with energy, leaves which then become powder distributed in small bags. The pharmacy also provides creams for wounds and burns, aloe, cough syrup, ginger oil and various preparations, including those for intestinal problems.
The Community Gardens
At the entrance of the three community gardens supported by the Community, there is a sign written in Ronga, “Mamana wa wutomi” (meaning “Mother of life”). Vegetables of different kinds are cultivated and grow to improve the nutrition of the children involved in the education activities provided by the children’s centers.
“When we arrived in Boquisso, one of the northernmost neighborhoods of our mission, there was only grass, a few scattered houses, not even a sandy road,” tells Annamaria Teobaldi, the missionary who has first promoted the idea of the community gardens.
In the gardens people now cultivate salads, carrots, tomatoes, beets, strawberries and cove (a local vegetable rich in iron), vegetables which are cooked and distributed to the children who daily attend the nutrition centers.
The community gardens also have the purpose of transmitting to the women of the neighborhood an education on organic farming and the techniques useful to make the local sandy soil productive with a little use of water, a good which is scarce during several months of the year.
Thanks to this training, the participants are provided with the skills to create family gardens close to their homes, providing significant benefits for the nutrition of their family members. More than 20 family gardens have been started in the past two years.
Soccer Project
The shoes of Alexandre, a 8-year-old boy who runs without ever stopping on the clay football pitch, are always full of sand. Vinu likes standing between the goalposts built with two pieces of wood. Leonel loves wearing Messi’s shirt, while Genito wrote “Ronaldo” and the number 7 on the back of his faded white undershirt.
There are 70 children and young people, ages 6 to 17, who gather on Saturday afternoon to play football in the courtyard of the Cumbeza center. It is the soccer project promoted by the missionaries to offer an opportunity of sportsmanship and teamwork, keeping them safe from the risks of the street.
“I would like to become a professional player,” says Genito, 13, striker, “I’m here to play with my friends and to make my dream come true. My favorite player? Bale.”
“We want to offer these guys the opportunity to have fun and stay together,” explains Bernardo, a Mozambican missionary who manages the project with coaches Geraldes and Elio, “while also giving them the chance of human formation, involving these children and young people in meetings during which we talk about various topics such as the importance of school education, sharing, friendship, and values. Children are happy to come to the center to play and stay together, thus they have the opportunity to meet with their friends. They are also given the opportunity to participate in some tournaments, which are opportunities to discover new talents.”
