We continue to be fortunate to receive items of furniture from various sources which we distribute to those less fortunate in Catembe – or to institutions operating in Catembe. For example, thanks to the Cardoso hotel (who donated furniture and fittings from 10 hotel rooms undergoing refurbishment), we were able to give beds, tables, chairs, cabinets, bedding, curtains etc. to numerous families, including the Family Homes and beds to the Mutsweka teachers who live at the school for 5 days each week and who, before the donation, were sleeping on the floor.

Clothing (particularly children’s clothing) is often provided by people who hold special collections or who ask their visiting families & friends to bring out with them. All such donations are distributed as quickly as possible – again to the Family Homes children and others throughout the district most in need.

Old People’s Village

Our support of the residents of the Old People’s Village continues – food, clothing, health care and provision of agriculture materials. Sadly and inevitably, we do lose some of these friends (or family) each year but our attitude is that it is a pleasure and a privilege to have known them and to have touched their lives and they ours.

Volunteers

Throughout the year we have had a number of volunteers supporting out work. Some come from other countries and spend up to 2 months with us helping wherever they can (they also pay all their own costs including travel and food). Others are with spouses working in Maputo who have time on their hands and want to give some of this time to helping others.

Other “volunteers” supporting our work don’t even make it to Mozambique – but support us from afar. Communities, institutions, churches, schools and individuals who care about what we do and about Mozambique, provide ongoing financial support and encouragement. Our work would be much more difficult and less effective without this ongoing support and we try to keep all informed of what we are doing and how they are contributing.

Whilst on official visits to the District, IMAGINE had the pleasure of receiving the following people :-Vice Minister Social Action, 7 members of the Mozambican Parliament, 3 members of the South African Social Services Ministry, Vice Minister of Agriculture, Health Minister, Provincial Governor, Municipal President

 

Summary Finances for 2008 (U$D)

There follows a brief financial report for the year 2008. To allow us to complete this Annual Report for issue sooner than later, the financial figures below have not yet been verified by internal check nor audit. A detailed audit report will be made available on donor request when completed.

Brought Forward from 2007 :-72,301
Donations & Receipts 2008 :-255,401
TOTAL CASH 327,702

Expenditures :

1. Family Homes 95,164 (see Note 1)

2. Local home construction 24,726

3. MC Sisters 2,794

4. Children’s programmes 4,088

5. School support 6,116

6. Family support / assistance 22,189

7. Community development 7,556

8. Sals, allowances & benefits 48,140

9. Housing rentals / accom 7,656

10. Office rentals & renovation 3,173

11. Transport & travel costs 14,261

12. Utilities 503

13. Communication 4,257

14. Subscriptions & publicity 700

15. Office supplies 2,881

16. Taxes & insurances 3,649

17. CAPITAL INVESTMENTS 15,500

18. Professional fees 4,601

19. Accounts receivable 5,373

20. Bank charges 1,136

21. Pre-paid 6,257

22. Accounts payable -16,829

23. Sundry account 329

24. Loss on exchange rates -5,338

TOTAL 269,488

Balance as at 31/12/2008 58,215 (see Note 2)

(Note 1 :-includes capital programme expenditure & monthly support)
(Note 2 :-most of balance already committed for 2009)

Main Donors

DfID, Embassy of Finland, IBIS, Egmont Trust, US Embassy, Formby Group, VSO, EDF Man, Northallerton School, Redgate Church, Spears Trust, Enfield Church, Accrington Church, Clayton-le-Moor Church groups, St. Mary’s, Shoeburyness, St. Oswald School – Liverpool, Cardoso Hotel (in kind), SS-Kids (USA), TWOAT, Green Rhino, MIPS (in kind).

And many more individuals (including contestants on Family Fortunes !), communities, groups and the kindest of people we are ever likely to meet. Our particular thanks go to those who have taken out standing orders to ensure we receive funding regularly at the beginning of each month. Thank you all.

Other News

For those interested, we now present some information and statistics about Mozambique and Catembe. The figures quoted are as up to date as we have been able to find but of course, statistics are often changing.

Mozambique

Population :-20.5 million
Average life expectancy :-42 * (UK is 78)
Average per capita income :-U$D348
Percentage of people not meeting daily food needs :-54%
Women dying in child birth :-408 per 100,000 live births (UK 13 per 100,000)
Children dying before age 5 :-178 per 1,000 live births (UK is 6 per 1,000)
Percentage of people with access to safe water :-33% in rural areas, 66% in urban areas

(* note:-we have read that this figure will reduce to circa 37 in a few years if HIV / AIDS infections continues to grow)

In 1990, Mozambique was statistically the poorest country in the world. Recent figures place Mozambique 172 out of 177 on the UN Human Development Index. Despite this seemingly slow climb, it is generally considered that Mozambique has made great strides since the war ended in 1992. The economy has grown an average 8% in the last 10 years and poverty has continued to fall – e.g. from 69.4% in 1997 to an estimated 50% in 2005. Analysis also shows that on average the poor that remain below the poverty line are slightly better off.

Of course we are still in the grip of a rising HIV / AIDS epidemic and it is estimated that by 2010, nearly half of the 1 million maternal orphans will be orphaned due to AIDS. The Mozambican Health Minister recently lamented the seeming unwillingness of Mozambicans to undertake HIV tests. He said that many lives could be saved if only this trend could be reversed.

Other high profile diseases, such as malaria also continue to be worrying, particularly where children are concerned – malaria remains the biggest child killer.

Although there is a rapidly growing number of children enrolling in school, this is mostly at a primary level. Secondary education levels are low.

Access to health services is limited with only 36% of the population having access to a health centre within 30 minutes of their home.

However the Mozambican Government has announced a wide range of initiatives for 2009 which will greatly improve many of the statistics quoted above. These initiatives include :

• construction or rehabilitation of 3,000 hectares of irrigation schemes,

• importation of 110 tractors. 2,500 head of oxen, 1,250 ploughs

• a further 193 agricultural extensionists will be hired, and the extension services should reach over half a million rural producers.

• in rural Mozambique, 2,439 wells and boreholes will be opened, and 943 existing ones will be rehabilitated.

• in the cities and towns, 200 new public standpipes will be built, and 27,518 homes will be connected to a piped water systems

• 809 schools will be built over the year – 393 for first level primary education (grades one to five), 380 for second level primary education (grades six and seven), and 36 for secondary education.

• 12,000 new teachers will be employed

• 72 primary and secondary health units will be built or rehabilitated

• a Maputo Provincial Hospital will be built, in the city of Matola, and four other provincial hospitals will be rehabilitated.

• 2,078 newly trained health staff will be placed in the districts.

Catembe

About mid-year we were surprised to learn that we (IMAGINE) had been voted onto the District Development Commission. This Commission is made up of people who, is some way, are contributing to the upliftment and development of the community. Included in it are the district government institutions, representatives from Health, Education, Agriculture, Social Action, the current chairman of the fishing association and leading business people. This commission has been created to oversee the district investment budgets granted by the government to generate employment and increase food production within the poorer areas (initially set at circa U$D280,000 per annum). Local associations and individuals are encouraged to take loans (to be re-paid over 2 or 3 years) to allow them to create or expand income generation schemes within the district. Such initiatives take lots of careful planning and presentation of realistic budgets. The Government provide technicians and economists to help people create and present their proposals for scrutiny. Those projects agreed require the creation and signing of a Memorandum of Understanding detailing financial commitments and responsibilities from the proposing institution / association / individual.

Principal areas of investment include agriculture (70% of the funds must be expended on food production), fishing, tourism and general business creation / expansion. The administrators of this programme are very concerned that the proposals are sensible and targets achievable and of course that the agreed loan repayments are in fact met.

It is too early to say just how successful this initiative will be – but of course, we are all being very positive.

For the last four months of the year, the Pontes in Maputo and Catembe have been undergoing reconstruction. This has created one or two logistical problems of course (mainly because of disrupted ferry schedules etc.) but it will all be worthwhile because the government are to provide a larger car ferry (taking up to 16 cars) in addition to the current ferry (which can take 12 cars). The plan is that the ferries will then run an hourly service (currently 2 hourly). Rumours of the construction of a bridge still abound – let’s wait and see !

Plans for 2009

IMAGINE always work in partnership with the local Government institutions and already we have a number of joint plans which we hope to implement in 2009.

• In partnership with Social Action we will open the fifth house at the Family Homes centre, which will then house up to 60 orphaned children.

• We will commence the bread making programme to provide bread for the homes and to sell within the community.

• We will lay stronger administrative foundations at the homes to ensure all children receive the very best support in terms of health, education and development.

• We will continue and expand the child psychology education of the parents and of selected community workers.

• In partnership with the Education authority we will open a (possibly two) skills training centres for children and youth (woodwork and metalwork).

• We also hope to open a community skills training centre along the same lines.

• We will open a community agricultural (and small animal) programme in Chamissava, nearby the Old People’s village.

• We will continue to provide school desks as finances permit (we are still 600 short in Catembe)

• We will continue to distribute mosquito nets as finances permit.

• We will expand our housing programme, in partnership with Social Action – focusing on mother / grandparent led families supporting young children.

• We will continue to fund the running of the community ambulance.

• We will endeavor to introduce more HIV / AID awareness programmes to the wider community.

• We will endeavor to encourage HIV testing, particularly with youth in mind.

• We will investigate expanding our programmes to Matutuine as requested.

• We will remain flexible and try to respond to supportive needs as necessary.

And finally – what is a good home – a child’s answer :

Where there is love— that is the most important thing
Where there is food and each child gets an equal amount
Where people do things together
Where you are allowed to go to school
Where noone talks about who is an orphan and who is not
Where there is no discrimination between children
Where you look forward to being at the end of the day

Thanks to all who have :

helped us, encouraged us, prayed for us, joined us, welcomed us, kept in touch with us, visited us cried with us, smiled with us, laughed with us, listened to us, understood us, remained friends with us, been one with us, dreamed with us and imagined with us.

On a simple personal note, especially for those who have been with us here in Mozambique and therefore know what we are talking about, our Princess Tai died this past year. And it saddened us, she has been with us for many years -even Ted (our dog) howled when she died (who says animals don’t have a spirit). Are we soft ? YES !

Joe & Lorraine February 2009

 

Mozambique contact

Associacao IMAGINE
CP 1056
Maputo
Mozambique

Email :- imagine@teledata.mz

UK contact

IMAGINE c/o
37 Newbold Grove
Croxteth Country park
Liverpool L12 0NS

Web :- www.imaginemozambique.org