(from an article in Lebombo and Niassa Leaves by Christina Robertson-Pearce)
About two years ago four quite ordinary women in Matola (south of Maputo) decided that something had to be done about the young girls, who lived on the verge of becoming street children. They knew that girls are much more vulnerable than boys and that living on the streets would affect the rest of their lives. These four quite ordinary women started to count their blessings/resources and one decided to quit her job as a nurse to help with the girls, another said she would try to help teach them, another that she would coordinate and cope with the paperwork while the fourth and her family opened their home for the project. Their garage became a classroom and their back garden a kitchen and playground. There were many problems and lesser women than these four would have given up without even having tried. Nothing daunted them, not the lack of teaching material, nor the lack of money, nor the number of girls who needed help and protection. Pooling their knowledge and resources they put together a fund raising letter, contacted various NGOs and embassies, spoke to everyone they could think of that could help in some way or other. And they were humble enough to ask for advice and help from another congregation that was already running a project for boys (St Stephen and St Lawrence, Maputo). From them they got encouragement, advice and the first substantial sum of money.
The project grew, its profile became clearer, visions were defined and it became quite obvious that the project was here to stay. These four women belonged to a congregation in Matola, St Stephen, and for many years had met in the home of one of them to worship the Lord. The place they met in was tiny, tiny and didnOt allow for growth. Yet the congregation grew and they began to understand that they needed to plan and build for the future.
So what we had was one project that needed a permanent building and one congregation needing a Church. We also had a very competent all-round builder, (not yet Anglican but he became one on the day of the inauguration), active members and strong faith. The first stone was laid and blessed, the rains came and flooded the whole building site. Countless other obstacles appeared but these ordinary women and men never gave up. They remind me about Bernard Mizeki, who was said to do ordinary things in an extraordinary way.
Money was donated by UNICEF, by Save the Children, by the Lebombo and Niassa Association, by the Dutch Embassy among others. The new centre was inaugurated last year. The crucifix given by Bishop Dinis and Berta Sengulane was the same crucifix that had been travelling with the pilgrims to Marondera to celebrate the Bernard Mizeki centenary. It found its proper home with ordinary people doing things in an extraordinary way.