Missionary Rafaela Chaves.

In the village of Dondo in Mozambique, Africa, we have implemented the model structure for future Child Care Centers around the world. In our Child Care Center, we have a paved and well-lit structure containing:

# Two kitchens (an electric kitchen where we have a stove, refrigerator, freezer and a water bath for heating meals, then another kitchen with a wood stove and a handmade sink for cleaning utensils)
# One large cafeteria with tables and benches with a capacity for 400 children to sit comfortably at once
# Three warehouses (food storage, cleaning products storage and school supplies storage)
# Twelve classrooms for children aged three to fourteen years old
# One children’s bathroom with ten enclosed toilets
# One adult bathroom with four enclosed toilets
# One library with educational and Biblical children’s books and films
# One indoor sports court for basketball, soccer, and physical activities
# One children’s playground with a variety of children’s toys and a large patio for recreation
# One nurses room for first aid (where we offer instructions and guidance on personal and oral hygiene)
# One main office and secretary’s room
# One room for Bible study
# Five rooms for teenagers from fourteen to seventeen years of age for professional cutting and sewing lessons, musical instruments, handicrafts, electrician and plumbing courses, barber and manicure courses
# Three underground pits, one water pump and four water tanks totaling 20 thousand liters, one 40 kva generator and several power poles (so we ensure that we will always have sanitation, light and water at our Child Care Center)

In our Children’s Care Center, the children receive food, health care, personal hygiene and oral care. They participate in school studies, cultural activities and sports. The children attend the Children’s Care Center at times other than school hours, and many of these children were enrolled in school only after they entered the project.  Before, they needed to work to be able feed themselves. Now, that they are sponsored into the project, they can focus on studying because they no longer need to be in the fields.

In the Children’s Care Centers, young people between the ages of 14 and 17 years also participate in vocational training courses. The training will include learning to cultivate the land, making handicrafts with local materials, and learning to sew.  In this way, they gain their autonomy and improve their self-esteem for a promising future.