This morning we took off to Maraquene...about 30 minutes away...where the Iris Ministry has helped set up a small community for the Iris kids who've grown up & need to learn to live independently. Rev Pedro met us there & showed us the simple homes they built & tried to explain how difficult it is to find a job. You actually have to pay to get most jobs. (Don Larson had told us this too.). Faced with the challenges of supporting yourself, Iris kids...really most kids here...end up on the street selling odds & ends...possibly stealing...living a poor life. Here stealing is not considered as bad as we think of it because it's part of the "you do what you gotta do to eat" mindset.
Pedro took us to a small cement block factory he has built where he has 4 or 5 guys working now but is praying for more funding so he could double his production & profits. He needs $375. Now he produces 1000 blocks at 2 Met profit per block = 2000 Met ($33) a week. Pedro also has a dream of starting a job-training school for mechanics, plumbers, electricians, computers skills, etc.
Several people have told us that besides gov't corruption...lack of jobs is the biggest problem in Mozambique. We often wonder why we end up being taken to so many different places. This time we knew. We see helping train & support jobs as a solid long term investment and a good place to donate some of the $$ that DUMC & friends have sent with us. It's humbling to be the hands that actually hand over the gift!
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