Sunday, May 19, 2013

What if this was your home?


Over 13.5 million people, the equivalent of 2.5 million families or 60% of the population in Mozambique live with no conditions in makeshift homes, as reported by local authorities in Mozambique.

The reasons behind these poor statistics are the high cost of imported building materials,  the low accessibility to credit for the larger part of the population, especially lower income ones, as well as from the natural growth of the population, with demand far outstripping supply. 


This makes your support even more important.

Make your little Gesture this month and help ALG change the life of a family by building a simple, clean and welcoming family hut. We have built 23 family huts since 2009 and wat to build many more!

You too can give the gift of a home. May - The Month of the Family Huts at ALG!Donate Now!http://tinyurl.com/alghuts2013

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Paulo Rebeca's New Home!

In 2012, the ALG Launch Event financed a brand new Family Hut for Paulo Alfredo Rebeca and his family.

Fifteen year old Paulo shares his new hut with his single mother, little sister Josefa, who is five and Alfredo Novunga, a cheerful 10-year old. The hut has one door, one living room and one bedroom  The share a communal toilet just next door. 

The water fountain is reasonably close for the region, only 10 minutes walk away. Their new possessions also include 3 big water containers to store what is a scarce liquid in the village. 

Small Alfredo's school is close by, but Paulo has to take the local bus to attend school. He is a good and dedicated student, sponsored and followed closely by our portuguese sister-charity UPG Portugal.

Their mother cultivates beans, corn and mandioca to top-up the monthly family basket they receive by UPG as part of the sponsorship programme. She also finds the time to work on neighbouring plots for  a meagre 30MT (65p) a day.

They have electricity and even TV when they can afford the monthly bill.

The mother thanks gratefully: " We live well in this house... Since we have it, we are so very happy, we don't get any rain inside, we live so well."

You too can give the gift of a home. May - The Month of the Family Huts at ALG!
Donate Now!
http://tinyurl.com/alghuts2013




Friday, May 3, 2013

Mana Patricia after a month in Mozambique - The ALG After-Class centres


"It is now a month since I arrived to Mozambique. I feel like time has flied and the engagement you start having with people you come across with every day and the smile on children's faces will be terribly missed when I leave. With this experience I am learning a lot while trying to do my simple tasks to help. It is impressive how little children here have...but how a smile and such joy is carried with them every single day.

Morning and Afternoon Class,
 ALG After-Class courses in S Vicente Paulo school
Everyday I try to teach them something new, as their known universe finishes a couple of miles from the place they live. Still I feel we should always try to make a difference, be it teaching them vowels or just carrying them in our lap to show them tenderness.

Here, the smallest Little Gesture means so much for them.

The other day I was passing close to the dam (ALG's CRPE Orphan Centre) when I heard a child shouting "Mana Patricia!!!" Mana is their affectionate term for big sister. Sometimes communication is hard with the children as their portuguese is not fluent, speaking local dialect instead. But their smile and affection is worth a thousand words!"


Mana Patricia travelled as a volunteer with our sister-charity UPG Portugal to the area of Chokwe, Mozambique, where she is supporting the ALG After-Class study centre in SVP - S Vicente Paulo school, among others. 
In Mozambique, only 44% of students complete elementary school. Only 20% of students attend secondary school.

The ALG After-Class study centres provide children with access to after school study centers where they can develop and strengthen their learning. Our goal is to improve the quality of education and promote in children an increased interest in studying to avoid drop-outs. We have locations in Chokwé (SVP), Manjangue (SLM), Chinhacanine (CRPE) and Chongoene.


Email info@alittlegesture.org if you would like to know more!