It is 12 months since my visit to CAFOD projects in Mozambique. Reflecting back on that experience, I can remember a number of things about the country and in particular CAFOD’s work in Mozambique that struck deep chords within me.

One such experience was the day I was taken to some small mud-brick and thatch dwellings on the edge of a large town called Lichinga by a CAFOD trained volunteer carer. There, I was to meet two people living with HIV and AIDS. One was a man, sat under a tree preparing his lunch which consisted of a tomato and onion. This poor man had a severe lesion on his left cheek. A consequence of being infected with AIDS. His volunteer carer, Anna, said that the lesion was shrinking in size due to the regular use of a soap they had made to combat the infection. His condition had improved slightly as he was taking anti-retroviral drugs. But improvements were being hampered by the simple fact that he, like many others living in Mozambique, suffered from malnutrition.

It is a well known fact that putting people with HIV and AIDS on anti-retroviral drugs without an adequate diet prevents the drugs from working effectively. I am ashamed to say that I never managed to find out this man’s name but I wonder, one year on, how he is. I ask myself the question is he still alive? After spending a short time with this man, while Anna changed the dressing on his face, we then moved on a few blocks away to Joanna’s small house in a compound of four others. The smell of burning wood hung in the air, people cook their food outside their huts on small open fires. Joanna and her mother are extremely poor. Just outside the hut was her mother tending a pan on the fire. I said hello and asked what she was cooking. She said she was preparing their lunch of vegetables and green leaves (there appeared to be more green leaves than vegetables in the pan).

Anna informed Joanna’s mother about why I was there and why she had brought me along today. She then asked if we could enter the hut to see how Joanna was doing. Her mother nodded but said that Joanna was not at all well today due to some painful tests she had undergone at the hospital the day before. At that time, Joanna was just 21 years old. She had contracted HIV in 2006 and had been bedridden for the last three months. Joanna was very frail and the impact of fully blown AIDS was so evident. Seeing Joanna in this way made my heart go out to her and her mother who was struggling to care for her virtually alone except for the support provided by Caritas Lichinga and CAFOD trained Home Based Carers like Anna.

In September, our CAFOD Diocesan Office in York was visited by Severiano Molande, a member of CAFOD staff in Mozambique. Severiano was our guide during our visit last year. I asked him if he knew how Joanna was. He said that he was sorry to tell me the bad news that Joanna had died some time ago. As for the man I met, as far as Severiano knew, he was still alive. I must admit, when Severiano told me about Joanna’s death, I felt a little bit of me had died that day. I only spent the briefest of time with these two people, yet they left such an impression on me. Never has a day gone by that I haven’t thought about them and prayed that they would have the strength and grace to endure their illness. I am sure that Joanna has now taken her rightful place in heaven and that she is being cared for and loved by our Lord.

Joanna’s story is part of a much wider pandemic being experienced by the people of Mozambique. Seventeen per cent of 15 to 49 year olds are infected with HIV, by 2020 it is estimated that the country will have lost around 20% of its labour force due to AIDS. At present, there are around 1 million of Mozambique’s children orphaned by AIDS. Seventy per cent of the 20 million population live in extreme poverty. These are quite frightening statistics and the thing we need to remember is that each number is an individual person, someone’s daughter, son, mother, father, brother or sister. These are real people for whom life is very precarious. However, thanks to your help CAFOD, through our church based partners on the ground, is able to reach out to such people and ensure they receive the kind of care and support they need. Whilst in Mozambique, I was privileged to meet Bishop Hilario, Bishop of the Diocese of Lichinga. He described CAFOD’s work as ‘The open hand of God’.

Anna said:

Thanks to the people in the UK whose funds have paid for our training, we are able to support not just the person affected by HIV and AIDS but also their family. We are taught how to make a needs and health assessment of each person and how to help them access the care they need. We monitor their condition and make sure they both receive the drugs they are prescribed and that they take them. Where we can get people on the anti-retrovirals and provide them with a good diet, people begin to get well again. The drugs are not a cure for HIV but they do suppress the symptoms and help prevent escalation of the condition. In situations where people have developed AIDS then we work alongside their family to help them to cope and assist in the care of their loved one. When our parish first began looking at how we could help people living with HIV and AIDS, we found that often people were shunned by their families and communities. Our small team of Home Based Carers have also been raising awareness about the causes of HIV and AIDS and helping people to come to terms with the illness. This means more and more people are coming forward sooner and, therefore, getting the medical help they need much earlier. We could not do this without your prayers and financial support. Thank you very much.

I asked Anna what made her do this kind of work. She replied ‘I am a Christian. Why wouldn’t I?’

HIV and AIDS along with poverty is a huge problem but with the right kind of support, people can live an almost normal life, they can get back to work and provide for their families. Please continue to generously support the work of CAFOD financially and with your prayers. You are making a difference!

David Cross, CAFOD Diocesan Manager