About Horizonte Azul

Horizonte Azul was registered as a community association in 2005 by volunteer activist (activista), Dalila Macucua. She was inspired to form the association out of longstanding concern about the area¡¦s poverty including: lack of sanitation and piped water supply, very poor quality and overcrowded housing, lack of electricity and/or means to access it, high unemployment/underemployment, increasing prevalence of HIV/AIDS, lack of access to-- and retention in-- school by many children, and no facilities to play and learn important skills. Moreover, a tragedy in her own family, which left her caring for three orphaned children (two nieces and a nephew), made her even more aware of the difficult odds against children being able to thrive in the community without services to help them with family difficulties and individual well-being.

Dalila¡¦s a aim in setting up the association was twofold: first, she wanted to insure that these children would go to school, and stay in school as long as possible; second, she wanted to create one or more places in the community where children would be able to participate in sports, to play drums and traditional instruments, to sing, dance and take part in poetry, art and theatre (Dalila¡¦s special interest), to receive help with their schoolwork, and guidance for their problems and aspirations in life.

At the moment , Horizonte Azul, under Dalila¡¦s leadership, has established a modest office housed in a building used by the bairro section secretary (the local governmental representative) and a community-based health organization. From there, a satellite play area at a nearby school, and a room at a literacy center, Dalila and a group of 15 young adults are providing daily homework assistance and a program of cultural and recreational activities for approximately 120 children. Horizonte Azul recognizes that its capacity to serve more than this number of young people is limited at this time. It is still a young association and until it gains broader financial support it will confine its assistance to orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) in grades 1-10, who live in closest proximity to the center.

In just over two years, Horizonte Azul has accomplished a great deal. It has trained and continues to nurture a dance troupe of young girls who have performed throughout Maputo, most recently at the annual Christmas bazaar at the American International School . It regularly solicits and distributes local donations of school supplies to help primary/secondary children with this ongoing need. Many children of school-going age have been helped by the association to have their school fees waived (due to poverty), and to gain enrollment in appropriate grades or to help working children gain access to school shifts that enable them to do both¡Xwork and go to school.

The Horizonte Azul Association used results from its household vulnerability survey to identify young people with the desire-- but limited or no means-- to carry on with their studies beyond grade 7. Because of the Dutch donation, which has been used to cover fees and other costs, 26 young people now have access to lower secondary school and suitable access to textbooks-- which many poor students in grades 8 and up, we have discovered, routinely do not have. These students are left to borrow books from teachers and more advantaged students and to photocopy the basic assignments. They copy little else from the texts because, of course, there is a cost involved. (Interestingly, small photocopy kiosks are enterprisingly popping up by schools to meet this demand.) The schools are trying to crack down on this through warning that each student must pay fees and buy a full set of textbooks in order to attend classes, but they can not enforce this rigidly because the costs are just too prohibitive for too many students. Kids find creative ways to share, but obviously it is far from satisfactory to have such ¡§hit or miss¡¨ access to the tools of learning.

Therefore, the association has purchased with its donated funds two nearly complete sets of textbooks for grade 8, and one complete set each for grades 9 and 10. Books currently missing from the sets will be obtained as soon as they become available through government outlets. These books will be held by the association and made available to students as per association guidelines. In other words, the books will not be taken home, but used after school when students come to the center for homework help and/or taken to school, only as necessary, and circulated among their own group. The small amount of funds remaining from the donation has already been/will be put toward payment of school fees for a number of poor, primary school children, and toward purchase of school supplies for all poor children involved in the association¡¦s programs. As more funds are raised, it may eventually be possible for grade 8 and up children being helped by the association to each have their own set of textbooks. These could be claimed back by the association at the end of the school year, and passed down to students coming up in their schooling. For now, the association can claim to have its first textbook ¡§shoebox library¡¨¡Xan interesting concept worth documenting and further developing if it works.

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