Inter Press Service - November 5, 2002
Lina Mucanse

"My mother had been ill for a long time but we did not know what she was suffering from until her friend contacted Reencontro (a non-governmental organisation helping orphans and people living with HIV/AIDS). So, officials from Reencontro came and took my mother to hospital. Because we were also sick they took us to the hospital, but mom was so ill that she could not recover and ended up dying in March," recalls Martinho.

A pupil of grade seven at Eduardo Mondlane Primary School in Laulane, outside Maputo, Martinho says they do not have close relatives to look after them. Their father, a vendor in the local market, died in December 1999. And, with their mother ill and themselves young, there was no one in the family to take over the business.

"I even thought of leaving school and looking for a job," she says. But that did not happen, since Reencontro had offered to look after them.

"They give us food and clothing. And also pay our school fees," says Martinho.

Another orphan who also gets help from Reencontro is Mariana Ostene, 17, herself a student at Eduardo Mondlane Primary School. Ostene, the eldest in a family of three, has similar story as Martinho's.

"First, my father died, followed by my mom," she says.

Following the death of their mother, the Ostene children were left with their cousin. The cousin, who also has a family of her own to look after, would share the little meals with them and pay their school fees. But sometimes the orphans would go hungry for days because their cousin, who has no job, depends on her husband.

One day, after Ostene had returned from school, the community leader arrived, accompanied by two women. "He told me that the women wanted to hear our story before they can help us," she says.

It was the beginning of a new life for the Ostene children. The women, sent by Reencontro, promised to give the orphans food, buy them medicine and cloth.

Mariana says their life has changed since Reencontro began looking after them.

Gomes Vilankulo, a community leader at Inhagoya, a suburb of Maputo, says Reencontro has stepped in at the right moment. There is an increase in the number of children who have lost their parents and who have no close relatives to look after them.

In the past, orphans used to depend on neighbours, who took turns in providing meals, a gesture that Vilankulo says did not work.

"When Reencontro invited us to identify children in need, we were shocked to find that many households were headed by minors. It was sad to see children looking after each other," says Vilankulo.

"What shocked us most was that children were dropping out of school to go and beg on the street in an attempt to ensure a meal to younger brothers and sisters," he recalls.

Reencontro, which was formed several years ago, started with a small number of children from the suburb where it is located, Laulane. But soon its activities expanded to other areas and now a total of 535 children receive help in Maputo alone.

Reencontro chairperson, Doroteia Mbalane, says the group is also looking after 500 AIDS orphans in Gaza province, where it has just set up an office.

She says the help it renders the children is just part of the group's activities. "We started our activities by providing home care to people living with AIDS in Maputo," Mbalane says. "Now we also look after orphans. We pay their school fees and offer them free medical assistance so that the orphans enjoy full rights as children."

Official statistics show that 13 percent of Mozambique's 17 million people are infected with HIV, while further 700 people are infected every day.

The estimated number of children who have lost their mother or father or both parents to AIDS, who were under age 15 during the first quarter of 2002, was about 430,000. And, the number is forecast to top one million by 2010.

Another estimates from UNAIDS/World Health Organisation (WHO) show that 630,000 of women aged between 15 and 49 are living with HIV/AIDS, while the number of children aged 0-15 living with the disease is about 80,000. These figures put Mozambique as one of the worst affected by the disease in Africa.

Earlier this year, the Mozambican government announced a plan to contribute about five million U.S. dollars into the newly created HIV/AIDS fund, annually.

Mozambique has developed a plan to cut down HIV transmission and reduce the impact of the disease on the country. The plan emphasises the need to intensify awareness campaigns to educate young people, the most affected by the pandemic.

The government also gives priority to counselling, voluntary testing, and training for girls and women in the skills of sex negotiation.(END/IPS/AF/HE/HD/LM/MN/02)

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