Mozambique: How ADRA Taught a Community to be Able to Help Each Other

China Luis Guente shares his “house” with his wife and five children. He was living in one of the lowest lying areas around Caia when Cyclone Idai hit Mozambique.

The rain came on strong and flooded everything. He only managed to take his kids, wife, and a few things and go to the nearest school for shelter. It rained for 6 days. They managed the first day, but by the second day, the school was taking on water.

They stayed in the school shelter for two weeks along with 217 other families. The schools had two blocks where they stayed, each one with three classrooms. One block was for women and girls, the other for boys and men. Some had mats, others didn’t, and those who had mats shared them.

During the day, they removed their things so the students could attend school. At night they slept in the school and he felt vulnerable at the school because there was nothing they could do there. At the same time, he felt solidarity amongst the affected people; they shared everything and each felt the need to care for each other.

Aside from food from INGC (disaster management agency), they didn’t receive any other assistance. Each family receives the same ratio size. Those with smaller family sizes shared their ration with bigger family households. He knows how to build his own house, but learned how to install the tarp through learning from ADRA.

Any message to ADRA? “I am very helpful and grateful for what ADRA did. May God bless you for seeing we are suffering and being ready to help, and for also coming here to see how we are.”