The new school is a partnership between the Mozambican Embassy of Japan and Gorongosa National Park.
Tuesday, April 4th, 2023
A new three-room Primary School opened in Nhandar near Gorongosa National Park in March with help and financial support from the Japanese government.
Park and education officials expect the new school will increase local teaching and learning opportunities and strengthen the post-conflict stabilization process through education, by providing tools for advancement. The new school also includes infrastructure and water and sanitation facilities at the Nhandar School, which in turn will improve working conditions for teachers and the quality and access to education for children.
The ceremony also created a unique moment to announce a new campaign aimed at preventing and combating forced unions. The initiative will be implemented through the Girls’ Clubs program, which includes creating mechanisms and localcommittees to protect and safeguard children, particularly girls and young women.
The Executive Council of the Sofala Province, represented by the Governor Lourenço Ferreira Bulha, and the Government of Japan, irepresented by the Ambassador in Mozambique Kimura Hajime, inaugurated the school Wednesday, March 29, 2023.
The Nhandar School, in the Community of Canda, in Gorongosa District, was built through the Assistance Program for Community Projects of the Japanese Government, in a period of one year, with an investment of approximately 92,000 (ninety-two thousand) American Dollars equivalent to 5,801,775.44 Meticais financed by the Government of Japan, benefiting 555 students, from first to seventh grade.
During the ceremony, Ambassador Kimura expressed his satisfaction at the completion of this project to rebuild classrooms at the Nhandar School, which will bring about improvements in teaching and learning conditions, and advised the school community to study more, because, after primary education the Embassy offers scholarship opportunities in Japan.
At the end of the ceremony, Governor Bulha appealed to the community saying that ‘the effort of the Government and its partners to be valued, by taking care of and conserving the school infrastructures, appealed to parents and guardians to enroll their children or educate them to attend schools, fighting absenteeism, school dropouts and early marriages”.
About the Assistance Program for Community Projects (APC)
The Government of Japan recognizes the importance of grassroots development projects that can directly benefit local populations. To this end, the government of Japan created the Community Project Assistance Program (APC), in addition to assistance for developing country governments and international institutions. The APC is intended to respond to different development needs quickly and completely in order to directly support community organizations such as non-governmental organizations (NGOs), schools and local governments. (NBH) such as Education, Health and Water and Sanitation.
Projects in other areas will also be considered. Examples of priority areas from previous projects include:
(a) Education:
• Construction of classrooms, school latrines, water cisterns, fences and acquisition of tables and chairs (with official request letter from DPE);
• Electric power installation.
(b) Health, Water and Sanitation:
• Construction of Health Centers (Health Center, Casa de Mãe Espera, SAAJ, etc);
• Construction of boreholes and latrines, training for Water Management Committees. (c) Other:
• Construction of a small-scale irrigation system;
• Gender Issues, Social Action, support for orphanages;
• Waste management.etc…
For more information please visit: https://www.mz.emb-japan.go.jp/files/100438607.pdf
About the Gorongosa Project
Gorongosa National Park (GNP) in Mozambique is perhaps Africa’s greatest wildlife restoration story. In 2008, a 20-year Public-Private Partnership was established for the joint management of GNP between the Government of Mozambique and the Carr Foundation (Gorongosa Restoration Project), a US nonprofit organization. In 2018, the Government of Mozambique signed an extension of the joint management agreement for another 25 years. By adopting a 21st Century conservation model of balancing the needs of wildlife and people, Gorongosa is protecting and saving this beautiful wilderness, returning it to its rightful place as one of Africa’s greatest national parks.
GNP has been described as one of the most diverse parks on Earth, covering a vast expanse of 400,000 hectares. In recent years, the Gorongosa Project, with the support of Mozambique’s National Administration of Conservation Areas (ANAC), has ensured the protection of a recovering population of lions in this system and has been recognized as one of National Geographic’s “Last Wild Places” and by TIME Magazine as one of the “World’s Greatest Places – 2019”.
The Gorongosa Project works with the Government of Mozambique Ministry of Land and Environment, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Sea and Fisheries, Ministry of Culture and Tourism, the Sofala Province Directorates of each of these Ministries, and the District representatives of each of these Ministries. The Project collaborates with traditional leaders in community “regulados” (a regulado is a traditional governance structure) through Natural Resource Committees.
Gorongosa collaborates with UN Habitat, the Red Cross, and the World Food Program. The Project receives support and advice from stakeholder partners such as USAID, Irish Aid, Norway, Canada, Portugal, EU, HHMI and more. We engage with more than thirty research universities around the world, including University Eduardo Mondlane, UniLurio, University of Lisbon, Oxford University, Princeton University, and more.
If you would like to schedule an interview with those involved in the project, please call Vasco Galante at +258 822970010 (WhatsApp) or email vasco@gorongosa.net.
For more general information, visit http://www.gorongosa.org. You may follow the daily activities of Gorongosa National Park here: https://www.facebook.com/gorongosa/