“I came that they might have life, that they might have life to the full” (Jn 10:10)
With joy and gratitude we come to your heart to share the mission:
We are three Sisters of Divine Providence here in the mission: Sr. Laudeci Ouriques, Sr. Diva Cecilia and Sr. Markelizia Cruz Araujo. We are called and sent to this reality, to this sacred ground. We feel invited to give a response of faith and trust in this reality.
We are in the village of Entre-Lagos, Diocese of Lichinga, in Niassa. We help each other in activities and missions with young people in male and female boarding schools, with the Parish “Mary the Mother of God” and in the Nutritional Project.
The Nutritional Project makes hearts burn with joy at the possibility of being close to the mothers, babies and children who arrive at the Mission. The heartbreaking situation of malnourished children makes our hearts burn. The pain and suffering of mothers who arrive with infectious mastitis, low production of breast milk and the inability to breastfeed their children makes our hearts burn. In the face of daily challenges, we try to be signs of Divine Providence. We reserve Wednesdays to cater for families. Each child receives the milk and the multimixture, according to their age and nutritional needs. On the last Wednesday of each month we offer guidance on childcare, weight assessment, child growth and development. At the moment we serve 70 children in the project. The children are referred from the Health Centres and others come from the communities, accompanied by a health agent.
Our daily prayer is one of thanksgiving for the life of each recovered child. Our thanksgiving extends to all the Sisters, family members and benefactors who are present with us here on the mission through their prayers and donations for the continuity of the Nutritional Project. Our gratitude to all the Sisters who stepped on this sacred ground and left their marks of love and donation to the most vulnerable.
Boarding Schools/Homes: “The power of the Charism impels us to take care of life”. We live in this certainty with 77 children and teenagers who live in the Capernaum and Bethany Homes, whom we call Boarders. Being here is both a blessing and a challenge. We already have 27 years of missionary presence in Mozambique. Here in Entre-Lagos we have been working with the Boarders for 17 years and contributing to pastoral activities in the 43 parish communities.
We assist Boarders in all their needs: housing, health, food, education and the spiritual dimension, 24 hours a day. We have Boarders of different religious denominations, Muslims, Christians - mostly Catholics.
The mother tongue of the children is Macua. Many learn to speak and read in Portuguese here, in the back-up school at Mission of God the Providence. The Mission offers a computer course, sewing and embroidery workshops, theatre and weaving, the “Maranatha” choral group that animates the Sunday celebrations. Keyboard lessons were offered to 4 four Boarders who showed an interest and taste for music.
Homes have bylaws with their own rules that help us guide them through the 11 months of the year that they stay in the Homes. The Homes welcome the neediest children, from the age of 13: orphans, usually of one of the parents, who live far from the school; some are 90 kilometres away from the Mission and school.
The family contributes with part of the food: 2 buckets of corn per quarter and 10kg of beans per child. Complementary meals come from a donation from our Congregation of Sisters of Divine Providence, or from a project.
We have five collaborators: two night guards, the IT and tutoring teacher and two ladies who help with general services.
The Mission has a large plot of land, a perimeter of 1,350 meters; right in the centre is the building of the Catholic Church, around it are located the Homes, the Sisters' house and other rooms belonging to the Mission. The house of the priest, who does not live there, and the Parish office are right at the entrance.
In the Mission there is a football and volleyball field, two large vegetable gardens, four porches for meetings and training of Boarders and parish leaders, catechesis, youth group, choirs and Missionary Childhood.
Being able to take care of the lives of the girls who are among us, to avoid marriages and early pregnancies is one of our goals. In the seven months of isolation from covid19, when everyone had to go to their families, 15 of our girls did not return the following year because they were married, some under 15 years old.
God provides, God will provide. The prayers and help of benefactors and Sisters reach us and we feel that we are not alone in this wide mission.
Praise and gratitude for the 180 years of life and mission of the Sisters of Divine Providence!
Sr. Diva Cecilia and Sr. Markelizia