MOZ 11 - SUPPORT TO LAR ELDA
Project Location
The project is located on the outskirts of the city of Nampula, in the Mwahiviri Expanção neighborhood.
Adolescent girls in Mozambique are particularly at risk. Many face early pregnancy and child marriage, which disrupt their education and future. Nearly half become mothers by age 19, with 46% married by age 18 and 14% by age 15. Limited access to reproductive health services, poverty, and social stigma make it difficult to make informed decisions, leading to high rates of maternal mortality and teenage pregnancy.
School violence is another serious problem, especially for girls. Many students are victims of abuse that compromises their learning, but data on the extent of the problem is scarce. In the absence of adequate response systems, cases are often ignored or inadequately managed, leaving survivors without justice and allowing violence to continue unchecked.
The Lar Elda Reception Center was opened by the Comboni Missionary Sisters in 2003 to meet the great challenge of helping girls and young women, especially orphans, living on the streets. Subsequently, at the request of social services, it began to welcome girls who, for various reasons such as poverty, exploitation, or abuse, could not remain with their families, at least temporarily, or, in the case of orphans. Since October 2017, when the terrorist attacks began in the province of Cabo Delgado, the center has welcomed girls from that region who, along with their families, fled for safety.
The reception center is managed by the Comboni Sisters who live in the same complex. Currently, three sisters oversee its entire operation.
Project description
The center currently hosts 65 girls and young women; some of them arrived as children and have now grown up to be responsible for various services and help care for the younger ones. We constantly receive requests for accommodation from social services, congregations, and individuals who know of situations in need.
In addition to the guests who live permanently at the lar, a group of 13 young people attend the Nacala girls' school. We offer scholarships for them, both for general studies and for accounting and management. This year, three young people are attending a three-year technical course in catering and tourism. Two others are attending university: their goal is to obtain a diploma and find independent work.
Some volunteers help us with after-school activities, helping the girls with their homework, while two teachers (one English and one math) provide remedial classes for those who are struggling the most.
In addition to regular activities, the girls learn to manage small projects such as caring for the chickens, packaging food products (bread, jams, syrups), doing small crafts (rosaries, bracelets, bags, cards), sewing, and tending the community garden that provides them with food.
The lar has two guards and two mothers who rotate at night to ensure the girls' safety, as burglaries are common in the city. The biggest challenge for us is trying to cover the costs of housing these girls with everything they need: food, clothing, hygiene supplies, school supplies, documents, medical care, as well as maintenance and operation of the facility.
The lar owns a car that is used for shopping, taking the girls to their families, some to the health center when they are sick, and performing various services. The center is appreciated and recognized by the government and social welfare agencies, but it receives no financial support. On the contrary, it requires that everything be in order, and inspections are carried out annually.
Objectives
- Help Mozambican girls in human, spiritual, social and scholastic formation
- Ensure essential foods such as flour, rice, pasta, bread, sugar, eggs, meat, fish and fruit that serve for good growth
- Keep the structure in condition so that the girls live in a dignified and serene environment
Beneficiaries
Direct: 65 girls orphaned or from vulnerable situations
Indirect: families and society
Referent sister of the project: Sr. Francinete Maria Ribeiro e Silva
Project's costs