Nyusi says Futuro Esperança project is true sign of patriotism

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Nyusi says Futuro Esperança project is true sign of patriotism

1:30 CAT | 22 Feb 2019

Photo: O País

The SOICO Foundation’s Futuro Esperança Project (FUNDASO) was launched at the new Arena 3D Group facilities in the Katembe Municipal District on Thursday. The launch was presided over by President Filipe Nyusi, who justified his presence saying that the project “touched me to the heart”.

“We have to believe in different things and not those that we already know and that happen in a certain way indefinitely,” the president said. “And different things make the difference … I wanted to ask everyone to be able to cherish, encourage and be part of the project. This is a true sign of patriotism. Sometimes we waste our time focusing on agendas that may only slow down the growth of a nation. Investing in these children is investing in tomorrow, just as others have invested in us in their own way.”

The head of state also used the occasion to encourage FUNDASO. “I want to urge the SOICO group to continue to make a difference, not as a way of each to a special one but in the sense that, if each one does something different than the other does, it means that we will have many different things and we will be able to solve many concerns,” he said.

Nyusi has also challenged other foundations in the country to be more proactive and develop projects that help improve the situation of children, giving as an example promoting the supply of drinking water, because that will ultimately contribute to improving the situation of the village concerned.

The ceremony began with cultural activities, the highlight being the singing of the project’s anthem by renowned musician Stewart Sukuma, accompanied by the Choral Group Projecto Sonho do Paraíso. At the end, Sukuma explained the spirit of the lyrics of the song.

“This song speaks of a reality that unfortunately still persists in our beautiful country, despite the effort of some of us to try to change the situation. We are, in one way or another, complicit in this situation, because we ignore others when we do not know what is happening around us.”

Chairman of the FUNDASO Board of Directors Daniel David explained the guidelines of the initiative, inspired by the Sustainable Development Goals and other international protocols to which Mozambique is a signatory, and whose main objective is “to work so that all disadvantaged or socially vulnerable children have something different in their future”. David called on citizens to get involved in the project because “if each of us plays our part, we can make a difference in Mozambique”.

“This is a project where we all turn to the child, who has been constantly in the words and acts of governance of Your Excellency [President Nyusi]. We have already shown in our media group the president sitting at a school desk, writing on the board, talking to children about maths; when he embraces children with disabilities to clearly show that the future of a nation depends on the role we are going to give to the children of today,” he explained.

David also presented three new Futuro Esperança ambassadors: Muktar Abdul Carimo, Benilde Mourana and Stewart Sukuma. Muktar Abdul Carimo was asked to speak on behalf of all three, but succumbed to the emotion of the occasion and was able only to say: “I think it’s the duty of all of us to do what we’re doing”, before leaving the podium in tears on the arms the FUNDASO chairman.

Also speaking at the event, the UNICEF representative in Mozambique extolled the multiplier role that Futuro Esperança has on the work that the United Nations agency has been doing almost everywhere in the world.

Minister for Gender, Children and Social Action, Cidália Chaúque, said that the project was perfectly in alignment with the government’s Five Year Plan and would significantly contribute to rescuing many Mozambican children from situations of vulnerability.

By Francisco Mandlate

Source: O País