Helping Refugees in Mozambique

Since 2017, Mozambique has witnessed a terrorist insurgency that has left thousands dead and has displaced around a million others. Life can be very difficult for these refugees. ACN is helping the local Church in providing aid to the refugees.

By ACN Staff

Francisco Faustino Francisco (called Chico) reading the Bible. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

Since 2017, the northern province of Cabo Delgado in Mozambique has been torn apart by a brutal Islamist insurgency. The majority of the population of Mozambique are Christians, with Catholicism being the largest denomination. The country’s Muslim minority mostly live in the north of the country. The insurgency in the country’s north has seen over 3,000 people killed and has displaced around one million people.

Francisco Faustino Francisco, who goes by Chico, is a 52-year-old Catholic father of five from Muidumbe in Cabo Delgado. Chico is just one of many who have suffered in the Islamist insurgency. Chico told ACN about the brutality of the insurgents:

Chico with Father Edegard Silva. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

“In the first attack, two people were brutally beheaded, and houses were set on fire. The second attack, in late October 2020, was more violent; the insurgents stayed in town for more than two months. We wandered in the forest, trying to get water. The town was full of terrorists, so at night we went out to look for water or food, like dried cassava. Days went by, and our homes were torched and destroyed. I sent four of my children to Montepuez to stay with a relative; the oldest, who was 24, stayed. When people were caught trying to get food, they were killed, so I told my son not to go into town because it was very dangerous.

“After five days, I had to go to the lower area to get closer to the river so I could drink water and wash. On the seventh day, acquaintances showed up and told me that my son had been beheaded. He had gone out with a group of young people and encountered the terrorists.

“I went back into the town at night and took the spade from my home. After two weeks, we found the body already decomposing. The head was hanging from a pole with the body lying next to it. Full of fear, we dug a grave while one person stood as a lookout. We were on the town’s outskirts. We dug a little, made a hole of half a metre, dragged the body. I took the head from the pole and put it in the tomb. After we finished, we hurried back.”

Chico’s 95-year-old mother was staying with his sister during the insurgent’s attack. His mother went missing during the attack. Chico could find nothing of her, no body and no clothes. He realised that he would never see his mother again.

Chico travelled to Pemba, the regional capital. There he was reunited with his wife. The couple were able to sleep in a woman’s garden, but there was not enough room for their children. The children were sent to stay in different places as there was not enough room to keep the four surviving children in one place. Chico has a very simple dream that he can live together with his wife and children under one roof.

Chico had already lived a difficult life. He told ACN about his struggles before the insurgency:

“Before all this started, I struggled so that my children could grow up better than I did. I was born at the time of the armed struggle against colonialism, then came the civil war. The war and the armed struggle lasted more than 16 years. I didn't have a lot of money, but I worked very hard in the fields so I could support our children. I lived very close to the mission, and all my children went to school. I had to work hard for this. We harvested pumpkin once a year.”

Having been forced to flee from his farm, Chico had no way to support himself and his family.

Chico and Father Edegard Silva at the stall set up under the microprojects scheme. (Credit: Aid to the Church in Need)

Father Edegard Silva of the Missionaries of La Salette was able to help Chico and his family find a source of income through a microproject scheme funded by ACN. The scheme helped Chico to set up a small street stall to sell products so he could support himself and his family. The stall not only helps Chico with income, but it has also helped him have respect and dignity.

Chico explains what Christmas means to him:

“Christmas means to be born again. It means recovering your spirits and strength. It means the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, celebrating the human being in his fullness, welcoming those who suffer, being close to family and friends, sharing what little one has, celebrating together, helping the hungry, clothing the naked. Visit your neighbours, listen to them, give something. That's what Christmas is all about.”

Chico has suffered a lot. He has lost one of his sons and his mother and has been forced to flee with the rest of his family. The microprojects scheme has helped to give him hope. ACN is supporting the local Church to assist refugees like Chico. If you would like to help us in our work, please consider making a donation.