The EsMaBaMa and project takes its name from the four Missions of Estaquinha, Machanga, Barada and Mangunde, located in the south of the Sofala province, in Mozambique, and overseen by the Comboni Missionaries. "Project EsMaBaMa" refers to a group of activities concerning the re-construction of the four Missions, which were severely damaged by the civil war (1975-1992). The project has the objectives of reorganizing Schools, Boarding Schools and and health-care centers, ensuring relative economical autonomy through development of agriculture and farming.  The idea of the project emerged right after the 1992 peace treaty. The Archdiocese of Beira hoped to give a concrete answer to the urgent needs of the local population (ca. 300,000 people) living in the districts of Buzi, Chibabava and Machanga, especially in the sectors of education and health-care, to offer a tangible contribution to the reconstruction and reconciliation of the Country. Currently, EsMaBaMa provides access to school to over 7,700 students (2011), the majority of which would have no means to get an education otherwise.

NEWS:  An ambulance takes service in Mangunde (2011) School of Agriculture (2011) Drought 2010  Beginning of the school year (2010)  Pupils with disabilities join  public school (2010)

Patronize the access to education of youth living in the three districts, with particular attention to girls education

Fight illiteracy especially among women

Guarantee accurate information about prevention and treatment of diseases, especially HIV/AIDS, to the local population and especially to students

Develop agriculture and animal breeding in the Missions, to ensure a balanced diet to boarding school students and to prepare a framework such as Schools and Health Centers can be self-sufficient.

Promote the economic and social development of the populations of the three districts by creating jobs, better education (literacy classes, evening classes, etc), and by sharing the production techniques implemented by EsMaBaMa with the local population.

Instruct students with agricultural and breeding techniques.

An ambulance finally took service in Mangunde

Finally, after many years of patience, an ambulance has been delivered to the Hospital of Mangunde, offered from MIVA through Caritas Austria. The vehicle is a Toyota Land Cruiser Hardtop. Finally, patients in need will be able to reach the hospital more confortably that on a improvised bed made of sheets, without protection from the sun, from the dust of the unpaved road, and even the rain.

School of Agriculture

An important novelty of 2011 of EsMaBaMa is the development of a school of Agriculture: a three-year professional training during which  students learn and apply farming techniques. Every two weeks students are required to spend two weeks at home to apply the techniques they learnt in school.

Currently, 65 students are attending the School of Agriculture (2011) 

Drought 2010

In November-December 2009 corn and rice were sown in order to provide food for the 2500 students of the EsMaBaMa boarding schools who need about one ton of cereals per day for their sustainment. Agriculture in Mozambique relies on the wet Season which usually provides plenty of rain in January. However, this year rainfalls were extremely scarce, and temperatures were nevertheless reaching 43-45 centigrade degrees (109-113 F). By February most of germinated seedlings were burned by heat and drought, meaning that the harvest planned in two months from now is going to be almost completely lost.

Crop losses were not the only reason of worries this year, since drought affected livestocks as well: cows and goats need now to cover long distances to find water, and wells in the Missions are drying out. Crops can be sown again, unless March will be a dried month as well, which will be a complete catastrophe for the Missions as well as for the entire community in the Sofala province.Father Ottorino fears that this drought might be worse than the one hitting the Sofala province in 1992, which left 80000 dead for starvation and related diseases.

 

Corn burned by drought in February 2010

Starting of the new school year

Beginning of the new year coincides with beginning of classes for boy and girls attending the EsMaBaMa schools. During the past few years the number of students in the  four Missions increased dramatically, counting +7% in 2008, +10% in 2009, and +8% in 2010 reaching 7732 students. The most conforting data are however the ones concerning the 11th and 12th grade (preceeding the universitary education) which increased 40% in 2010  as compared to 2009. 

The number of girls in the schools increased accordingly, from 2585 in 2008 to 3082 in 2010. Especially girls of the 11th and 12th grades are young women who represent the change toward a progressive society. Those are the ones who want to contribute actively to their Country development, who decided to study rather than marry and have children while being children themselves. Their number doubled in one year: they were 135 in 2009, and are 270 in 2010. 

For the first time 26 pupils with disabilities join a public school in the rural areas of South Sofala

Esmabama, together with the support of the Austrian NGO “Light for the world” is coordinating an integration project of children with disabilities in the mission school “San Francisco de Assis” in Mangunde, Chibabava district. 26 children with different physical handicaps have joined in January 2010 the regular school. To make them feel comfortable and provide them equal possibilities extra staff was employed who is taking care of their special needs.

In Mozambique, people with handicaps still suffer from stigma and prejudices. In rural areas, the situation is even more difficult for them, as they have to deal with traditional believes like witchcraft or malediction towards disability.

During this first year of the pilot project, the teachers will get a special training provided by the Ministry of Education in order to sensitize them for their work with pupils with disabilities. As well, around 50 pupils will join a First Aid workshop with special emphasis on the disabilities of their new colleagues in order to raise awareness to their needs, but also to take away uncertainty of dealing with them and strengthen the integration process.

and Father Ottorino Poletto of the Comboni Missionaries (local referent)
The project was born right after the 1992 peace treaty, thanks to the Archdiocese of Beira.