Yellow House – A light beam

 The sun is scorching, it’s 33 degrees, but it is cool at Orfanato Lar Tiberias, found at Municipality of Katembe, Maputo city. As the sea breezes blow, the children play outside and the members of the association A Casa Amarela (ACA meaning The Yellow House) rejoice to see those smiles, their greatest trophy.

The songs the children in the orphanage sing can be heard even on the street. Sérgio Bento, one of the founding members of the ACA, an institution formed by him and a group of women, mostly Mozambicans, explains to us that they are more energetic today due to our presence. But they weren’t always happy, most of them have a past that would make for a sad and dark melodrama. Inês Pedro, a kindergarten teacher at ACA, knows this. She says that with the association’s intervention, the days became less monotonous, as the extracurricular activities developed by her collective are a beam of hope for those vulnerable children.

Inês knows that there are no formulas to paint a smile on a child’s face, but she guarantees that attention and personalized treatment bring about changes.

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“When we started, the children were withdrawn, but little by little they opened up and that gives more space for their personal development”, she details, adding that a specific training program is being built for girls over 15 years old, in order to prepare them for university or employment.

Sérgio de Almeida, a kindergarten teacher at ACA, believes they can do it. In addition to seeing them with jobs and school degrees, his daily struggle is to shape a human beings with character and principles. When he can, Sérgio tells his story of overcoming to inspire the younger ones. “I am an orphan of a father and mother, I spent part of my life in a boarding school, but today I am graduated, I have a job and a family”, he says, adding that being part of a social project that works with four centers, assisting 90 children, many of them an orphan, gave his life another purpose.

Elodie Maggia, a Founder and President, points out that one of the aspects that keeps her firm on her journey is the support from members and partners, who are committed to supporting minors so that they can develop and better prepare for social inclusion in their communities and outside.

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Guided by the same faith is Sérgio Bento, who is also Project Leader. He believes in the growth of the collective and hopes to double the number of centers his colleagues works with and improve a specific extracurricular program for orphans.

“Soon we will include classes in English, sewing, cooking, swimming, photography. One of our strengths is psychological support and we want to add psychomotor therapy”, he says, adding that the project aims to remain eternal and sustainable.

However, for this to be a reality, more people and institutions need to support the initiative, just like Clara Bankole, a French national who is a member of the ACA. She is responsible for a travel institution (Atiba Voyage) and each expedition that the company makes a part of the profit is reverted to helping a child.

“We hope that more people will come to embrace the project. Being part of the initiative and seeing the smile of the little ones is a privilege”, she said while staring at the joy of Alma Tembe, 18 years old, who has been living at Orfanato Lar Tiberias since she was nine years old.

Coming from a needy family, she used to work in a bar to guarantee at least two meals a day for the family. But today, far from the drama, her smile is easy. She is aware that to evolve she has to guarantee her professional training, which is divided between being a nurse and an electrician.

“My life is more lively now, it’s not just school and staying at the orphanage counting birds”, says Alma, detailing that the activities offered by the ACA are revolutionizing her life, showing that her dreams are achievable.

Issue 76 Nov/Dec| Download.