Sometimes one day just isn’t enough. While 24 hours devoted to beards (World Beard Day, September 2) and teddy bears (International Teddy Bear Day, October 27) is perhaps over generous, some sectors of society are so important that several days are needed to appreciate them. September 10-16, for example, was National Truck Drivers Appreciation Week. Their festivities, however, were a hand-held sparkler compared to the pyrotechnic display that was our Semana de Ciência e Tecnologia (Science and Technology Week) at IMPPC. A tree planting ceremony kicked off a program of activities that included presentations at a secondary school and the town market, a soccer game and a fun run.

Learning how to make compost

September is nearly here. In the U.S. that means Halloween decorations will soon be up in stores, if they aren’t already, followed close behind by everything Christmas. For some, the earlier these seasons start, the better. For others, not so much.

Here in Northern Mozambique, the hunger season, which lasts from the time people run out of food (January - February) until the next harvest (April), has also been starting earlier. This year’s hunger season has already begun for some families, with the price of the staple food, maize, more than doubling since April.

Hunger’s effects are well known. Malnutrition causes early deaths and stunts brain development, perpetuating a cycle of poverty. Food scarcity is a contributing factor to many of the conflicts on the continent.

Why can’t Africa feed itself? Lots of reasons, of course, but one is that the type of agriculture that kind of worked when there were fewer people doesn’t work well with denser populations with many farming in one place.

It’s not working well here. Each year around December, farmers plant their crops (usually maize). The following April they bring in the harvest (ears of maize, pods of soybeans, etc.) and then burn the rest. The exposed soil erodes, and what is left is less fertile. Every year, fertilizer becomes more expensive, and few villagers can afford it. As time goes on, they harvest less and less, and the hunger season begins earlier and earlier.

We’ve known for a long time that farming in a way that destroys the soil is a bad idea. Thankfully, there are ways to combat this destruction. In this part of Africa, an organization called Foundations for Farming teaches a form a conservation agriculture practiced by increasing numbers of families in Zimbabwe and Malawi.

At a Foundations for Farming training hosted by IMPCC 2 weeks ago, a diverse group that included farmers from local villages, ag students, ag extension agents and teachers met to learn this approach, as well as share experiences and perspectives. The village farmers are already preparing a demonstration field see if conservation farming will increase their crop yields. Our students will be available to give technical assistance.

Soil conservation is just one tool for addressing hunger, but as more and more farmers begin conserving and restoring their soil, we expect Mozambique’s unwelcome season won’t begin as early as it does now.

Demonstration comparing erosion on bare soil vs. protected soil

Staking out a practice field

Preparing planting stations

Planting

There’s not much that we can say about 2020 that hasn’t already been said. For us it has been a challenging year, but one that is ending on a high note. When classroom instruction was cancelled for the semester we concentrated on agricultural activities, and in April were able to harvest maize, groundnuts and sweet potatoes. In September we installed two water tanks and a piping system to provide hand-washing stations for our students. This past weekend government inspectors visited the school and gave us the green light to open in March. This has of course been a difficult year for many, and so we are all the more appreciative of the support we’ve received from our financial partners. We are excited to be once again hiring teachers and recruiting students.

Taking copious notes…

Yup, the water works

So does the whiteboard.

Last week IMPPC was joined to Mozambique’s power grid. This will be a game changer, enabling us to set up the computers that were donated to us as well as offer night classes for working students.

We are nearing completion of a store/restaurant in our provincial capital, Lichinga.

In January our technical school received a license and a new name: The Chicolone Polytechnic and Professional institute, known by its Portuguese acronym, IMPPC.

The school opened provisionally in February with a staff of gifted teachers who worked the entire semester without pay.

biology class

After completing a successful first semester IMPPC was closed in July. It can be reopened when the library/office building is completed.

In October we began construction on a store/restaurant in Lichinga, to sell agricultural inputs and products and provide additional income for the school.

bricks which will be used in our construction projects

In December a storm leveled the two unfinished structures (library/office and laboratory building)

library roof

the lab

After 2 years of hard work, we have finished the initial construction phase of Detta's technical school. We are now hiring teachers and support staff, with plenty of applicants vying for the remaining open positions...

We have some pretty exciting news to share! Both exciting, and daunting because the Mozambican government has upgraded the school to university status. We are now officially going to be known as "Universidade Detta", or "Unidetta" for short. In addition to the Mandimba campus the plan is to finish the Metangula school and then build further in Mecanhelas and Marrupa. A site is due to be chosen in September 2016.

The opening of the Mandimba campus is set for January 2017 with student registration beginning in October 2016. Go time is upon us so we really need to raise USD$8000 to buy desks, finish the office, and build dormitories.

The advantage of our four campuses would be to make professional training available to students who live a long distance away from the school in Lichinga, which is currently their only option. For example, making the trip from Mecanhelas to Lichinga would cost MT1500 (or about 6 days of day labor). The school in Lichinga doesn't have dormitories and housing in Lichinga is expensive. These added expenses puts further education out of reach for many students who live in remote regions of the province.

Below we post images from mid 2016. These are screen captures from some video clips we gathered, so apologies for the quality.

Detta Services Moz. and the current food crisis in southern Africa.

Shawn and Dierdre visited the building site recently and were happy to see that the final stages of construction are underway. Detta also had another community meeting in the village where the school has been located (in Chikaloni north of Mandimba town by about 13KM). They are quite excited at how things are shaping up!

We are very pleased to see the progress of the building project near Mandimba.

We've begun construction of the new professional school for Mandimba district. The plan is to finish in time to register students in January.

Since January 2014, 171 workers have taken Detta Moz Lda.'s technical training courses: Over 40% of the students were women. Forty were government employees upgrading their skills. Of the students seeking jobs, thirty-five have been hired so far by the government or private companies.We expect that many more workers will be able to take our training courses when our school buildings in Maniamba and Mandimba are completed.

job training update

students

We are excited to announce that we are now set up to receive tax-deductible donations through a new partnership with Millennium Relief and Development Services.

To donate to Detta, simply visit our donate page and enter our account code of Moz-DettaServices.001

Some young Yao women near Mandimba, Mozambique

Why are we building  professional schools?

Mozambique's economy is growing steadily and yet most of its citizens earn less than $2 a day.  Few have the qualifications necessary to hold down specialized jobs. This skill mismatch made it necessary for companies to hire 17,000 foreign workers last year.  These facilities will enable us to provide job training for unemployed youth.  We will offer certificated courses in agriculture, tourism, mining, construction and other industries that need qualified professionals. The Mozambican government has approved and provided land to construct a school in Mandimba.  

Fundação Missão Paulo will partner with us on this project.

If you would like to help please check out our GoFundMe page.

Detta Mandimba example

Last month we visited the construction site of Detta's new school in Maniamba, about 100 km north of Lichinga. It was impressive to see what has already built with local resources during the rainy season.

Meeting with the rainha of Maniamba (in red hat)

Meeting with the rainha of Maniamba (red hat)

Bartolomeu Badueiro and Carlos Bola check out what has already been completed

Night Watchman at school construction site

Carrying water at school construction site

Detta Services' finance director, Ema Masude, talks about helping unemployed youth.

From left to right: Bartolomeu Bardeiro, Cecilia Ema Massude, Juilieta Paulino Mphicamphio, Cacilda, Momade

One of Detta's youth training centers is located in the town of Metangula, on the shores of Lake Niassa. Next month Detta's director, Bartolomeu Badueiro, will be in Metangula training 35 government employees in their respective areas of service:  office management, agricultural science, environmental resource management and public relations.

Mozambique is a beautiful place; no doubt about it! And with so much farming potential... of course we look at this fertile land and see what is possible; not merely what is visible to the naked eye today.

In May of 2014 we filmed a short video about our work and you can see for yourself what Niassa Province looks like (including some scenes from the top of a mountain that was not exactly an easy climb for the videographer and Janet... let's just say it included a LOT of bushwhacking).

Here are some stills from our video shot by Tim Cowley of Ajambule!.

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Detta Services Mozambique from Tim Cowley on Vimeo. Janet of Detta Services talks about some new initiatives in Niassa Province, northern Mozambique, to help provide technical training to youth in agriculture and livestock to improve the livelihood of local communities