Mozambique

Context at a glance

Wash day for this community in Mozambique

The people of Mozambique know suffering. Battered by Portuguese colonial rule, when its former rulers pulled out in 1975 the country was plunged into a bloody civil war that would last for sixteen years. Over one million Mozambicans perished – either as a direct result of the fighting or through famine brought about by it. Another five million suffered displacement from their homes.

The fighting ceased in 1992 with a political settlement between the Frelimo and Renamo parties. However, a legacy of economic ruin and landmines remained and the country has been left with an appalling number of amputees.

In 2000 Mozambique suffered severe flooding – in fact, the largest flood ever recorded in Africa. Another half a million people were left homeless. Even now thousands of families affected by the flood are still living in inadequate, temporary shelter.

This was followed by severe drought in 2002 and currently the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been sweeping through the country with 17% of the population already affected and growing daily.

The combined devastation of war, poverty and AIDS has orphaned 1.3 million children and left 70% of the country living below the poverty line.

Despite this suffering, Mozambique has made big strides towards some kind of recovery and has become a magnet for foreign investment. The people are still suffering terribly but there is hope and Habitat for Humanity is doing everything possible to ensure the people we are working with in Mozambique never lose sight of that hope!

Habitat for Humanity programme

Many families are still living in temporary shelter six years after the floods

Formed in 2000, Habitat for Humanity Mozambique (HFHM) has worked with poor communities, local volunteers and international teams to build almost 200 new houses in Maputo province and further north in Manica and Gaza. In 2005-6 alone, HFHM hopes to build another 87 houses.

HFH Mozambique is particularly focused on providing housing in partnership with the most disadvantaged groups, including flood victims. A significant element of the programme is emergency housing for orphans and vulnerable children who have lost one or both parents, usually to HIV/AIDS. Other valuable initiatives include construction apprenticeships, helping people to write wills to protect property, and income generation through small-scale vegetable farming for widows and single mothers. We are also in the process of providing water purification systems and mosquito nets.

The Orphans and Vulnerable Children project

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