BOOSTING EDUCATION IN THE GIRLS OF MAMANA WA KURULA HOME | MAPUTO

The Mamana wa Kurula Welcoming Center is an institution of the Sisters of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. It is a non-profit social work, located 6 km from the town of Boane, in the village Paula Samuel Kankhomba in a rural area. The Center was established in 2010, and is closed as a response to the impact of HIV/AIDS in our Mozambican society.

Due to this illness several families have lost their loved ones infected and affected by HIV/AIDS. The center welcomes girls from 5 to 18 years old, offering them a supportive environment with human and Christian values, allowing them to grow integrally as a person and a woman.

The girls are involved and affected directly or indirectly, because when their mother or father dies, they have to take care of the house, their siblings, and chores that in many cases prevent them from attending school, living their childhood learning and playing. As caretakers and educators, we collaborate so that the children are able to achieve the planned objectives of welcoming, educating, and reintegrating themselves into society as adult women capable of facing today's reality.

The girls main activity is study, but they also do other activities such as sewing, cooking, and taking care of the farm and the younger children.Unfortunately, we do not have a secondary school close to the neighborhood, so the girls have to travel a distance of about 15km to get to school.

The center has a car but cannot take all the children because they are attending school in different shifts, which forces us to pay for public transportation for some girls when the schedules do not coincide. And in turn public transportation in our area is very irregular, so many times they have to walk, which causes them to delay and miss the activities planned at the center. To get to school it takes 40 meticais a day and since there are 23 girls in the secondary school, the center has to spend 920 meticais a week.

The campaign aims to support the 10 girls of the Mamana Wa Kurula where the bicycles will help to change the lives of these children, allowing them more time to reread the contents of the school and participate in activities at the home with the other girls.

This campaign will provide: •10 Bicycles •Transportation •Spare parts and accessories •Basic training on bike care and maintenance