COVID19 – WHILE IN MOZAMBIQUE

By Jessica on May 3, 2020

We feel so privileged to be in our African home; Pemba, Mozambique,
during this time in history – even with a toddler and being 21 weeks pregnant!

We arrived back early March, just a few weeks before the travel warnings, countries borders being closed and the other extreme shutdown protocols globally.

Things are looking different here in Pemba, and I’m so proud of our Iris family who has gone above and beyond to make changes to best benefit the community.

Our 60 children who live with us on our children center have been split into smaller house families of 5 to 10 (we are helping care for 6 ten-year-old boys) and our doctors and clinic team are serving the community with courage and bravery. Our team has been able to supply 3-6 weeks worth of food to the widows and the disabled in our community, our sewing team has made over 300 face masks and we are taking all protocols seriously to honor the government and all individuals to best protect against this global pandemic.

We were given the opportunity to share a bit about what’s happening in Mozambique when two reporters contacted me from ABC Tasmania. They first did a radio interview, followed by a TV segment on the local news and then a written article. I’ll include these below for you to watch and listen to.

There is a lot of fear in the world at the moment, but no matter what you believe in, let’s continue to spread kindness, hope and love. We will get through this, but it’s better if we do it together in unity than in fear and anger.

People in the west, let’s remember those who haven’t the privilege to stock up a pantry, no electricity or running water. Those who haven’t a home to seek refuge in, and families of 6-14 who live in slums without the luxury of social distancing.

One of my friends visited an elderly lady in the village to check in on her and asked is she was afraid, The woman replied. No, I’m not afraid of Corona. But with our country being in “State of Emergency” with all these “safety guidelines, and not being able to work, we won’t die of Covid19… we will just starve to death.

This is the reality for the people here. They live in survival mode day-to-day, desperate to feed their familes just one single meal or obtain safe clean drinking water. With the extra challenges of a global pandemic, it causes so many more hurdles that they just can’t measure up to…
and the real concern is – if the virus doesn’t get them – poverty will.

This is where we can’t afford to sit back and ignore what’s happening. Our teams are brainstorming and talking to leaders in our city on how we can safely reach these people with food and aid.
Remember, these people only just experienced a category 4 cyclone last year that devastated their homes and families and they haven’t even had time to fully recover from that.

Another factor that is adding to the difficulties is terrorism in the north of our state.
A group from ISIS is causing hundreds and thousands to be displaced and continue to burn down villages.
Communities are fleeing to Pemba and surrounding villages for safety, leaving their farms and their little livelihoods behind.

Please be praying and remember Mozambique and countries like it during this time.