Making a Difference

In December 2007 one of our consultants, Stuart Neath, travelled to Mozambique to spend 3 weeks working as a volunteer for the charity African Impact.  This is the story of his trip...

With Christmas approaching I felt frustrated knowing that this would mean another round of eating too much, drinking too much and buying presents for children who don’t need them and, after a few minutes, will not really appreciate them either.  It was with this in mind that I determined that I would like to start 2008 by doing something worthwhile.  The idea of going to work for a charity came up in discussion over dinner with friends and, the following day, I started searching the internet for a worthwhile cause.

My search led me to African Impact, a charity which sponsors 16 projects throughout Africa which cover a range of activities from returning animals to the wild to working with orphanages and schools in disadvantaged areas.  In discussion with them we identified that the Mozambique Community Project was one which would offer a combination of variety and challenge which would keep me on my toes, and let me see some of the very real issues faced by the local community.

Mozambique is situated on the eastern coast of southern Africa, bordering South Africa, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.  The long coastline includes the 3rd largest coral reef in the world, an area of natural beauty as yet unspoilt and undeveloped.  The Mozambique coastline was devastated by a cyclone in February 2007 and in many of the rural areas there is still evidence of the damage done.

The Mozambique Community Project is based on the outskirts of the town of Vilanculos, some 200 kilometres north of the nearest major urban settlement, Maxixe.  The African Impact Project team have been in Vilanculos for 15 months and the team consists of 3 permanent members, supported by a local translator (the local language is a combination of Portugese and Shitswa), some locally employed security and domestic staff and, of course, volunteers like me.

The project has evolved over the last 15 months and consists of 6 separate elements:

• The Orphanage:  a local orphanage which is home to 24 children aged up to 15 years.  Most of the children have been orphaned because of Aids/HIV related illness (Aids is rife throughout the community in this part of Africa and continues to spread quickly).  The project team runs lessons for the children and activities to help raise money to fund them.
• Pre-School:  a local pre-school for 46 children aged 4-9 years.  These children are only marginally better off than those in the orphanage, but all have at least one parent still alive.  The team run lessons at the school 4 mornings per week to help prepare the pupils for attending the town’s properly funded school.
• School Renovation:  the school was badly damaged by the cyclone and the project team spends some time each week working to repair and renovate the school building.
• Local Housing:  the majority of the community live in small huts made from branches and reeds (a round hut approximately 8 metres in diameter will house a family of 4).  Many of these were destroyed in the cyclone so the project is helping to build new homes for the elderly and disabled in the local community, those who are unable to do it for themselves and who have been identified by a local Mission.  To build a home costs approximately £250 for materials, and the project team provides the labour to do the building itself.
• Outreach Programme:  the project provides a support group to women in the local community who are suffering from Aids/HIV.  These women have difficulty in finding work so the project team provides them with a network of people to talk to and support them emotionally and generates opportunities for them to be able to work (e.g. making jewellery to be sold in local stores or tunics for the school pupils).
• Boys Football Team:  working with a group of 14-18 year old boys from the local community to organise football training and matches for them as a way of keeping them off the streets, away from the temptations of alcohol and trouble, and starting to educate them in an informal environment.

It was immediately apparent that this was not a holiday!  As a volunteer my typical day looked something like this:

06.30    Wake Up
07.00    Breakfast and Preparation
07.45    Travel to activity 1
08.00    Activity 1 (e.g. Teaching at the Pre-School)
11.30    Return to camp for lunch
13.45    Travel to activity 2
14.00    Activity 2 (e.g. House Building)
17.30    Return to camp for dinner and to plan the next day

We worked 6 days per week in a tough physical environment and often extreme heat (some days temperatures rose to 39 degrees Celsius in the shade).  We had to demonstrate caution at all times in dealing with the local community (e.g. no movement on foot at night outside of our camp) and the children (the vast majority of the children have infection or illness of some kind, with no access to medical supplies or support – 1 in 5 children die before the age of 5 of ‘an unspecified illness’, usually Aids/HIV related, and one 5 year old died whilst I was there of malaria). 

For those thinking of doing something similar themselves, there is a cost to all this:

• Pay for your own flights.
• Pay the charity approximately £300 per week to be there (this covers accommodation, 3 meals per day, project costs on location and a contribution to the running of Africa Impact).  Volunteers can work on the projects for as little as a week, but it is recommended that they stay for longer (typically they are with the projects for 3-4 weeks and are of all ages and backgrounds).
• Accommodation is basic but comfortable (better than I had expected), but do not expect air conditioning, internet access or privacy.  We were lucky because we had a generator which gave us electricity for 2 hours per day.
• It is exhausting – emotionally, physically and mentally.  Most days I would be in bed before 8.30 p.m. shattered, and sleep solidly until the 6.30 a.m. alarm call, and this from someone who rarely goes to bed before midnight.

But, it is worth it!  The whole experience was absolutely incredible.  It was uplifting, rewarding, challenging, grounding, heart-breaking and soul-destroying in equal measure.  To see the absolute joy on the faces of the children when we arrived to spend time with them, or their excitement at being given some new clothes, a piece of chocolate cake or the opportunity to do something creative, was incredible.  To see someone’s new home taking shape was fabulous.

To see the way the community lives and cares for each other, the hardships they face each day, the illness that pervades the society and the lack of resources available to them was very upsetting.  For example:  the current orphanage is nothing more than a wooden frame approximately 15 metres by 8 metres, wrapped in heavy plastic with a corrugated iron roof.  This houses 24 children, all sleeping on the floor, with no access to running water or a toilet. It is awful!

To see how they accept what they have, are content with it and essentially happy with their lot was a major lesson for me, and certainly changed my perspective of my life and the things that I take for granted.  It is one thing to see this scale of poverty and hardship on television (e.g. on Comic Relief), it is quite another to stand there holding a 6 year old boy who has cerebral palsy, has open infections on his arms and legs, lives in an environment totally unable to deal with his special needs, and yet is happy and excited about you being there to help and entertain him, even for just a few short hours per week.  This is the reward.  Moments like this make it one of the most amazing things I have ever done.  This is why I WILL do it again and why I would encourage anyone who is thinking about doing this sort of thing to stop thinking about it, and go and do it.

My thanks to everyone who has offered support to African Impact and the Mozambique Community Project as a direct result of my involvement in it.  I can tell you that your contribution will be extremely well used and is very much appreciated.  Thank you.

Stuart Neath, Fruitful Developments Consultant

If you are interested in finding out more about this project, or any of African Impact’s projects in Africa, we suggest that you visit their website at www.africanimpact.com.

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