Mothers of Mozambique: 'We need food, water'
The sun was unforgiving. It was midday. After more than three hours zigzagging the uneven terrain, the vehicle finally arrived in Nhakalize village in Tete – the hottest province in Mozambique. The brunt of the drought was very evident. The grazing land before has turned to brown and withered crops.
Tina’s anxiety
Mother Tina, 37, was carrying her youngest child through a colorful Mozambican fabric on her back while holding a water container on her left hand. She walked more than three hours to fetch water from the river that has almost dried up. “It’s very hot and tiring but I need to keep going,” shares Tina.
There are two boreholes in Nhakalize village: one without water and the other one with water but smells bad. Tina and some residents in the village left with no choice but to bear with the stinky borehole. It was only a month ago that they discovered an alternative water source at the river but a bit far.
“My kids are forced to go walk far with heavy containers on their head. Since it’s already summer, they complain the unbearable heat,” she added.
The prolonged dry spell has been hurting many families in Mozambique. Tina’s family owns a 5-hectare land of corn, maize, and tomatoes but unfortunately, the drought has gone on for more than a year. From last year’s cropping season, they didn’t harvest anything.
“My four kids are used to eating maize everyday with milk and some fruits but now, I can only feed them with small fruit – the only edible thing that withstand the drought,” adds Tina.
As the drought continued to intensify, the agricultural livelihood of the families living in the rural areas were destroyed. The devastating impact of El Niño induced drought has left the rural farms in Mozambique dry and barren - unable to produce crops that once fed the families. The villagers in Nhakalize, like most Mozambicans in rural areas, also do not have access to clean and safe water. In Mozambique around 15 million people have been affected by El Niño and more than 200,000 children are at risk of malnutrition.
Juliet’s sacrifice
Mother Juliet, who lives two houses away from Tina, prioritized feeding the youngest children over the older ones. She has eight children – the eldest is 20 years old and the youngest is one year old.
“My children are my priority when it comes to food and water. They should eat first then my husband and I eat,” says Juliet.
Having a big family, Juliet has to carefully measure out rations for the children according to their age. “The older ones will receive less – I think they can manage eating less. The younger ones are weaker,” she said. Juliet carefully measures her rations so all her eight children can eat.
On the first months that they felt the drought, majority of the villages relied on neighbors’ help but as resources dwindle, not even the strongest bond of family ties or friendship can provide food on the table.
“We need to work on our own. We can’t depend on anyone anymore because everyone suffers,” says Juliet.
Answered Prayer
Thankfully, Tina and Juliet are glad that their names are registered to receive food assistance from the Consorcio Humanitario de Mocambique (CHEMO), a consortium composed of World Vision and Food for the Hungry, funded by UK’s Department for International Development (DFID). To enhance food security and resilience, the project is targeting 13,007 drought-affected families in Mozambique.
The food assistance program will run for six months and each selected family can choose the food item they want to purchase in a mobile shop. Through the Mastercard’s e-voucher, families can select from these options: maize meal, beans, rice, salt, vegetable sugar and tea.
“The El Niño phenomenon continues to impact thousands of people and children in Mozambique so World Vision continues to partner with aid agencies to strengthen assistance,” says Graham Strong, National Director of World Vision Mozambique.
Currently, with its ongoing El Niño response, World Vision has reached out to more than 1.9 million individuals in Southern Africa, which covers Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. In Mozambique, about 63,700 individuals have benefitted from food assistance, Water and Hygiene and Sanitation (WASH) as well as health and nutrition programmes.
“I look forward to receive the food assistance and crop seeds. It will be an answered prayer,” says Judith.
Mother’s wish
Women and mothers in the Nhakalize village in Changara district are doing their best to cope with the dire situation. But as they continue to suffer the brunt of the drought, their resiliency can only take them so far.
“This is the worst drought that we experienced so far, but I will do everything for my children,” says Tina.
Both Tina and Juliet do menial jobs in the neighboring villages like laundry and farm works. “Our lives have been tough but our children motivate me to be positive,” says Juliet.
Facing the adversity brought by El Niño, they only have one wish, “I hope there will be sufficient rains in the coming planting season. I don’t know what to do if the drought will take longer,” Juliet added.