Angola: February 17- March 10, 2007

Angola History

Angola fought long and hard for its independence from Portugal, only gaining independence in 1975. After independence from Portugal the country fell into civil war for a further 20 years, with MPLA funding coming from the Communist East and UNITA funding from the West, it is often said that the cold war was fought here. Now, after four years of peace the country is beginning to rebuild itself.

Ismael Mendes has been working with his wife and two children in Angola for the last 16 years. There jobs have varied from food distribution during the years of civil war, to DTS training, working with rehabilitation of war traumatised people, care of orphaned and vulnerable children to mention only a few things. YWAM in Angola is in several locations including Huambo (this province is widely acknowledged as the most effected by the years of war ), Benguela (where the El Sheddai project is based), and pioneering in the Namibe desert.

Problem: “At risk” Children
Four decades of war have led to the orphaning and displacement of thousands of children. Those searching for surviving relatives are often unable to locate them, while the home lives of those with families are frequently unstable and do not provide them with necessities.

Response
YWAM Catumbela launched the El Shaddai project three years ago in the Benguela province of Angola to serve the “at risk” child population. The program identified 56 children as “at risk” through an outreach in the neighbouring Catumbela region, while hundreds more sought out YWAM on their own accord and are unofficially integrated into the project. El Shaddai seeks to reunite orphans with surviving relatives (grandparents, aunts and uncles) where possible and looks for alternative solutions for those with no relatives. El Shaddai’s directors, Inacio and his wife, Milla, have themselves adopted six children.

The new site plans detailed below will also address housing for orphaned children.

Some of the children currently participating in El Shaddai


Problem: Lack of Education
Lack of education, clean water and basic health care allows disease to run rampant in crowded village areas.

Response
El Shaddai’s staff conducts school lessons for the 56 children in the project. The programme includes a bath, clean clothes, a school education, and two meals. Inacio and Milla, along with a small YWAM staff, lead the lessons Monday through Friday. On Saturdays the programme is less formal and opened up to the entire community; the number of children in attendance on the weekends often swells to the hundreds.

Problem: Disease

An uncalculated number of children die annually from preventable and treatable malaria and cholera in Angola.

Response
As part of the school curriculum, education on basic health care and hygiene is provided for both the children and the families with whom they are placed. El Shaddai also takes those in need to the local clinic or hospital for treatment.

Problem: Current Location
El Shaddai provides much needed stability for the children of Benguela. However, it is only scratching the surface of reaching all the vulnerable children in the area. The current site belongs to another agency and is ill-equipped for the number of children and their needs.

Response: Proposed extension of El Shaddai
A large plot of land has been purchased in a region of Lobito about five kilometres from the current location. The government has given the land surrounding this plot to homeless and impoverished families from the Lobito district. The currently unoccupied land will become site for 1500 homes in the next six months. This influx will bring a large population including more “at risk” children, with and without families.

El Shaddai has already had a professional architect visit the site and draft plans for the land (please see attached file). The first house will be built in April 2007 for Inacio and Milla, who will oversee the property and its construction. It is projected the entire construction will take five years to complete.

The new site will include a clinic, a school, multiple homes and recreational facilities. The property will have the capacity to provide homes for up to 200 children from the surrounding area.

The project will not be run as a traditional, institutional orphanage, but instead the staff of El Shaddai will adopt children and integrate them into their own families, as Inacio and Milla have exemplified, caring for them in a home environment. The building plans reflect this with many small family houses being built rather than dormitory style housing.

Inacio, Milla, Betty and Ismael at new site location.

Initial Needs for Expansion

  • $15,000- $20,00 — Vehicle (A new truck will be used for transportation and in the construction phase of the new site. Renting a truck costs $2000.)
  • $15,000 — Staff/family house (8 required)
  • $35,00 — School block (6 required)
  • $15 — Treated mosquito nets (current need of 60, eventually around 250)
  • Recreational equipment on a donation basis (i.e. goal posts, footballs, play ground equipment)
  • £35,000 — Clinic construction and equipment

    • If you want to get involved and help out please contact us or donate now!