Present in Mozambican land for about four years in the city of Maputo, the missionaries of the Shalom Community left the capital in the direction of the North of the country to contribute to the humanitarian issue the region has been suffering for a few months already.
The escalating violence in the North of Mozambique, where at least 30 thousand people had to leave the seaside city of Palma since it was attacked by armed groups on March 24, 2021, was the cause of the forced displacement of the population that left towards other regions, looking for safety. One of the welcoming spots was the District of Montepuez, one of the 17 districts of the Province of Cabo Delgado. There, many families escaped, mostly women and children.
According to UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, since 2017, the conflict in the North of Mozambique left tens of thousands of deceased and wounded people and forced more than 700 thousand people to move towards the provinces of Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Niassa, Sofala and Zambézia.
The missionaries of the Shalom Community stayed during about one month in six refugee camps and worked on the distribution of 22ons of non-perishable food, received from Aid to the Church in need (ACN), and which helped about 1000 families.
On top of the material help, the missionaries led some prayer moments in the refugee camps, in the houses that welcome the refugees. They also organized a Life in Spirit Seminar and distributed rosaries and Bibles.
Larissa Brito, a 27-year-old consecrated missionary from the Life Community of the Shalom Catholic Community, who has been in mission in Mozambique for 3 years and 4 months, describes the experience of the days spent with the refugees as unique. She says they were animated by a deep desire to be bearers of hope.
“We listened to them, we prayed for them, how touching it was to see Jesus in the Eucharist exposed, and people coming out of their houses to adore Him. Or when we arrived with Our Lady to make a procession and everyone was admiring, stopping to watch her pass, and bowing down to her. The masses celebrated with them… All of that marked me a lot. At the end, hearing the testimonies of gratitude of those who felt that God was not abandoning them, that God loves them and takes care of them… This is priceless.”
For the children, who represent nothing less than half of the refugees, were reserved moments of recreation and toy distribution.
“In the first camp that I went to, as soon as I got there, I found a 9-month old baby named Fatima, laying alone on a rug. I got closer to play with her, then the women who were nearby told me that her mother had died and that it was her maternal grandma who took care of her. It was moving to see, in little Fatima, the story of so many Mozambican little children who are becoming orphans because of this conflict, in which their parents died while trying to escape to save their lives and the lives of their children. We accompanied a lot of sick people, mostly children as they are more fragile, with malaria or other problems, usually gastrointestinal ones.
It was painful to see so many people in this situation. What impresses me is the resilience capacity of the Mozambicans. We got to chat with them and hear their stories of how they lost everything, how they had to run away to preserve the lives of their families, the hunger they experienced while they were escaping through the landscapes…It was a real experience of suffering with those who suffer and understanding that the language of love has a higher power.
João Patriolino, responsible for the Shalom mission in Mozambique, declares: “We are eternally grateful to God for allowing us to live this experience of love with the Mozambican people. We are also grateful to all of those who have made this mission possible and who accompanied us with their prayers. Thank you! Asante Sana!”