ADPP Mozambique recently launched a project called ‘Humanitarian Action in Maputo province’ which will benefit a total of 590 families and 3,250 schoolchildren in Maputo province over the next nine months.
The partnership between ADPP and Fundación Pueblo para Pueblo, officially launched last Saturday, coincided with the Children's Fortnight celebrations, which were led by the wife of the Governor of Maputo province, Olinda Fernando Mona Mujovo Tule, who handed out the first kits to vulnerable families.
This project essentially aims to help improve the living conditions of the people affected by Tropical Cyclone Severo Filipo, by distributing clothing kits, food and hygiene kits to the families who were sheltered in the reception centres in the neighbourhoods of Bunhiça, Fomento, Nkobe, Nwamatibjana, Sikwama and Tsalala.
At the same time, the project will provide school, teaching and hygiene materials to 3,250 pupils and 100 teachers, covering a total of 11 schools; it will also restore learning spaces by renovating 5 classrooms, 6 latrines and 6 water systems; and it will create and revitalise 14 Disaster Risk Reduction and Child Protection Committees in the aforementioned neighbourhoods.
Addressing those present, Olinda Tule referred to the suffering that all the families were exposed to when they were affected by the floods until they were forced to abandon their homes and seek shelter in reception centres.
‘In this disaster, in addition to the belongings lost in the floods, the children were affected psychologically and were forced to stop school and reschedule the annual calendar.’
Damião Mabote, Programme Officer at ADPP Mozambique, said that the selection of beneficiaries was based on a criterion that sought to prioritise people in vulnerable social situations, such as destitute elderly people, child heads of household and people with disabilities.
Catarina Juvêncio Damião, one of the beneficiaries from the Fomento neighbourhood, said that the products she received are of great use to her family because they need everything.
‘During the period that we will be consuming and using these goods, we will be relieved of the day-to-day rush of looking for food and products for everyday use. It's a considerable amount of products and it will take time for them to reach our homes,’ said the 52-year-old beneficiary.
This project is being implemented by ADPP Mozambique in coordination with the Provincial Directorate for Gender, Children and Social Action; the Provincial Directorate for Education and the National Institute for Disaster Management (INGD); and with funds from the Pueblo for Pueblo Foundation.