Mozambique: Beira street children, teenagers return to school

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Mozambique: Beira street children, teenagers return to school

4:27 CAT | 31 Mar 2025

Photo: Notícias

Children and teenagers aged between 10 and 17 who had been living on the streets went back to school at the Agostinho Neto and Heróis Moçambicanos primary schools and the Ponta-Gêa secondary school in the city of Beira this year, as part of the Sant’Egídio Community’s “From the Streets to School” campaign.

The representative of the Sant’Egídio Community association in Sofala, Nelson Moda, explained that the initiative began in February, and involved the distribution of school materials such as uniforms, backpacks, notebooks, pencils, pens, among other educational items.

In order to keep the group of students attending the 3rd to the 10th grades in the schools in question, Nelson Mota said that Sant’Egidio would provide pedagogical support and allow the beneficiaries to use its facilities to store their school materials.

“With these initiatives, we hope to encourage street children to attend school and actively participate in educational activities, reducing the number of children who do not attend school in the city of Beira and ensuring a more promising future for them,” said Moda.

The coordinator of the “From the Streets to School” campaign, Laura Domingos, said in turn that the initiative not only helped children and adolescents return to school, but also raised the awareness of people of good will to get involved in this project.

“The Sant’Egídio Community also created a chain to obtain certificates and information on the marks from previous classes of homeless students. The Bravo Project joined this initiative, helping with the civil registration of undocumented children and teenagers,” she said.

Laura Domingos appealed to schools and teachers, in particular, to be patient with the children, as they are not used to regulated environments.

“After working with homeless children for a long time, I know very well how they behave,” she said. “Their behaviour is often a barrier to learning, so I urge teachers to redouble their attention and exercise patience with these children,” Laura Domingos requested.

A visibly happy Manuel Sandaveira, 15, who has been homeless since 2017, revealed that he had dreamed of going back to school and improving his future.

“I am very happy to be one of the children who benefited. Going back to school is a dream come true and I will do my best not to disappoint the people who are helping me,” he said.

Source: Notícias