Meet Amelia Casaco Trabuo. She is 23 years old and lives with her 9 year old daugther and her mother in Mungassa. In 2005 Amelia was getting very sick and did not know why. With the arrival of Care for Life in Mungassa, Amelia’s health concerns immediately came to the attention of nurse Ana Micas and the local health promoter, Dona Rabia. Both women encouraged Amelia to visit the hospital, where she was diagnosed with the HIV virus and received antiretrovial drugs. With further encouragement of Care for Life, Amelia started to plant a family garden and began to eat more nutriciously – a vital part of improving one’s health when carrying the HIV virus. The medication was working and her health improved. She is now doing well and is integrated in the community, something that would not have happened prior to Care for Life.

Care for Life needs your skills and talents for serving the people in Mozambique. Care for Life’s administrative operations take place in the United States and this is where we need your help.

Life is busy, no doubt, but what a tremendous gift to share your skills to further the work of Care for Life in Mozambique and help countless families reach self-reliance.

Women studying to improve their lives and the life of their children.

For any of these opportunities please contact us at info@careforlife.org

Website Programmer
We are in great need of a programmer for our website. The time commitment varies, as some weeks are busier than others, but an average of 3 hrs a week would suffice.

PR – Editor
Are you interested in helping us spread the news about our work in Mozambique? We are in need of someone who is well connected with the press and can help us publish articles.

Fundraising – Events Planner
Nothing is harder than to push the work of an important mission forward, if it is not supported financially. Volunteers are needed to help plan and organize various events promoting Care for Life. Examples of tasks are event planning, helping with event logistics, staffing exhibits and soliciting sponsorships. This is a perfect opportunity for an aspiring events planner.

Accountant
We are in need of a great accountant who can help manage our finances. If you or anyone you know is proficient in Quick Book, has accounting experience or a finance degree, then please contact us.

College Campus Representative
Representative will attend job and internship fairs on campus in an effort to inform and recruit potential candidates for volunteer and internship opportunities in the US as well as in Mozambique.

Volunteer Assistant
Assist the Volunteer Coordinator in the recruitment and and engagement of volunteers and interns.

Grant Researcher
Research and find appropriate grants for the organization. Establish a list of possible projects that the organization can seek funding for. Coordinate and work with our grant writer on proposals throughout the year.

We are excited to welcome you to our team and work together towards our goal of laying the foundation of a brighter future for many families in Mozambique. Again, please contact us at info@careforlife.org if you are interested.

Not Corinne Julie Lopes and Andre Bueno. They decided to start off their marriage on a different note. Both are attornies in Brazil and work in the social work sector focusing on children and teenagers staying free of drugs and out of gangs. This month, however, they are taking their expertise to Care for Life, analyzing, researching, and adding their knowledge to the Family Preservation Program. And this is their idea of a perfect honeymoon!

On their first day they visited Care for Life’s village Ngupa, where they met with this family. Care for Life is teaching this mother to write and to take proper care of her weak and old grandmother. The grandmother is also part of Care for Life’s goal/reward program, but is too weak to accomplish her own goals, so neighbors are helping her accomplish goals such as drinking treated water, building a latrine and a washroom, and improving her home. These community efforts build altruistic attitudes that are often not found in war torn villages.

With the arrival of Care for Life Gil says that the biggest lesson he learned is that he didn’t have to wait for “someday”. He could set goals now, he could plan now, and he could take action now. As a result of the principles that he learned from Care for Life, he immediately set out to become self-reliant and put in motion his dream of having a home he could be proud of. But before he could reach his long-hoped-for goal, he needed to start small, so he could start earning the rewards that would allow him to build a new home. The initial goals he established with Care for Life were:

1. Build a table (so that washed dishes are not left on the ground)
2. Build a latrine
3. Drink only treated water
4. Change his diet to include more vegetables
5. Sweep the surrounding areas to keep living space clean
6. Make a washroom
7. Dig a pit for garbage disposal (burn)
8. Test for HIV every three months
9. Build a new permanent home
10. Make a fence and prepare a garden

Gil says that it is easy to keep these goals because he sees the value and purpose of each one as well as their long term effect on his personal health and well-being. It is easy to see that Gil takes great pride in his health and in his home. The day we went to meet Gil he greeted us with mud on his hands because he was currently accomplishing his biggest goal: building a home he is proud of. It is truly beautiful. He is in the process of mudding the walls on the inside, but already it is adorned with plants on the porch, a sitting area with benches, and a fence that finishes the feeling of a well-cared for property and home. He has come a long way from the dilapidated hut that washed away.

His home is nearly finished and his next goal is to build a permanent latrine and put in a garden. He said he always had many of these ideas and dreams in his head, but Care for Life finally explained the reasons why these things were essential and gave him the motivation, knowledge, and resources to do it. The most impressive part is the fact that the knowledge he has gained is rooted deeply within him and has become simply a part of who he is. He is a beautiful example to others and vows to continue to teach these principles to his neighbors and family. He resolutely affirms that when Care for Life is gone, the lessons learned will stay with the people it has touched.

Since February is the month of love and love drives what we do, we wanted to focus on some of the hightlights from 2011. In 2011, we saw many successes among our families in Mozambique and we are excited to share them with you. Below are just a few of the past year’s highlights:

- Our families almost doubled the rewards they received, which stems from their increased commitment to the teachings of the Family Preservation Program. The top rewards were cement bags with an increase from 3,604 bags in 2010 to 5,769 bags in 2011. Cement bags are given as rewards to build latrines or improve homes.

There are countless stories of families that are witnesses of this change. Please visit our website to read about some of these stories. Here is an excerpt of one of these success stories:

“With the arrival of Care for Life, life in Chiverano started to take a turn. We no longer have cholera, because Care for Life taught us how to put a stop to preventable diseases by teaching us the proper use of sanitation and how to take care of our ill members.” Mr. Estacha

Mr. and Mrs. Estacha in front of their home in Chiverano

Share with us our dream and be anxiously engaged in the well-being of the poor – in the world and especially in Mozambique.

Sozinho with his Zone leader António in front of his old house

Living in Mafarinha I, Antonio Jose, used to see many people dying every day. I felt like there was nothing I could do to prevent it. But when I became a leader for Care for Life, I was trained to help the families in the village set goals to improve their lives and prevent death. If we achieved the goals we set, Care for Life would reward us. With these rewards we would be able to set our next goals.

In order to help all of the 34 families in my zone reach their goals, I visit them every week and follow up on their progress. In November 2010, each family in my zone received rewards for achieving their goals. Because they reached their goals, every family has a better life now. One family in particular was Mr. Sozinho Lenço and his mother. They lived in a house that desperately needed to be fixed; they didn’t have a latrine/washroom or a way to dispose of garbage. So I spoke with him about why it is good to have a latrine or why it is important to dispose of garbage. Based on his needs, I helped Sozinho make the following goals: to build a latrine, to bury the garbage, to clean his yard, to use certeza to treat his drinking water, and to take his mother to the health center. Over the course of a few months, Sozinho fixed his house by adding a new roof, built a latrine and dug a garbage disposal. Since the building of the latrine, no one in his family uses the bushes any longer. After doing all of that, Sozinho has started building a new house using bamboo, rocks, and other cheap materials available locally.

Before Care for Life, I felt like there was nothing to look forward to in my village, but now we have
opportunities to improve our lives.

António, when asked what his objectives as a leader are, said: “We see many people dying here every day. Now I learned that we can stop that.”

Sozinho in front of his old house, where he lived with his mother for 20 years.

Mr. Sozinho in front of the new house that he is building

Mr. Estacha and his wife Helena in front of their house

Mr. Estacha is one of the Care for Life Zone leaders in Chiverano, where he is well respected by his neighbors and is known as the “Father and Mother” by the families in his Zone. This nickname was given to him because, according to the Zone families, Mr. Estacha has the authority of a father and the love of a mother.

Mr. Estacha grew up in Chiverano and has witnessed many changes in his village over the years. In his own words he recalls the transformation Chiverano has gone through over the past three decades.

“Life here in Chiverano used to be difficult when the Portuguese (Mozambique used to be a Portuguese colony) were here, but when the civil war started (in 1975), it got even worse. We were always on guard and made sure we would not get killed. But once the war was over, it wasn’t much better, because rampant diseases such as cholera and malaria would kill many of us. Those were the most difficult years.”

“But then, a few years ago, with the arrival of Care for Life, life in Chiverano started to take a turn. We no longer have cholera, because Care for Life taught us how to put a stop to preventable diseases by teaching us the proper use of sanitation and how to take care of our ill members. For example, before Care for Life, this community was filthy, because we did not know the proper use of sanitation and so there were feces everywhere. But now, the village is clean and we have our own latrines and know how beneficial they are to our health.”

Mr. Estacha and Rachid

Rachid, the Care for Life Community Participation Coordinator, credits Mr. Estacha as being an example of positive change in the village and as a leader who takes initiative and makes things happen. Further, Care for Life Field Officer Pombo notes that Mr. Estacha “follows up on the conditions of each family with zeal and intervenes when necessary.” Intervening and knowing how to resolve a crisis makes Mr. Estacha one of the best leaders in Chiverano. Below are some stories that illustrate Mr. Estacha’s great leadership and care for his community:

Lucinda Ferro lives in Chiverano. Like so many widows, she lives alone and does not have anyone to take care of her. Last year, during heavy rain fall, her old house started to collapse, Mr. Estacha collected some money from the other families in the Zone and bought stakes and grass. With the help of other Zone families, he built a new house for Lucinda.

Lucinda’s old house

Mr. Estacha building Lucinda’s new home

Antonio Zava, one of the members in Mr. Estacha’s Zone, was known to be a womanizer in the village Mr. Estacha and another member of the community Lucinda and Mr. Estacha in front of her new house and spent his money on other women, rather than working on Lucinda’s new home on his wife, Dona Gina. When Dona Gina, confronted him and asked him to change, he refused. Because Antonio refused to be involved, Dona Gina would work on all the Care for Life family goals on her own. Although she was hard-working, she could not continue to carry the burdens on her own, especially with five children in their home. So she made a very difficult decision and decided to leave her husband.

The new latrine of Miquelina Antonio built by Mr. Estacha and her five children and return to her parents’ home. Mr. Estacha employed the conflict resolution techniques he learned from Care for Life and encouraged Antonio to change his ways and to ask his wife for forgiveness and return home. Antonio followed Mr. Estacha’s advice and asked for Gina’s forgiveness. She returned and they are still together.

Thank you for helping Mozambican families in this time of need.

Your Care for Life family

In 2011 seven (7) more villages completed the Family Preservation Program and have reached their goal of becoming self-reliant. That makes a total of 11 villages completing the 30-month program, equating to over 12,000 individuals whose lives change for the better forever!