In March 2019, Mozambique was devastated by Cyclone Idai, which caused considerable material damage, cost lives and tore apart numerous families in the province of Sofala. Since then, the Mozambican coast has been hit by cyclones, strong winds and heavy rains every year between November and March, causing flooding in several parts of the country.
This year, 2024, southern Mozambique was hit by Cyclone Filipo, destroying homes and access roads, flooding towns and communities, leaving families homeless and children without schools. The government and non-governmental organisations are doing their best to help the people who have lost everything. They are settling them in tents and providing them with food while they wait for the water levels to recede so they can return to their homes to start again.
Thank God our PEPEs in Inhambane and Gaza provinces were not damaged because God protected the classrooms, the children and their families. In Maputo, however, the PEPE Kunhimela (Hope) was flooded and one of the classrooms lost its roof, which hindered the normal course of activities.
The churches in Mozambique have made great efforts to build adequate spaces that suit their conditions, but it seems that they are fighting a war against an invisible and natural enemy.
There is not much that can be done except, as far as possible, to improve conditions in PEPE activity spaces and families’ homes and wait to see what the next cyclone will do. We hope that PEPE Kunhimela will have the financial means to replace the roof of the classroom and improve the conditions outside to prevent new flooding in the next rainy season.
Over the years, we are learning to be resilient and seek resources to build safer PEPE classrooms where our children can pursue their activities without interruptions from the annual cyclones and floods. We trust in the power of our God who created the winds and the rains that everything is under His control.
Felizarda Chimunto – Regional Coordinator of PEPE Africa Portuguese language
Translated by Victor Baptista
