The Manica Project Brings Literary, Development to Rural Mozambique
21 August 2003
CARITAS and four other Oxfam partners have banded together to realize the enormous potential of rural farmers in Manhemé through one of the key avenues out of poverty: literacy.
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| From left to right: Elias Timoso, his 4 year-old daughter, Melodi, his wife, Fernando Jose, and a young girl. By: Kevin Pepper/Oxfam |
In 1994, Elias Timoso left his home in the Manica province of central Mozambique to study Portuguese and English in Zimbabwe. Two years later, he returned to his home, Manhemé, with a mission to teach basic literacy classes to willing students—a critical step in addressing the poverty of his village.
To accomplish this, Elias found an ally in Oxfam partner CARITAS. The organization is one of five Oxfam partners which have banded together for an ambitious development scheme called the "Manica Project." Like Elias, CARITAS sees the enormous potential of rural farmers in Manhemé, and believes literacy training is one of the key avenues out of poverty.
There are about 300 families, or roughly 2,000 people, living in Manhemé. For food and a small income, villagers fish the river, raise chickens, and grow a variety of crops, including maize, sorghum, groundnuts, beans, cotton, sunflower, sesame, tobacco and citrus fruits. The Manica province is rich in natural resources and teeming with untapped agricultural potential. Nevertheless an overwhelming percentage of people in rural areas live in extreme poverty.
In Manhemé, most villagers cannot read or write; in the rural areas of Manica, more than 75 percent of women are illiterate.
CARITAS has trained three teachers from the village, in addition to Elias, who are teaching functional literacy classes twice a week. To date, 45 people have signed up for the courses, including 20 women and 25 men. Students are learning to read and write by studying practical concepts, such as the development needs of their village. In the process of learning how to read and write, they are identifying which families need latrines, fruit gardens, chicken runs, and bins to collect rain water.
"CARITAS is teaching us these things so that we are able to work, to know the terminologies of what we are doing," explains Sandra Houzinho, a new pupil in the literacy class. "And we work together, as participants. These are sessions, not classes."
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| Elias teaches a functional literacy class. The class is learning to read and write by identifying the needs of their village. By: Kevin Pepper/Oxfam |
Literacy is just one small piece of CARITAS' vision for Manhemé. At the heart of the Manica Project is the goal of enabling rural farmers to claim a bigger stake in Manica's thriving chicken market. From the growing of maize and sunflowers for chicken feed, to incubating, raising, processing, packaging and marketing, most farmers are already well-positioned to play a valuable role in the chicken production chain. Down the road, CARITAS wants to connect them to private investors and eager markets.
But for now, villagers are receiving technical assistance on every aspect of chicken raising and farming. CARITAS has other goals for the villagers as well. This year they have placed a priority on educating villagers about health issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention. In villages like Manhemé, an estimated 40 percent of the population carries the virus.
The same trainers have worked miracles for Elias' family. His chickens are plump and ready to go to market. He has a "model house," complete with a working latrine, grain mill, chicken run, a house garden, and a flourishing orchard surrounding his land. In the orchard, Elias grows avocado, litchi, mango, pawpaw, banana, passion fruit, oranges, and lemons. In his garden, he grows a variety of medicinal plants, used as antibiotics and ointments for a litany of ailments, including a plant to mitigate the symptoms of HIV/AIDS.
Everyday a group of villagers walk down to see Elias' house, and, under the careful tutelage of CARITAS, are beginning to emulate his success. Still there is much work to be done.
"We have no irrigation systems in place, or water pumps and sprays for our house gardens," Elias asserts. "Most people have to walk four to five kilometers to fetch water, and they need tools to dig wells, and build watering troughs for their cattle."
Elias flashes a wide smile . "But this is all just the beginning."
