Personal Story

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Personal Story

Thursday, January 12, 2006

Women’s Self Help; A Success – Febiano, a very energetic ex-Frelimo fighter, carried this war-like spirit into our Community Development Project (Manica District). She became a strong member of our community church.
Read More… Women’s Self Help; A Success – Febiano, a very energetic ex-Frelimo fighter, carried this war-like spirit into our Community Development Project (Manica District). She became a strong member of our community church.
    
We started women’s self-help and community projects and Febiano showed a keen interest in each one of them.  She soon became one of the best knitters in the Knitting project and would find buyers for her garments, even before finishing them.  She also put a lot of work and time into the Poultry project.  Many times she would come to the center and with a hoe and a rake in her hands, she would start weeding out the yard.  She volunteered to work in the garden, cook corn meal porridge for the children, wash and cook for the orphans and fetch firewood and water.  For two years she would not accept any pay. Her friends started following her example and she brought other women from the village to learn.  The Adult Literacy Education project grew as well as the Pre-School.  When Bread and Water for Africa® visited they donated sewing machines, fabrics and threads and we soon embarked on a sewing project.  With Bread and Water for Africa’s® assistance an elementary school was constructed and a dormitory block for orphans.  Now a secondary school behind the mountains is currently under construction.

With Bread and Water for Africa’s® assistance we were able to hire locals to fill positions and we now have ten staff, excluding the schoolteachers, who are paid by the government of Mozambique.  Febiano is now the project supervisor and is doing a tremendous job.  She will walk 20 kilometers to visit and to feed the sick. She fixes documents for some of the orphans with the local authorities through the Social Welfare Department.  "No job is said to be just for men," exclaims Febiano.  She has crossed over the traditional beliefs and does any chore meant to be done by men alone.  She is among the sixteen women who hold a certificate in Pre-school training.  Febiano is a married mother of five children and her example is a true inspiration.

Written by: Margaret Makimbira, Director, Emmanuel Ministries 

Read More

What a life it has been for Emmanuel!

What a life it has been for Emmanuel!

We at Bread and Water for Africa® began to get to know him as a 2-year-old toddler when he was brought to the Lewa Children’s Home in Eldoret,...