SOS Children in Mozambique

Children at Inhambane, Mozambique

We began working in Mozambique in the 1980s, as the civil war raged. The conflict left many children orphaned. Now Mozambique is peaceful, we work to help children stay with their families and provide care in our SOS Children’s Villages for those left alone.

With SOS Children, you can help orphaned and abandoned children in Mozambique by sponsoring a child:

Sponsor a child in Mozambique

Poverty across Mozambique

80% of the population of Mozambique live in poverty, a startling figure even for a country in sub-Saharan Africa. Basic needs including food, sanitation and running water are difficult to get hold of, which is reflected by the fact that only 50% of Mozambicans live on more than $1 a day.

Mozambique’s struggles are compounded by frequent natural disasters. Floods crippled much of Mozambique’s infrastructure only a few years after Mozambique came out of civil war in the early 1990s. In rural areas, droughts are frequent and famine is widespread. Life expectancy is low at 48 years. Approximately one and a half million Mozambicans are living with HIV, over 10% of the population.

Children in Mozambique

  • Nearly half of Mozambicans are under 14 years of age. Half of the 10 million children are living in extreme poverty.
  • It is estimated that over 2 million orphans live in Mozambique, and up to a quarter of the total is due to HIV/AIDS. As orphans are more likely to engage in work to survive, education is often missed. Many thousands of children in Mozambique never attend school.

Mozambique MapOur charity work in Mozambique

Tete

We began our work in Mozambique in 1987 with the construction of the first SOS Children's Village in Tete, in the northeast of the country, to provide a home for children who had lost their parents during the war. Before it opened in 1989, an emergency aid programme was organised in the area to counter the effects of famine. The village has 15 family homes and youth houses for over 70 young people in both the village and in nearby Matundo and Matema. There is a nursery school, a primary and secondary school, all of which are open to the local community. An SOS Social Centre cares for 2,000 children in the wider community and a further programme started in Kapaia in 2007.

In 1992, a second emergency relief programme was established in Tete when the harvest failed because of drought throughout southern Africa. Since then the programme has been repeated annually with the aid focused on children suffering from malnutrition, mothers and pregnant women. An outreach programme for children in neighbouring villages - a bush nursery school of tents - was set up in 1995 which provides day care and regular meals for over one hundred small children.

sponsor a child in Mozambique

Maputo

We opened a second SOS Children's Village in one of the poorest areas of Maputo, the capital of Mozambique, in 1995. SOS Children's Village Maputo has 15 family houses as well as two youth houses. Additional facilities, all of which are open to the local community, include a nursery, a primary and a secondary school and a vocational training centre.

In July 2002, an SOS Social Centre was opened in Maputo. This provides basic pre-school and vaccination programmes and literary and training courses for the surrounding community as well as HIV/AIDS awareness programmes. A separate programme started in Laulane in 2007.

Pemba

SOS Children's Village Pemba, 2000km north of Maputo in Cabo Delgado province, was completed at the end of 1999. Using local materials and built in the traditional style, it has 15 family houses, a nursery and a primary and secondary school. The number of children enrolled in the three SOS schools in Mozambique is currently just under 4,000. The SOS Social Centre provides similar services to the one in Maputo, and is currently extending its HIV/AIDS community outreach programmes. A separate Family Strengthening Programme was opened in Chiuba in 2007.

Inhambane

A fourth SOS Children’s Village is in Inhambane on the east coast of Mozambique. There are 15 family homes for 150 orphaned and abandoned children. There is also an SOS Nursery School for 90 children and a combined SOS Primary and Secondary School for 1,600 children. In addition there is an SOS Social Centre to support children and their families in the local community.

Chimoio

SOS Children's Village Chimoio comprises eleven family houses to take in up to 110 orphaned, abandoned or neglected children. Both children from the SOS Children's Village and from the neighbouring community may attend the attached SOS Nursery, which helps the SOS Children's Village integrate into the community. The SOS Nursery offers pre-school education to up to 60 children. A Family Strengthening Programme cares for 1,000 children.

Beira

SOS Children's Village Beira is currently under construction. It will provide a loving home to 150 children. A Family Strengthening Programme will reach out to 1,000 children in the wider community.

Aids Orphans in Mozambique

Local Contact

sponsor a child in Mozambique

Aldeia de Crianças SOS Moçambique  

Avenida 24 de Julho No. 3260

C.P. 2062

Bairro do Laulane

Maputo

Mozambique              

Tel: +258/21/400 443, +258/21/400 850   

Fax: +258/21/400 848   

e-mail: jaime@soscvs.org.mz