Before Nema started work, less than 1% of children went on to study at secondary school and less than 20% completed all 7 years at primary school. The underlying reason being the prohibitive cost and need for children to help gather food.
School Meals
Nema provides over 800 children from five villages with a daily school meal. Each child receives a nutritious meal providing 75% of their daily needs. To make this project as sustainable as possible, we also support the participating primary schools to develop school farms that will one day produce enough to replace the food currently bought from central Mozambique.
The aims of this project are three-fold; to improve school attendance, concentration at school and child nutrition. The results have been dramatic; school attendance at Guludo school jumped from 80 to 300 children following the launch of the project.
Scholarships
Launched in 2007, this project provides 127 students from 12 villages with secondary-school scholarships. The nearest secondary school is 50 km away from the Guludo area, meaning that the vast majority of children were unable to complete their studies due to the prohibitive costs. Nema covers school fees, boarding fees, transport to and from school at the beginning and end of every term and essential school materials, such as notebooks, pens, pencils and school uniforms.
Primary Schools
Many local primary schools consist of mud walls, thatched roves and in some cases the shade of a large tree. We have built a primary school in Guludo village and are currently building a second school in Ningaia village.
