SCHOOL PATRICE LUMUMBA – QUELIMANE
The Patrice Lumumba General Secondary School is located in Quelimane and receives, at primary and secondary education level, students from various schools in the city and peripheral areas. From a socioeconomic point of view, it integrates students from different strata. Many fathers work in the public sector and in services and among mothers there is a considerable percentage who perform domestic activities. At this institution, ATACA has supported, since 2017, students from families with low resources. The annual scholarship consists essentially of school supplies and uniforms, and there is also an exemption from fees payable at school and the possibility of access to a library with computers and internet. The future of young people at Escola Patrice Lumumba could involve applying for technical or university training after completing secondary education, taking advantage of the quality of teaching at this school, which gives them better preparation than other educational institutions.
SCHOOL SANTA TERESINHA – CHEMBA
Chemba is a rural and remote area, where needs multiply and access to education is a challenge for most young people, as many live 60 or 70 km from the nearest school.
Chemba is located in the Province of Sofala and has a community school called Santa Teresinha, which operates from the 8th to the 12th grade, with around 800 students.
Near the school there are two boarding schools: one for boys and one for girls, managed, respectively, by priests and sisters. The male boarding school has been operating since 2003 and the female boarding school since 2014. There is a carpentry shop and young people are taught here to work with wood. The amount that students pay does not cover the annual expenses for food, hygiene and accommodation at the boarding school, as families are not able to contribute a lot of money, so it is necessary to guarantee external support, but there is little in the way of support.
On the school grounds there are small houses – “huts” – made of grass for students who live far away and cannot find a place or pay for boarding school. These huts remain from year to year for those who go to school to study and have nowhere to stay. These students use the boarding school’s toilet facilities for personal hygiene and those who live closer go home at the weekend – the others can only go on vacation, but sometimes not even then. They bring food from home to cook their meals during the week, but what families produce on the machambas (agricultural land) is not always enough to feed the young people.
It was precisely for these young people that ATACA began its support, only in 2021-2022, but plans for the future include increasing intervention in this community.
