(Mozambique). The FMA communities of St. John Bosco Province (MOZ) live in a state of Emergency in Mozambique due to the resumption of guerrillas in some areas of the country, the extreme poverty in which the population lives, and the increase in the spread of the coronavirus.
In Mozambique there are two communities of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians who are experiencing the emergency, Chiure and Pemba, because they are located precisely in the areas where displaced people arrive for refuge and where coronavirus infection is on the rise.
The provincial, Sr. Zvonka Mikec, after visiting the communities for a few weeks, shared the situation of pain, fear, and poverty that is being experienced.
In Chiure, the house is a meeting point for many displaced people from war zones, who ask for help. The sisters welcome them and urge them to present themselves to the Authorities in the barrios to find out where they can stay with their family (each family can be composed of 15-20 people). Local families offer space in the backyards of their homes or help build mud houses.
Some FMA of the community visit the families and bring first aid by ensuring them basic necessities. In this time of pandemic they have also made thousands of masks for the displaced population.
Other Sisters collaborate with the Diocese’s Caritas which assists about 250 families from nearby villages. For newborn children there is a project in Chiure called ‘Isabelinha’. The undernourished children are brought by their families every Saturday to be examined and to receive milk for the whole week.
They also collaborate in the solidarity bakery project of the Diocesan Caritas to promote the employment of young people and produce bread for the displaced.
In Pemba, people are still suffering from the 2019 cyclone. Families, although already very poor, have welcomed the displaced. For two weeks, the FMA welcomed a little girl and her brother, who had been separated during an attack, and were able to hug again.
In the outskirts of the city, reception camps for displaced people have sprung up. In addition to providing basic necessities, an FMA is committed to psycho-social accompaniment and support.
The Province continues to assist families who are very many and in need of everything: food, clothing, and shelter from the weather.
The FMA strongly feel the call to respond to the emergency, and also to offer concrete help to young people, so that they have a job. Their goal is to organize professional training courses and provide young people with skills and tools for an effective work commitment.
The Institute of the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians supports populations in situations of hardship, counting on the generosity and solidarity of all.
Contributions and offerings can be sent in the manner indicated on the Web Site of the FMA Institute , and indicating in the reason for payment “Emergency Mozambique“.
“God does not allow Himself to be outdone in generosity”
(Don Bosco – MB II,254).
No dejemos a nuestros hermanos. Difundamos esta gran necesidad. ADMA con su carisma misionero puede colaborar.
Uno-me em prece.
Hermisa accion solidaria que realizan nuestras Hermanas. La vivencia del Evangelio se gace concreta.
Dios les bendiga y fortalezca.
“Tuve hambre y me dieron de comer, fui desplazado y me acogieron…”
Bendiciones, queridas Hermanas!!