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THE MISSIONS
The four Missions of Estaquinha, Mangunde, Barada, and Machanga and are located in the Sofala province and are all run by a Comboni Missionary, father Ottorino, with the collaboration of both Mozambican people and volunteers from all around the world.
Each one of the Missions is provided with school buildings and dormitories for boys and girls, houses for teachers and school employees, and a health-care center, which serves the Mission itself and people living in the surrounding areas. The Mission of Mangunde, the biggest among the four, is actually equipped with a small hospital in which are operating two Austrian doctors.
The EsMaBaMa headquarter in Beira communicates daily via radio with each of the Missions, where there is no phone line or cell phone reception.
Moreover, being
the Missions quite isolated and far from the city, they are not yet
reached by an electric line. Electricity is produced by an oil
generator (the main
expense of the Missions so far),
and solar panels. The generators supply three hours of electricity per
day to illuminate the dormitories, to produce bread in
the bakeries of Mangunde and Barada, and to pump water from the river
or wells, mainly for irrigation. The majority of buildings in the
Missions (dormitories, teacher's houses etc) don't have tap water.
The hospital of
Mangunde is however provided with electricity all day long, mainly
for preservation of blood samples.
1) students learn about farming and agriculture techniques that will be useful for their families and communities as well.
2) sustainment of the Missions. Even though the Mission of Estaquinha is 95% self-sufficient, thanks to its own agriculture and farming, currently EsMaBaMa still depends consistently on foreign aid.
Much help is still needed especially for:
1) Schools: completing the construction of school buildings, providing them with adequate bathrooms, dining halls and kitchens. In most of the Missions, students attend school in classrooms made of wood and metal sheets, (which get very hot in the summer), without benches to sit on. Dining rooms still miss tables and chairs, and students eat on the floor.
2) Agriculture and farming: Completing the construction of irrigation systems for the fields,and fencing for animals. Vegetable gardens are being started to improve the diet of the
boarding students.Agriculture and farming contribute to sustainment of the Missions, which is achieved mainly through sale of coconuts and meat.
Improvement of farming techniques with better irrigation systems, and modern farming tools will also improve the diet of the boarding students, now quite poor and unbalanced due to the scarce availability of food in the isolated areas where the Missions are located. Nutrition of boarding students is currently based mainly on cornmeal, rice and beans, -sometimes fish for the students of Barada, the mission located on the seashore.
Farming in Barada
3) Repair: The Missions are located in areas which are very isolated and often hit by flooding and hurricanes. The most recent natural calamity was the hurricane of December 2006, which completely torn apart the Mission of Machanga, and caused several damages to the mission of Barada as well.
Damaged school building of Barada, Roofing in Machanga, after damages Temporary school building made of wood and
Estaquinha
Located
about 200 Km from Beira in the internal savanna, Estaquinha is
a plain territory, typically rural and isolated. During the wet
season roads often are closed or flooded. A primary school was established here with over 1,700 students (ca. 460 boarding students).
Estaquinha is equipped with a dispensary and a health-care center in which are working two nurses and an obstetrician. The health-care center serves about 30,000 inhabitants.
In the property of the Mission, trees for fruit and wood are being planted, and areas are dedicated to foraging, for farming. Estaquinha is 95% self sufficient.
Machanga
Machanga
is about 500 Km from Beira, the furthest away from the city of all the
Missions. The area is at very high risk of flooding. River banks are
absent, making the area constantly flooded and isolated during the wet
season.
The primary school here counts 1,092 students, of which ca. 545 are boarding students. The Mission has been recently supplied with dorms, dining hall and kitchen.
The area was the most affected by the disastrous hurricane in December 2006, and is therefore in need of massive intervention for reconstruction.
Barada
Barada is located on the bay of Beira, on the Indian Ocean. It is easily accessible by the sea. The area is densely inhabited, with agronomic perspectives, and from a naturalistic point of view, of a breathtaking beauty.
The Mission comprises a secondary school with ca. 2,000 students, (665 in the boarding school), and a dispensary with only one nurse and an obstetrician. A furnished carpenter shop is also used for the development of professional students.
Unshelling of coconuts in Barada
Coconut plantation in Barada
Several hectares of land belonging to the Mission are occupied by 30,000 coconut trees, which will need to be renewed to guarantee good productivity. Other areas are destined to forage for farming.
The Mission is equipped also with a bakery, which produces bread for the students of Barada and Machanga (so students can eat some bread every week, and thus vary a bit their diet).
Mangunde
About
250 Km away from Beira in the internal savanna, Mangunde is a rural
territory located on the shore of a river. It is the biggest of all Missions, hosting primary and secondary schools which account for 2,029 students, ca. 790 of which in the boarding school.
Construction of the dorms is being completed, however the boarding students still don't have a dining hall, and bathrooms are insufficient and inadequate.
Mangunde also is equipped with a bakery produces bread for the students of Mangunde and Estaquinha.
A hospital was established here thanks to a collaboration with Caritas Austria and Horizont 3000, focusing on HIV treatment and prevention of vertical transmission. The main problems that affect the population of the area and that the doctors seem to be dealing with are HIV treatment, severe cases of malaria and malnutrition, and wounds by crocodile bites.
