Gilé, Mozambique. The second semester of this year began a little differently for 550 children in Nampula and Gilé, in Mozambique. They had a special lunch, organized by the Claretian Solidarity project, to celebrate the Children’s Week, which was held in several parishes and communities.
Sister Maria Imaculada de Oliveira, who is one of the project’s worker and leader of several local pastorals, visiting patients and providing emotional support to families, says that the children themselves decided the dishes that would be on the lunch menu.
“We asked them what they would like to have for the Children’s Week lunch. They said they wanted ‘rice and beans’. So, thank God, we made a delicious lunch with rice and beans, as well as soda and lollipops”, she says.
According to UNICEF, the cyclone Idai that hit Mozambique in March 2019 has affected at least 1 million children. “Talking about the cyclone and its consequences brings back emotional problems and life stories marked by hunger. So, in the face of these disasters, I can say that, for these students, being able to enjoy this meal was certainly very significant”, Maria says.
The Claretian Solidarity project provides children with a school tutoring program and, in collaboration with other projects related to the Children’s Pastoral, it also provides assistance in healthcare. The project is currently assisting about 1,650 children from zero to six years old, including during the pregnancy period, aiming to prevent malnutrition and child mortality.
The work of the Claretian Missionaries, managed by Sister Maria Doralice de Oliveira, also involves tabulating data, such as the number of pregnant women and children assisted by the project, how many of them are malnourished and how many have gained weight, etc.
“Statistics show that child mortality and malnutrition are the major causes of premature deaths, even intra-uterine fetal death. And it’s due to lack of guidance or basic health care concerning breastfeeding, hygiene and hydration”, explains Sister Maria Imaculada.
Claretian Solidarity Project
The Claretian Solidarity project, run by the Claretiano – Education Network (Claretiano – Rede de Educação), which congregates all the Educational Institutions belonging to the Claretian Missionaries of Brazil, has been present in Mozambique since 2008, carrying out activities of evangelization, education and health with children, young adults and their families.
The funds to support this project are raised through donations, sale of handicrafts produced in Mozambique and promotional t-shirts of the project.
“Everyone involved in this project, from those who work behind-the-scenes, producing the promotional t-shirts, for instance, to those who buy the promotional products, is helping on the mission. Thus, they are carrying out the mission here in Mozambique. Being a missionary does not mean only being on the mission x; it means contributing to life in many ways and how they can, with love”, says Sister Maria Imaculada.
For more information on the project, you can go to www.claretianosnaafrica.com.br/como-ajudar.
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