Esperança has been working in Mozambique since 2003 in province of Sofala. This area is considered the poorest city in the country. The project’s goal, along with our partner Care for Life, is to alleviate suffering, promote self-reliance and instill hope.

In this southeastern country of Africa, Mozambican families are learning to prevent three deadly diseases: HIV/AIDS, cholera and malaria. We work in ten villages, providing hope for a healthier future by distributing basic tools (such as mosquito nets), education – empowering residents to take their future into their own hands and live a healthier life, and teaching families how to prevent HIV/AIDS and properly care for their HIV/AIDS infected relatives.

Mozambique has been ranked the sixth poorest country in the world by the World Bank. In this area of the world, HIV/AIDS, cholera and malaria have decreased the average life span to just 48 years. Approximately 1 out of 4 people living in Sofala have HIV/AIDS. To complicate this situation, Beira is at sea level and much of the surrounding terrain is swampy, a prime location for the breeding of malaria-carrying mosquitoes. Also, due to the lack of infrastructure, sewage systems have not functioned properly for decades. During the rainy season, the sewage systems frequently contaminate available clean water sources, making cholera rampant.

In conjunction with Care for Life, our public health programs in Mozambique include:

• Educating families on ways to protect themselves from mosquitoes and the use of mosquito nets
• Conveying the importance of why boiling and treating their water is critical to their health, as well as disinfecting it with chlorine
• Ways to care for their dying loved ones infected with HIV/AIDS, rather than succumbing to cultural stigmas