When Victoria Valenti Mundlovu’s husband died complaining of chest pains four years ago, the 55-year-old had no choice but to turn to the streets to raise her eight children. She sold anything she could afford to buy – rice, tomatoes, firewood – to put food on the table, clothe and educate her children. That yielded about 30 metical (R7) a day, barely enough to get by. Donations also helped along the way. ``It’s been very tough,’’ says Mundlovu, who is now left with five children at home, a two-roomed house in Chibuto, Gaza province, about 220 kilometres northeast of Mozambique’s capital Maputo.
Mundlovu’s husband had worked for years in the South African mining industry – she does not recall who he worked for or what he mined but her story echoes that of thousands other mining widows from former labour sending areas (LSAs), the source of miners for South Africa’s gold, platinum and diamond mining industries since the late 1880s. It’s a gap that Zenzele Itereleng is trying to close along with helping communities develop self-sustaining projects
Teba, the former gold and platinum mining recruitment agency, has a 1.3 million electronic database of miners from Southern Africa, including 139,000 that hailed from Mozambique. The majority of those came from Mozambique’s southern provinces, particularly Gaza.
"We wanted to do something different to what other donors are doing. Not in Maputo but in Chibuto. The ideas of what the centre does must come from the women and locals. We are partners."
We meet Mundlovhu and 30 other widows at the ground-breaking ceremony for a community centre Zenzele Itereleng has committed to build to house various activities for the women including assisting orphans of former miners. The Centre will be managed by Associação Cross Moçambique (ACM) an integral Catholic ministry that serves the needs of orphans, vulnerable girls and destitute elderly through nutrition, education, preventative health care and spiritual support.
A chance chat with one of the widows who was assisting orphans so enthused Zenzele Itereleng Operations Manager Buhle Phiri, that she pledged further support for the project. But she is insistent this will be driven by the women themselves and not some official sitting in an office far away from the community.
"ZI is excited to support children and women,"" she says as the women showed their appreciation through an impromptu song and dance at an update meeting. "We wanted to do something different to what other donors are doing. Not in Maputo but in Chibuto. The ideas of what the centre does must come from the women and locals. We are partners."
Buhle is also excited about the prospect of exploring a partnership with Eduardo Mondlane University in addressing some of the social issues plaguing the Chibuto community. Some three million rand was spent building the centre, , helping create jobs in the local community.
Joseph Francisco Langa, the Gaza representative of ACM, says the organisation wants to see the beneficiaries who include widows, children of former miners and women with husbands still in South Africa, standing on their own. "There is real hunger here,"" he says. "We want to help these women learn different skills – sewing, agriculture, computer literacy etc. We want them to be self-sufficient and we hope the centre will go a long way in helping them look after their children and close the gap to those with resources."
Currently ACM is helping more than 250 women and children with 60 of those being widows of former miners. Angelica da Victoria Micas, a mother of four whose husband is in South Africa, was among those celebrating the launch of the centre. She also doubles up as a volunteer worker. "There are many needs here for orphans, the disabled and the elderly. This will help us to help them."" For Mundlovu, the possibility of being able to run a small business properly for the first time in her life, is a welcome opportunity.
"I am very excited,"" she says, determination written all over her face. "I want to have my own small business from farming and sewing. Let it come before we die!""
