Africa-Press – Mozambique. President Daniel Chapo on Wednesday inaugurated ten schools built by the Tzu Chi Foundation in Sofala province, which was affected by Cyclone Idai in 2019, praising the Buddhist foundation’s contribution to rebuilding infrastructure in the region.
“As we witness the delivery of this infrastructure, we are reminded of the challenges Mozambique faces in managing natural disasters, which cyclically devastate our country, particularly Sofala province. Therefore, today we are inaugurating ten schools in the province at once,” President Chapo said during the handover of one of the schools in Nhamatanda district, in central Mozambique.
The Head of State noted that, through the Cyclone Idai Reconstruction and Resettlement Project, the Tzu Chi Foundation had set a goal of assisting the region with the construction of 23 schools, making a total of 400 classrooms, as well as four resettlement neighbourhoods, with a total of 3,132 homes, a health centre, four community facilities and a police station.
Chapo also praised Tzu Chi for meeting the deadlines and contract terms established by the project for the delivery of the infrastructure, noting that thousands of children in that province would benefit from “modern, equipped school buildings”.
“The schools we inaugurated today were scheduled for delivery on September 30th,” the President noted.
For the Mozambican President, the foundation’s investment would contribute “significantly” to normalizing the lives of the population, through the provision of “safer, more resilient, and high-quality” housing and infrastructure.
The foundation’s reconstruction support package in Sofala is budgeted at US$108 million (€101 million), entirely provided by the organization, which has been operating in Mozambique since 2012, supporting authorities in times of emergency.
Mozambique is considered one of the countries most severely affected by climate change in the world, cyclically facing floods and tropical cyclones during the October-April rainy season.
The 2018-19 rainy season was one of the most severe in Mozambique’s history: 714 people died, including 648 victims of Cyclones Idai and Kenneth, two of the largest ever to hit the country.
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