Mozambique is one of the safest countries to help in Africa and local people are known for their warm hospitality. Aside from that, there are many attractions that await you during your visit.
You could volunteer in a local community or assist in a community development program and enjoy a safari tour during the weekend.
Projects are a real opportunity to enjoy the real Mozambique, whilst really assisting and helping in the local community by working alongside community members to help them with their needs, as identified by them.
Community Volunteer Programs in Mozambique
There is a lot of variety of projects to get involved with in Mozambique. Volunteer choose one or more of the following areas to work in: community development, sport, teaching, health, building, repair work.
Some programs are running in Zavora, close to Inhambane and Tofo, and about 6 hours north of Maputo. Help in a little hidden paradise of clear blue Indian Ocean and sunsets above the coconut palms. At the end of your volunteering placement why not book a tour, to experience the highlights of Mozambique, South Africa and Swaziland. Experience nature reserves and stunning vistas, hospitality and culture.
Most work involves community development, incorporating sustainable income opportunities through sewing projects with women, health related activities and education support. There is also an opportunity to get involved with practical work. Medical students can opt to participate in health development programs, and gain practical experience in the local government hospital in places like Inharrime. This is appropriate for a medical student elective. Please enquire for further details
On a community development project you will be able to fully immerse yourself in the local culture. Some programs are runby local people, with larger organisations providing support for programme participants. It is an amazing opportunity to learn Chope, which is the local language, take local transport to explore the twisting streets of the markets in Inharrime, eat fresh seafood daily and pick coconuts from palm trees.
Spend afternoons teaching English or working with women who are enrolled on sustainable livelihoods programs – they make products to sell from “capallanas” which are brightly-coloured locally-made wax print sarongs. You will eat the delicious local food – try Nyangana, which is a spinach, coconut and peanut dish, coconut rice, Portuguese chicken and of course Pao, which is a type of bread. Enjoy chai, which is tea made the traditional African way, and coconut cakes for breakfast.
In your spare time you can scuba dive, snorkel and enjoy the beach which is a 5 minute journey away, or swing from a hammock under the coconut palms. At spring tide, take a trip out to an olympic sized offshore pool and take underwater photographs of the coral and multicoloured tropical fish. Weekends are free, and you can join a variety of trips.
Medical Volunteer Programs in Mozambique
Some organisations offer an option for medical volunteering in Mozambique. If you are a medical student, a qualified medical practitioner, nurse, nursing student or allied health professional or student this volunteering option is open to you
Medical students and medical practitioners work in rural health to promote health and wellbeing, conduct health research and improve health outcomes in rural Inharrime Province. various options of participation in this medical volunteering project are available depending on your year of study or qualification. This medical programme is run by Dr Alex Plowright, and in conjunction with a research project and intervention funded by the British Medical Research Council.
Programme participants work with mainly with Community Care Givers to improve the health of populations using a household rounds-based system. Households are visited and referrals to clinics and hospitals made, medication provided, and health advice given. Mozambique has a high prevalence of infectious diseases, HIV levels are increasing, as is TB, and malaria levels in households are high. The programme also includes data collection and research about households’ knowledge of basic health literacy as well as indigenous knowledge systems for health, particularly malaria.
Medical elective students are offered the opportunity to join the enhanced participation option for part of their programme, which facilitates time spent in the Inharrime District Hospital. This is a unique opportunity for medical elective students to experience institutional health in Mozambique, and learn from experienced practitioners, as well as share their skills to the benefit of patients, as hospitals in Mozambique, particularly rural Mozambique are mostly under-staffed and are particularly busy as they are remote, and few and far between
All students and practitioners will be involved in the preparation of academic papers, data collection as well as practical health-related work and care in community and household settings. There is also the opportunity to work with community groups, to promote healthy lifestyles and particularly, ante-natal care and household health as well as paediatric care and malaria prevention. Organisations are particularly keen to hear from male students and practitioners, so that they can extend our reach to community groups of men.
Please enquire for a detailed information pack and options available to you as a medical or allied health student, or an established practitioner.