MOZ 05 - REFUGEE EMERGENCY
Project Location
In Mozambique, in the Northern area, province of Cabo Delgado, since the beginning of 2020, terrorist attacks by jihadist groups have begun on various villages and cities, forcing thousands of families to abandon their homes, their fields or small businesses. The families on the run tell of atrocities and the killing of many people and the kidnapping of others.
The families who fled their lands poured into the areas of Nampula, Balama and other districts seeking refuge with family members or acquaintances and later, the Government set up reception camps where all the families were invited to settle in order to have a hut (at the beginning they were tents) and a certain amount of food that was distributed monthly.
The camps that host the families are huge, with some wells for water supply and a few plants for shade. Each family has tried to organize themselves as best they can, improving their hut and exploiting the small piece of land that is assigned to them by sowing cassava, vegetables, and beans.
The so-called “resettlement” camps are far from the cities and therefore it becomes difficult to find some work or small business, if not within the camp itself. The families who had found great hospitality from relatives or acquaintances, after about a year, have become a burden for those who hosted them (generally families with few resources) and have had to start paying rent and try to earn a living. All this is not easy because few of these refugee families have been assigned a piece of land to cultivate. Furthermore, since this year many NGOs have left the assistance and have concentrated in the city of Pemba.
Project description
We continue to be present both in the resettlement camps, as well as in the town of Balama with assistance to refugee families. In Balama, micro-credit and literacy projects for women are supported, as well as assistance with food, clothes, blankets for the neediest people, the elderly or the sick, and school supplies for children.
In the camps, people ask for food because in this area the rains have been very scarce and there has been no production, as well as materials for work in the fields. In the Nampula area, we continue to be present in the Corrane camp where some families have returned to their land, but many remain in the camp and others leave the city where they no longer find support and living conditions and settle in the camp.
Here too, people need food, soap, blankets in the cold weather, clothes, and school supplies. When the rainy season begins, we provide materials for work in the fields. One of the fairly large expenses we have is that of fuel and car repairs because the roads to reach the fields are terrible.
Objectives
- Offer human, material and spiritual support to displaced persons
- Improve the food and health conditions of displaced persons
Local participation
Some women help in the division of food and visit the families that benefit and the sick. In the camps, the displaced persons themselves prepare the lists and check during the various distributions.
In Corrane a group of 10 activists indicate the sick and elderly people who need to be visited and periodically follow their process
Referent sister of the project: Sr Maria José Lopes da Cunha
Project's costs