Lack of education plagues Mozambique economy

Azarias Baloi moved to Mozambique's capital city of Maputo in search of work, butthe father of two children is still looking. Despite the sub-Saharan African country's improving economy, more than half its citizens live in poverty. A UMNS photo by John Gordon.

By Joey Butler*

MAPUTO, Mozambique (UMNS) - Azarias Baloi has traveled almost 500 miles to find a job, and so far he's been unsuccessful. The 27-year-old father of two came to Maputo from Vilanculos in 2006 looking for work.

"I've been busy moving from one company to another submitting my (résumé) and seeing if I can get a job, or even apply for a job. But I have not yet been called," he said.

Baloi used to work as an assistant in a construction company and is looking for similar work but, at this point, says he'll do anything.

Lare Xaviar has three children and a husband who works as a security guard at a school. She supplements his income by selling produce and makes about $2 per day.

They have a plot of land in a neighborhood and started work on a house three years ago. But having made no progress in more than a year, they live in a 20-foot-wide reed hut with a corrugated tin roof.

"We live by faith," she said. "It's only by faith that you go to bed without even knowing what you're going to eat tomorrow."

The situation in Mozambique is actually improving, just not quickly enough. The country's economy has strengthened since the end of Mozambique's 16-year civil war in 1992 and is considered one of Africa's success stories.

However, half of the population still lives in absolute poverty. Mozambique's unit of currency, the metical, is worth about four cents, and the average annual salary is about $250. The United Nations Human Development Report published in 2005 ranked Mozambique 168th out of the 177 countries listed. The low rating has been ascribed to the impact of HIV/AIDS - which has infected about 15 percent of the population - frequent droughts and crop failure.

Mending the economy
Churches are doing their best to remedy the situation. The Christian Council of Mozambique, an ecumenical organization, offers a sewing and sustainability ministry run by a United Methodist laywoman.

Filicidade Gacob trains other women to sew, which allows them not only to have clothes for their family and a product they can sell, but each of the women is taught how to start their own sewing ministry in their local churches.

"After the training course, the women will be helping themselves, their families and their communities," Gacob said.

Gacob was recommended for the program by the Rev. Elias Massicame, a United Methodist pastor who also works for the Christian Council. Massicame says the clothing industry in Mozambique is struggling, so most clothes sold in stores are imported and expensive.

"If we have somebody at the local level who can make clothes, it's a cheaper price, so this becomes a sustainable project for the poorer rural communities," he said.

Training for the future
United Methodist Bishop João Somane Machado of the Mozambique Area believes lack of education is the root cause of several problems plaguing his country, including poverty and disease. And those problems feed on one another. A lack of education on ways to prevent malaria and HIV/AIDS leads to the spreading of disease, and the diseases' effect on the economy leads to poverty.

"We need to be engaged in educating communities," Machado said, "not only in literacy or reading the Bible but also in how to live, proper sanitation or teaching people what can be done around the village to protect from mosquitoes."

Mozambique's literacy rate is less than 50 percent, so the annual (regional) conference partners with Alfalit, a faith-based nonprofit organization that provides programs to the most needy of the world in literacy, basic education, preschool, health, nutrition and community development.

"If we teach some to read, they can read for themselves and learn things like how to prepare better food for their families to make their children's blood stronger to fight the malaria, and in turn they can teach the community," Machado said.

A crowning achievement for Machado is the Mozambique Distance Learning project, a satellite campus of Africa University, a United Methodist-related school in Zimbabwe. Work was completed in July, and Machado hopes enrollment will begin soon.

The project is housed in the offices of the Mozambique Annual Conference. The classroom has 20 new computers, with plans for future expansion. Classes from Africa University will be beamed to the Maputo site via VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal), a two-way satellite ground station with a dish antenna.

"Satellite learning will be most beneficial, and gives students the freedom to work and attend classes at same time," said Eduardo Namburete, an annual conference staff member and coordinator of the project. "This will be a remarkable change for the people of this country."

Machado would like to see a United Methodist university in Mozambique one day, but he's thrilled with the church's first steps. "Even this small room is like a dream. We are so happy," he said.

As for Lare Xaviar and Azarias Baloi, both are optimistic about the future.

"I always live in a spirit of gratitude and even though I may consider myself poor, there are people who are poorer than me," Xaviar said.

"I'm not discouraged because I'm not the only one who is not working," Baloi said. "There are many people who are busy looking for a job, but we will fight until the last minute. We cannot lose hope."

*Butler is managing editor of Interpreter magazine, the official magazine of The United Methodist Church.