MAQUELA DO ZOMBO
Maquela Do Zombo is located in Northern Angola, it borders Democratic Republic of Congo. A municipality of approximately 300,000 people. After visiting Maquela Do Zombo in November 2013 it was remarkable to connect with beautiful people who love this municipality and are thriving to make it a better place. The people of Maquela Do Zombo are vibrant and rely heavily on agriculture to survive. Fourteen years ago it would take you 3 to 4 months to reach Maquela Do Zombo from Luanda the capital city, but now it takes 8 hours, due to the remarkable road constructions and repair. Maquela is a trade route, Angolans and Congolese exchange different business products in this region. The culture in this part of Angola is mixed, Portuguese, Kikongo, French and Lingala (French and Lingala Congolese languages) are widely spoken. In a hotel room I could not only access Angolan T.V channels but also easily access Democratic Republic of Congo and Congo Brazaville T.V Channels. Electricity is 24/7, according to my observations, I am predicting that, this place will economically boom in 10 or 15 years.
The "Igreja Exercito de Salvacao, Maquela Do Zombo" that we visited is facing tremendous challenges. Challenge number one is clean water for the community. Clean water is so scarce that it leads people to go to the extremes in order to obtain water (see picture below).
What's something exciting your business offers? Say it here. Challenge number 2 is illiteracy rate. Illiteracy is a concern and "Exercito de Salvacao" of Maquela Do Zombo is fighting this challenge. This issue is affecting the whole aspect of life, and will slow the development of this region if not targeted. Leaders expressed that it limits what they can do, even in little things as conducting Bible studies, etc. They have been building a primary school. It was inspiring to see this school because it is being built with tremendous sacrifice and a strong desire to combat illiteracy, with little resources, it wast incredible to see the audacity of Hope amongst these people and how they exhausted every bit of resources they had to try to build a primary school. In a spirit of "um dedo nao lava a cara" we are going to join hands to try and help this community build a day care on which children aged 0-5 can be taken care of and also a primary school to combat illiteracy. "Education for a better world"-Booth University College, Winnipeg, Canada.
