Mateque final report

Our first visit ever when we arrived in Mozambique was the Mateque School.  We worked with them for months mostly learning what exactly we should be doing as missionaries. 

We asked for a plan of action for the future of the school.  Izidro worked with his community to come up with that plan and presented it to us.  It was more of a list of needs rather than a plan of action.  We worked with him to hone that up into a real plan of action.  Now we have a maintenance plan for the future to add to that first plan of action.  That is progress.

Their needs list included

metal doors, grating for their windows and frames, locks for the doors, secretary desks and chairs, desks for students, storage cabinets for the textbooks, and textbooks. Electrical supplies,  computers, a printer, and a typewriter, community involvement, and a guard.

This first plan included who was responsible for supplying the school with these items, what the objective of having these items was, the deadline, and then a note regarding each.  Not bad for a plan.

We chose to work with them supplying electrical supplies and refurbishing supplies to secure their classrooms to protect the desks, the cacifos and the teacher’s desks and textbooks.  They would supply the rest needed, work to install and upgrade classrooms and a guard. 

We asked at this time, to work with the community on coming up with a maintenance plan.

Because we were so new, the work was slow.  Finding bids and working out details was slow.  We finally got a supplier for the refurbishing supplies who would deliver it out to Mateque, a desk supplier who we felt we could trust and a textbook supplier.

This is Ceasar from the Marracuene District in Capulana Shirt.

We also went with Izidro to his District Director, Cremilde Narunga, Marracuene District Director. Our first meeting with her showed us many places we needed to work.  The Welfare Principles were not being applied much here from what we could find.  We wanted to make sure Cremilde was supportive of us supplying Izidro with textbooks when we understood the Government was supplying textbooks.  We needed her support for the things we were doing to work with Izidros school.  The impression we got was that she thought there were much more “needy” schools to be working with and Izidro was rather brash in his character.  Why did we pick him?  We came away with a feeling that we had at least done what we came to do, which was to let her know we were working with Izidro, even though we felt Cremilde was not very supportive of Izidro and his school.

Then the work began.  We paid for the materials to refurbish and checked off the delivery.

How exciting that was.  Izidro said his school was hoping we would come thru with our promise but they had been let down so much from so many, they weren’t counting on us.  When we got the materials there, they did the work and refurbished those classrooms in no time at all.  We promised that when they had the rooms refurbished, we would supply them with the books and the desks.

Here are the two men that were integral in the book supply, Imran and Mayzer. The books were delivered in 3 sessions.  Oh the joy!

The whole community came out to haul the desks from 200 yards outside the school grounds to the school.  The truck couldn’t get any closer.

The children and teachers were so excited to be a part of the delivery.  They held a beginning of school activity showing their gratitude even before the desks and books were delivered.  They were convinced we would keep our promise after the refurbishing supplies were delivered.  What a difference in confidence.

We went to give our final picture show of success to Cremilde and invite her once again to the closing ceremony to be held that Saturday, February 27, 2016.  She welcomed us so differently this time.  She showed gratitude we did not expect for the work done at Mateque.  She said she had a meeting but would try very hard to be at the closing ceremony.  AS we were telling her of the champion we found in Izidro in his ability to move the community to support the school, she came up with a story about her own children’s school asking the parents to provide 100 mets per child to help build another building.  She was beginning to see what the Welfare Principles are all about.  We came away from this meeting much encouraged that she could be learning what we had hoped to teach thru our project at Mateque.  Our goal is to help teach the districts thru our projects that the Welfare Principles can be learned and then applied anywhere there are people who want to improve and are willing to learn, “champions”.  She did not show as much enlightenment as Tiago did but there was hope.

The closing ceremony was amazing.

The talks on maintaining what they had been given could have been read right out of the manual.  The community chefi, the school chefi, the director, the students, the community members and even the Bishop showed forth application of the “Welfare Principles”.  If these principles can be taught and then learned and then applied, our project is a success, no matter what it is that we have given them.

The only thing missing was someone from the District.  Just as we were closing the meeting and everyone was going home, here came Cesar from the District.  We were so glad he was able to meet the Bishop, the School and Community Chefi’s and take a tour of the progress with all the supplies from the project.  He was invited to plant a tree in memory of this occasion along with four others of us. The above picture shows the Chefis, the District rep, the Bishop, Izidro, Benildo, our interpreter and me. Success in getting them all together to meet.

Our discussion after the meeting was very enlightening.  We felt that Cesar was beginning to see what it is that we are looking for to partner with a school in a project.  He brought up a little school we had visited in the beginning and how they were so concerned with it.   Why didn’t we help that school? That was one they were really concerned with.

I got to share my opinion of that.  When we were there, we could see they had been built a new classroom, with water barrels outside, and filled with desks and a chalkboard.  There was another building that was given to them as well, with glass in the windows, a good roof, a solid foundation up out of the floods and filled with desks.  While we were there, I could see the desks that had been freely given them were broken up, burned, used as props for other things or moved out of the building built for them and they only had about 10 working desks if that many.  While we were there, a student or several students broke one of the windows while their teacher was talking to us.  What did they do? They didn’t even get up and go talk to them.  They said, “kids will be kids” and kept begging us to give them things; another classroom so they could have 6^th grades stay there instead of walk so far to the other school.

My comment was “This is why we did not choose to work with them.  They did not take care for the things they had been given.  This is why we chose Izidro instead.  He was teachable and willing to work with us.”

Cesar left saying he would relate this comment to Pazimani in hopes they can learn what they need to do to enlist our services.

This showed us that Cesar is beginning to learn the Principles and Supporting Outcomes of Welfare also.  This is success.

We have felt the Principles of Welfare are beginning to blossom at this school in Mateque.  We hope to follow their progress throughout the rest of our mission.  We hope and pray the District will see and support these great principles and strive to spread these principles into all the schools of the Marracuene District.

Sister Petersen