Amidst the joyful hustle of the community and the thatched huts, with millet porridge and chapati as breakfast for the entire day, the Augustinian Sisters "Daughters of the Most Holy Savior of Mozambique" prepare for another day in Cabo Delgado.
Together with the Congregação Agostiniana Missionária de Assistência e Educação, they wait for the women who, before the sun rises high, come to attend the training workshops.
Last year alone, these two deeply Augustinian organizations working in northeastern Mozambique have trained over 175 women in agricultural techniques to promote their personal and family autonomy. With support from the Agustinos en el Mundo Foundation, they have created eight workgroups and developed an environmental awareness and best practices program to optimize resources, which more than 500 participants have attended in this extensive and populated northernmost province of the African nation.
A land devastated by cyclones and floods, where the footsteps of the stateless raise the dust left behind by Al Shabaab, the Southeast African affiliate of the Islamic State.
Trail of Ruby Blood: Slavery in the Mines of Northern Mozambique
According to the latest report by the pontifical foundation Aid to the Church in Need, Mozambique is one of the most dangerous countries for Catholics and religious freedom in general, despite its predominantly Christian nature.
For decades, Africa has suffered from forced displacements, as various terrorist groups seek control and exploitation of lands that, under adobe roofs, contain the blood minerals supporting the technological ecosystem.
Mozambique, neighboring prosperous South Africa and Zimbabwe, has seen violence worsen in the northern provinces of Cabo Delgado and Niassa, where the Augustinian Sisters work.
“We want to continue offering our help and resources because the work being done there is impressive,” says Maurizio Misitano, director of the Agustinos en el Mundo Foundation. “With our program, and our new school made from recyclable materials, we want to bring in more women interested in the agricultural project and organize the school with new classrooms. We also plan to build a barn and a corral to continue offering opportunities to those who have lost everything multiple times.”
Mozambique’s Living Conditions Worsen Another Year
Today, Mozambique ranks 184th in the Human Development Index, scoring 0.453 (the seventh lowest), a decline from 2019’s 0.456. This continuous drop reflects the severe precariousness afflicting the country.
The HDI is an index developed annually by the United Nations. Unlike previous indicators that measured a country’s economic development, it analyzes health, education, and income.
It is difficult to accurately estimate, given the unique census characteristics in the region, the total number of forced displacements over recent years. Aid to the Church in Need estimates that approximately 560,000 people, mostly women and children, have been forced to abandon their roots and centuries-old homes due to attacks by terrorist militias.
For many years, the Augustinian Sisters, Daughters of the Most Holy Savior in Mozambique, have been applying the Gospel daily among the displaced. “The host communities are extremely vulnerable due to resource scarcity and are at high risk of food insecurity,” says Simona Cipriani, the augustinian foundation responsable of the communications and project support.
Strands of Peace
In addition to emergency interventions since 2021, the Agustinos en el Mundo Foundation, together with the sisters and laypeople working in the area, promotes a development path in the agri-food sector to support local production, improve economic conditions, and emphasize the importance of biodiversity and sustainability.
“Right now, the first action, after launching the project, is to support local female farmers by purchasing equipment and seeds to diversify production,” says Maurizio. “The second major task we need to address is training for better land use that supports them.”
How many people are estimated to participate in the project?
Approximately 1,000 people, mainly women and children, are expected to be the primary beneficiaries of the Augustinian presence in Mozambique. “We have been in Mozambique for many years, developing projects hand-in-hand with our sisters there. First and foremost, we engage in catechetical and pastoral work, in schools, in the fields, with reforestation, nutrition campaigns, and welcoming those fleeing terror, all while promoting the Gospel and human rights,” concludes Maurizio.
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