Mozambique

The Brothers of S. João de Deus, in
Nampula, run a 41-bed Mental Health
Centre, and its outpatient services, in
partnership with Mozambique’s Ministry
of Health. The centre welcomes,
cares for, and monitors the needs of
psychiatric patients across the country’s
entire northern region (around 13
million inhabitants, according to
the 2007 census).

This is a region where cyclones, and
other natural disasters, have wreaked
havoc on people’s land and livelihoods.
The outreach work carried out by
St. John of God responds constructively
and compassionately to situations of
clear humanitarian emergency where
state funding is not enough to ensure
that the sick are cared for and hungry
people are fed.

Empowering Women in the Community

The St. John of God team in Mozambique has created a project called “Empower Women” which works to support vulnerable patients as they return to their communities. The project addresses the needs of women with long-term conditions who can struggle with reintegration due to prejudice, and because
of the everyday challenges involved in dealing with illness and treatment: “With this project, we are helping vulnerable women to live sustainably and afford their medications”.

The project’s main activities are focused on the reintegration of patients into their families. “Sometimes, after they have stayed with us for a long period, their family is not willing to accept them and they become rejected and stigmatized. We have a duty to ensure their acceptance in their families. After this, we plan regular visits to ensure their integration. During our visits, we come to realise that some of them have no support and are left to themselves. That is the reason why we named this project ‘Empower women’, so we could enable a group of them to sustain their needs independently.”