People in Partnership
Report of 2008 Visit with CCM
ARTICLE
FROM BRUCE WHITMORE PREPARED FOR THE BRIDGE
The Christian Council of Mozambique (CCM) invited
the United Church of Canada to send a group of pastors, youth and
women to experience the reality of life in Zambesi Province. This was
referred to London Conference. “The Group of 10”, a diverse group
of five men and five women, including two pastors and two youth,
represented the presbyteries of Oxford, Middlesex, Lambton, Kent and
Huron-Perth. We went to observe and to learn, with the real work
occurring on our return as we share our experience locally, affirming
that our Hope Book donations do make a difference. We saw the
donations at work in new wells, medicinal gardens, new schools and
wheelbarrows.
Education is a priority. Local people
experienced pride of ownership in their school as they carried the
foundation stones, made the bricks and provided the labour, while CCM
contributed mortar cement and tin for the roof. It was rewarding to
see the new schools used by enthusiastic teachers and eager students.
The welcome extended in every village through singing, dancing and
worship always transcended the barrier of language. It was humbling
to be given gifts by people at subsistence level….bananas, tomatoes, a
chicken and a couple of goats, We re-gifted these items to
orphanages caring for kids with no living relatives or to the PEDRA
schools which provide enrichment for some girls age 12-16.
It became clear that the medicinal gardens
complement the Canadian Foodgrains Bank efforts because flooded-out
people need to eat (CFGB) while they wait on a new crop. The key to
the gardens is a trained agronomist who teaches the locals to grow the
plants and a pharmacist who teaches them to turn leaves and roots into
teas and creams that can cure malaria, rashes, colic and even
hemorrhoids. Thus, the healthier people can become self-sustaining on
their own farm plots, proving that the UCC is giving a hand-up, not a
hand-out. Do call your presbytery rep to have one of “the Group of
10” share the full story.
