Deborah Kanzala, seed beneficiary, Cunhinga Municipality

Deborah Kanzala lives in the village of Belo Horizonte, Cunhinga Municipality, Bie Province.

The village of Belo Horizonte has the look and feel of a displacement camp and in a sense it is one. The present settlement of a couple of hundred houses straddles the original village which was heavily mined during the war and is still inaccessible. There are plans to de-mine the original village however some villagers have expressed the desire to stay where they are. After years of displacement many are against the idea of being uprooted again, especially now that peace has come.

Deborah spoke about her family’s situation and her involvement with Concern over the years.

"We have been here in Belo since 2000. We were displaced by the war and came here because there was food being distributed here. When we arrived there was very little. Concern gave us buckets, pots, plates, blankets and plastic sheeting for our roof. Without this help we would have had extremely poor shelter from cold at night.

Last year we received maize, soya and bean seed from Concern. I could not afford to buy enough seed for my land so this was a great help. Unfortunately it was a very poor harvest. We managed to harvest a small amount of maize but the bean and soya crop were both destroyed.

Life is still very hard but since the end of the war the situation has improved slowly.

Health is the main issue in our lives. There is very little medicine available. The government occasionally send medical supplies but they run out very quickly.

Malaria is definitely the main health issue in our lives, it kills so many children. We all suffer from malaria now and again.

The nutrition situation is more or less stable here although the last harvest was terrible so the coming year could bring us problems.

I may plant something in the nakas* to help sustain me through the year."

*Wetland site beside river – suitable for dry season cropping.

Feedback

Print this page

Email to a friend