The United Methodist Church in Mozambique continues to provide relief and assistance in recovery to flood survivors. Many people were permanently displaced following the catastrophic flooding in early 2000-- and many survivors were inundated again in flooding last winter. UMCOR and The United Methodist Church in Germany have given grants that enabled The United Methodist Church in Mozambique to build houses for flood survivors. These houses will provide homes for people the government has had to relocate because their former villages are no longer habitable. The church hired a contractor who used local labor to build 120 homes. The government has granted the UMC the right to build a church, school, and clinic in this new community.
The church will carry out a similar home building project in the northern part of the conference. In addition, the UMC continues to provide food, seeds, and tools to people in the north who were affected by last winter's floods. It is also planning a disaster preparedness seminar.
When UMCOR staff were in Mozambique at an earlier disaster preparedness seminar, they challenged the local churches to develop project proposals for recovery work that could be carried out with a $3,000 grant. To date, three churches have submitted proposals and are receiving funding. Two of the churches will oversee reforestation projects to help control erosion and prevent future flooding. The third will use its grant to replace a team of oxen that was lost in the floods so that community members will be able to plow their fields.
UMCOR and the United Methodist Church in Mozambique are grateful for the outpouring of gifts in response to the Mozambique flooding-- gifts that continue to be used to provide basic necessities and help people rebuild their lives. To support ongoing recovery work in Mozambique, give to UMCOR Advance #156500-0, "Mozambique Emergency."
The United Methodist Church in Mozambique has used funds from UMCOR and the UMC in Germany to build these houses in the new village of Magoanine for people displaced by the floods. Photo credit: Morais Quissico/ UMC Mozambique
