A Catholic charity is helping provide physical and spiritual support to a troubled region of Mozambique, which has been plagued by Islamist violence and hit late last year by a deadly cyclone.
An Islamist insurgency in Cabo Delgado Province has claimed the lives of over 5,000 people, with many more forced to flee from their homes.
Sister Aparecida Queiroz of the Daughters of Jesus and who also works with Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), told the organization about conditions on the ground.
“Imagine that you are in your house after a day’s work and suddenly a group of armed men breaks in, kills your children and kidnaps members of your family, forcing you to flee through the bush for days, scared, hungry, thirsty, and in terrible anguish," she said.
“Well, that is the pain that thousands of our brothers and sisters in Cabo Delgado are experiencing, people who have lost everything: their homes, family members, places of worship, their identity, and who have had to flee not once, but many times.”
As much as 80 percent of Cabo Delgado’s population consists of subsistence farmers, meaning that the insurgents' raids are also having an impact on the already precarious levels of food production in the area.
Compounding the difficulties faced by the locals, much of southeast Africa was devastated last December when it was hit by Cyclone Chido.
Winds reached highs of 130 mph and while records are sketchy, it appears that hundreds and possibly thousands of people were killed by the cyclone, with similar numbers also going missing.
Sister Queiroz said of the overall situation, “The constant mobility, the coming and going of people who are just trying to survive, is at the root of this cycle of poverty.
“Children are unable to go to school, there is no access to health, families can’t farm, and there is terrible hunger.”
However, the sister praised the work of ACN, which she said had been like “the hand of God”.
ACN has been providing food and hygiene products as well as ensuring local Christians are able to receive pastoral visits and counselling.
“Through ACN, the hand of God is returning life to these people, and that is why we cannot stop, we must continue to be the face of Christ in this context of despair,” she added.
