REGISTERED IN MOZAMBIQUE SEPTEMBER 1999
LEGAL ENTITY :- NON PROFIT MAKING NGO
Imagine formally began in the year 1999. It was founded by Joe & Lorraine Williams who have lived in Mozambique since 1989.
Initially they were employed on a British Government sponsored aid project with the then called ODA (now DFID). During the early years, war ravaged throughout Mozambique and it was virtually impossible to travel anywhere beyond inner Maputo by car. During lunch breaks and weekends they spent their time helping various charities and local institutions, in particular, with the newly arrived Mother Teresa Sisters (Missionaries of Charity).
When their work contract came to an end, they decided that they could afford to stay, voluntarily, for a further 2 years – to finish off the projects they were involved with.
Such was their naivety !
Whenever one project was completed, another 2 or 3 were taken on-board. This continued over a number of years. Visits to England always included promises to family that they would soon finish their Mozambican adventure – “Just give us one more year”, they said. In 1999 it had become obvious to all concerned that this “promise” could just not be kept. It was then that they decided to form Imagine and to dedicate their lives to Mozambique.
Imagine is a question and a challenge for us to break down the barriers we sometimes impose on ourselves by lack of belief. We need to look beyond what we feel may be possible to what will be possible if only we had sufficient belief. We encourage ourselves and others to :-
“Imagine” what difference we could make to “our world” - “Imagine” what difference we could make to “another’s world”
Imagine encourages us to give of ourselves. To give our time, our expertise (however little!), our concern, our love, our friendship. By this giving we can actually change the world, every day. The change may not be big, in fact the change is normally so small that only one or two people know that the world has been changed at all - but it has been!. This is because we visualise our world to be what surrounds us - our little world! If, in our world, a kindness makes someone smile, a comforting word makes someone feel warm, a hug makes a child feel safe, we have changed their world, our world. It’s a fairly simple philosophy but one that works.
We believe that many of the problems facing Mozambique today can best be remedied by encouraging local self sustainable development and high on Imagine's agenda in Catembe is community development.
We promote and provide skills training, market stalls, agricultural development etc. In so doing we take heed of community wishes, needs and talents.
Our overall aim is to provide a future for individuals and families by :- promoting skills training for disadvantaged people providing education and job training for vulnerable youth (and older street boys) - giving them a future worth having. An ex-street boy of 18 or so with no realistic future to look forward to can easily become a problem. By giving them an attainable and rewarding future, we hope to encourage these boys to become law-abiding adults - as well as a great example to other boys who may also be approaching this crucial stage in life.
Working with the Municipal authorities, Imagine has built secure homes for families displaced by floods, families living in absolute dire conditions, families who have lost homes through fire, land-slip or storm. This element of our work began after the devastating floods of 2000. Shortly after the flood waters abated, we went searching for families we had been assisting - but found that their homes had been destroyed. We later traced them to a new flood relief area named Magoanine.
It was here that our re-housing programmes began - and continued in Mali, Mumemo and Catembe.
Many of the Imagine projects operate within the poorer quarters of the Municipality (and beyond). In such areas many families are living in housing conditions which provide very little protection from the elements and disease. We want to improve such conditions.
HIV / AIDS will create massive problems in Mozambique.Imagine is working with local authorities and institutions providing HIV / AIDS care, preventative education, care within the community and care for the dying. This has included acquiring funding for what is believed to be the first adult AIDS hospice in Mozambique.
Although Mozambique avoided an "early start" to the HIV / AIDS problem, mainly because the war limited travel and movement of people, the forecasts are frightening.
The costs to the wider society are potentially enormous. In extreme cases .... orphans turn to the street where their physical needs and financial desperation make them vulnerable to crime, substance abuse and sexual exploitation. AIDS orphans attend schools less than other orphans and are more likely to drop out than others. Societies (affected by HIV / AIDS) remain poor and will be further impoverished by the pandemic. Long term effects have to be imagined as one and possibly two generations of children grow up with inadequate care.
Imagine is now working in the large impoverished community of Catembe, with local authorities and social services. One of the aims of the programme is to provide a family home environment for OVC children and for those infected or effected by HIV / AIDS.
We also aim to support grandparents who often are the only adults left from a family and who have to take on a parental role for their grandchildren.
An important element of this project is the development of the Catembe community as a whole. We feel that the fight against AIDS must include eradication of poverty and the causes of poverty.
The children of Mozambique are its future, yet they have suffered tremendous hardships over many years. It is our duty to protect this future. Imagine's efforts to do so includes the supporting of an existing project financially, logistically or administratively, or the founding of a programme of work aimed at protecting, developing and enriching the lives of underprivileged or endangered children.
Our other development work includes supporting educational opportunities, at kindergarten, primary or secondary school levels/supporting basic healthcare/and supporting a refuge for orphaned, abandoned or seriously ill children. This includes providing basic materials such as clothing, bedding, in-house equipment and materials etc. and financial donations. |
