IOM and the provincial government of Huambo have inaugurated phase
one of a two-phase project to rehabilitate a health care centre, a
junior school and a canteen in Bailundo.

The facilities, which are run by a Catholic mission, the
community of St Joseph of Cluny, serve 26 villages with a
population of some 7,000 in an area badly damaged during Angola's
civil war. Many of the villagers are former refugees, including a
large number of vulnerable women and orphaned children, who
returned to the area in 2006.

The project will expand the health centre, which currently
includes a pharmacy and a laboratory and focuses on reproductive
health and pediatrics, to treat a variety of common diseases
including diabetes, hepatitis, tuberculosis and HIV / AIDS,
according to community head Sister Mary Adelino.

 

The canteen will also expand to promote income-generating
activities for women, providing vocational training in cooking,
tailoring, and computer studies.

"The war destroyed this place, as it was taken over by the
military," says community member Sister Ana Maria Malica. "We
returned in 1992, and started operating the health centre in 1994.
In 1995, we started receiving poor children and orphans in the
school. But we were running on almost no resources and the
structures were almost completely run down. There are a lot of poor
villages around Bailundo and a lot of orphans. With the new health
centre and school, we will be able to help 1,000 children a
year."

"This USD 2 million community stabilization initiative, which is
privately funded by Valentim Amões of the Amões
group, is driven by the community. We consulted with local leaders
from the outset. They not only endorsed it, but also helped us to
select beneficiaries to take part in the vocational training
element built into the project," explains Rui Oliveira Reis, head
of IOM's Huambo sub-office.

The vocational training programme enables site workers, all
recruited with no prior training or experience, to develop
construction skills that they can subsequently use in other jobs.
Some 84 workers have benefited from the scheme to date.

For more information please contact:

Rui Oliveira Reis

IOM Huambo

Email: "mailto:roreis@iom.int">roreis@iom.int