Families in northern Mozambique are facing a health crisis
In the Nampula region, mothers are walking for hours with sick children, hoping to find help at local clinics. Some have even slept outside on the ground, waiting for their son or daughter to be seen.
Following the withdrawal of USAID, clinics that once had medicine, technicians and aid workers no longer have the resources they once did. Parents are left with fewer options when preventable illnesses like malaria, malnutrition and diarrhoea put young lives at risk.
In the video below, Muassite shares how reduced access to medicine is affecting communities and how the Diocese of Nampula is responding.
Your gift can help make this life-saving work possible through:
Equipping local volunteers to provide health education
Volunteers are trusted voices in their communities. Through the diocese, they are trained to share practical health knowledge with parents, children and young people in ways that can be understood and used each day.
This can look like teaching a mother how to prepare more nutritious food for her child, showing families how disease spreads, encouraging parents to seek treatment earlier, or helping people understand how to use mosquito nets correctly.
When treatment is not always within reach, knowledge can help families act earlier.
Training health champions to share accurate health messages
Pastors, faith leaders and cultural elders often hold a place of care and guidance in people’s lives, especially when families are facing challenges.
As health champions, they can reinforce practical messages that support everyday wellbeing — encouraging people to seek care earlier, modelling healthy practices, and speaking up for better access to health services.
When access to medicine is limited, health education can help people make decisions that protect their health and save lives.
Helping young people make informed choices
Children and young people need knowledge that helps them understand their bodies, their health and their rights.
Through health and life-skills education, they can learn how to care for themselves, reduce their risk of preventable illness, and make safer decisions as they grow.
This kind of teaching matters now and for the future. It helps raise a generation with the knowledge to protect their health and make choices that support their wellbeing.
Teaching safer hygiene and sanitation practices
Poor sanitation and limited handwashing facilities can leave children more vulnerable to preventable illness, including diarrhoea.
Through hygiene and sanitation education, families can learn simple but important practices like washing hands with soap, improving sanitation, and reducing the spread of disease. These everyday actions can help parents and caregivers protect children’s health at home.
With the right knowledge, families are better equipped to create healthier homes and reduce risks before illness becomes severe.
Will you help stop suffering before it begins?
In times like this, we are reminded of the words from 1 John 3:18: ‘Let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.’
We cannot turn away while children become sick from illnesses that can be prevented. Love in action means helping families receive the knowledge they need to protect their health, seek care earlier, and stop sickness before it becomes life-threatening.
Your generosity is deeply valued by our partners. As Muassite shares:
‘We feel privileged to receive support from our family in Australia. Thank you for your generosity.’
Together, we can stand with the Diocese of Nampula as they continue this vital work through local volunteers and health champions.
Please help write a new ending to their story by donating today.
The Australian Government is helping our cause. For every donation you make to this project it will be combined with funding from the Australia NGO Cooperation Program to reach more people and extend this vital program.