Mozambique
It takes money to make money, but poor people in Mozambique don’t have access to credit. Commercial banks don’t want to lend to them because there is no incentive in lending tiny amounts of money in such high-risk, isolated areas. Today, I visited Matola province in Mozambique. I met with Opportunity International, an incredible organization that gives microfinance loans to individuals and groups.
Microfinance loans are small amounts of money (often as little as $50 or $100) that enable very poor people, especially women, to start or expand small businesses. These loans are a vital resource in poor communities, where people have trouble accessing credit from traditional banks and money-lenders often charge exorbitant interest rates.
Their average loan from Opportunity International is small – around $170 dollars – and after just two years of operation the organization is already breaking even in the country, meaning it can expand its operations to reach even more people.
Study after study has shown that in spite of high levels of poverty, high risk and rapidly changing environments, good microfinance programs boast a repayment rate of more than 95%. Evidence also indicates that income generated from microfinance projects can spur wider development benefits because borrowers, especially women, are likely to use their extra income to invest in health care or education for their families.
We were taken to meet two groups of women whose lives had been transformed by the loans. They were able to use their money to buy stock to sell at their market stalls selling biscuits, clothes, charcoal etc. One woman had even used her money to open a restaurant. The great thing about talking to these women was how happy they were. They were so cheerful and delighted to show us around.
One woman, Rabia, has five children who live with her (in fact we met two of them – they were doing their homework at their mums stall). Rabia has one of the best success stories. She took us to see her old house, which was tiny and made of iron sheeting, and the new one she is building with the proceeds of her stall (picture above). The new house is huge (bigger than my house!) and really well organized – one room is bigger than her entire old place. As you can imagine, we were really inspired by these women.
It’s important to keep things in perspective though. One woman we spoke to was happy that she had increased her income, but she still only spent $4 a day on feeding her family of 5. It was fantastic to see what a difference a small loan could make to peoples’ lives, but we could also see that there is a long way to go to lift the community out of poverty.
-Hermione Davies
In Mozambique, less than half the population has access to clean drinking water. As a result, diarrhea and cholera, two diseases caused by unclean water and poor hygiene, are leading causes of child deaths in the country.
Today, I had the opportunity to see a MCC-supported program in Mozambique that is piping clean water into a community. I saw how lives can be transformed with access to clean water. While most of us in the United States take safe drinking water for granted, there are over one billion people around the world without access to clean water. But thanks to some amazing programs funded by the U.S. and others, some of the world’s poorest people here in Mozambique now have access to clean water, which is not only helping keep them healthy but also increasing their ability to earn money and attend school.
One neighborhood we toured has struggled with cholera outbreaks for many years. In January, with the help of the Global Fund and others, a clean water piping system was brought to the community. The results are remarkable- while last year over 1,000 people were stricken with cholera, by this year that number had fallen to 20.
Another benefit for the community has been more time for work and school, especially for women and girls. Women and children are often charged with the task of collecting water for the family. Before the new piping system was introduced, this meant they often had to spend hours each day collecting water. Now that each family has a stand pipe in their yard or home, attendance rates at schools have improved and women are able to dedicate more time to income-generating activities like gardening.
Clean water is one of the most basic human needs and it was very inspiring to see first-hand how US development assistance is literally saving and transforming lives here in Mozambique.
-Kim Smith
More from our trip to Mozambique. (Previous posts here.)
Before we left the suburb, several of the kids asked us to take their photo. (See above.)
I know I’m missing items from today- but I’ll have to fill in more later. The next time we have internet access, I, and/or others on the trip, should be able to post more here.
-Virginia Simmons
More from our trip to Mozambique. (Previous posts here.)
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In the afternoon, we visited with head of PSI in Mozambique and then visited a Maputo suburb.
In the suburb, which felt like a neighborhood, Yara of PSI explained how to use insectcide-treated bednets to a group of children and their caretakers. At the presentation, about 3/4 of the women said they were raising children who were not their own.
After, Yara took us to visit two families. The first was a family of eight (2 parents and 6 children) who live in a small 7 x 9 ft. house. The other was a mother, Regina, who has four children and whose husband died last week. Regina’s mother has bad legs but still commutes an hour and a half to work each day so that she can help feed her grandchildren.
She told us she was tired. And that her legs hurt.
-Virginia Simmons
More from our Mozambique. (Previous posts here.)
Later in the afternoon we traveled to a marketplace where a theater group, funded by the group PSI, performed a short play about sanitizing water. During the performance we learned that you just need to drop a few drops of the products (certeza) into a jug of water, shake it around, and wait 30 minutes to purify the water. The actors were, well, quite good – and a large crowd, including many children, gathered to watch. At the end, anyone who asked a question got a free bottle of the product. Each bottle is enough for 60 large jugs of water – and usually cost the equivalent of about 30 cents.
Similar theater groups perform plays about malaria and HIV.
-Virginia Simmons
Right now I’m writing you from Mozambique – where I have the incredible fortune of traveling with fellow ONE colleagues to visit internationally-funded programs and meet the people they serve.
I have a few moments tonight – so I wanted to post a little about mt first day here and share a few photos.
We began the day at a health clinic funded by PEPFAR in Maputo city. Above to the right is a photo of Fatina, a heathcare worker who showed us around the clinic’s maternity ward. When I asked how she came to this field, she said that she was tracked as an exceptional student since the 6th grade and trained for the profession. She’ said that she’s now delivered thousands of babies.
Fatima also said that they don’t have enough medically-trained staff and, at least at the time of our visit, they were out of antiretroviral (HIV medications) for babies. Also note the holes in the facility’s roof. When it rains outside, it rains in rooms of the clinic. 
-Virginia Simmons
A Reuter’s article today highlights the devastating toll of AIDS in Mozambique – and the interconnected nature of disease, education and economic development.
“More than one-sixth of Mozambique’s 9,000 teachers are dying of HIV/AIDS each year, lowering the quality of education and jeopardising future development, a government official told Reuters on Tuesday…
Health officials say more than 16 percent of the 20 million Mozambicans between the ages of 14 and 49 — generally the most economically productive — are infected with HIV, and an estimated 500 new infections occur each day.
“This is a crucial issue for us and we are trying to train more teachers for them to be able to deal with it (the pandemic) in the communities. Teachers play a major role in the economic development of this country”, he said.
Despite its limited skilled labour force, Mozambique’s economy has boomed in recent years, spurred by a rise in foreign investment and development aid, and GDP growth is projected to hit 8 percent this year after reaching 7.5 percent in 2007.
Aly said the devastating effect of HIV/AIDS on the country’s human resources threatened to damage its economic prospects.”
Read the full piece here.
