Mozambique

Escola Secundaria S'o Gabriel, [St. Gabriel's Secondary School] is a relatively small school in the outskirts of Maputo, Mozambique. 800 boys and girls between the ages of 12 and 18 go to St. Gabriel's and it offers a full range of subjects.

Mozambique experienced a long, bloody and destructive civil war that only ended in 1992. Many of the difficulties brought about by the civil war remain. Mozambique still suffers from the problems of poverty, disease and low-life expectancy. St Gabriel's tries to tackle these problems with education.

Under the watchful eye of Fr. Pietro, the school's director, St. Gabriel's also has a sister project to help develop the vocational skills of the most disadvantaged children in its community. The school opened a Centro de Acolhimento [a welcome centre]. Amongst its pupils, 120 orphaned and abandoned boys live and go to school at St. Gabriel's. Through the Lar Nova Esperan'a [A New Hope] project, the boys also benefit from learning essential skills such as how to cook, farm and take care of their livestock. The boys are taught skills such as carpentry and pottery that they will be able to use later in life. St. Gabriel's strives to be as self-sufficient as possible by growing its own food. They supplement this by selling the furniture, pottery and other things they make to the local community in Matola.

St. Gabriel's and The New Hope project need help with books, essential school equipment and contributions for the children's food. With Andrew's Trust, we are going to supply the school with these much needed resources. Fr. Pietro is passionate about football. This has clearly rubbed off on the children as they are crazy about the game. We hope to be able to provide them some football equipment. Andrew would no doubt approve.