How is the New Dawn in Angola?

By Sister Cecilia Asuzu

Angola, 2006

People often ask us ‘how is Angola since the end of the war’? The country has been at peace since April 4, 2002. I cannot answer for the whole of Angola, which is a vast country. From my experience here in the city of Lubango, I would say that some things have changed for the better.

The guns are silent – for which we thank God. People can move around with fewer fears – that is those who have not lost their limbs from the countless mines planted during the war.

With the arrival of mobile phones, communications have improved – even if costly due to lack of competition.

Families who were scattered because of the war have come together again. There is freedom of worship.

The Government has a lot of plans. We hear about them on radio and TV and we wait to see the evidence. But so far the roads have not improved and children still study under the trees for classrooms. The electricity supply has certainly not improved. Sometimes we go more than twenty-four hours without it and sometimes we have it for perhaps one hour in twenty-four.

In spite of this situation, the people appear happy and as cheerful as the African sunshine which radiates warmth. Hope is the last virtue to die and people keep struggling in hope. We are people of faith and our Churches are full to overflowing with new churches forming and more chapels being built in the outreaches.

Praying together on Sundays is the weekly social event. We express ourselves and pray better singing. The experience of praying in a packed Church with everybody singing, clapping and swaying with the music is liberating.

It is said that stress is in the tissues. The singing, clapping and swaying helps shake off some of the stress.

At our parish, the people say Morning Prayer together at 5.45 a.m. Every day, led by a different group each day. We sing the Psalms. We meet the young, the old, Sisters, civil servants and retired people. For some people, this is their contact with the world. This is what keeps them going. What a nice way to begin the day! We are kept going here by our faith, hope and togetherness in prayer and worship.

Our work here involves a lot of listening. This may be while distributing food to the displaced elderly, at AIDS awareness sessions, at sewing classes, at reflexology sessions or just speaking with people who come to our door looking for help or advice.

The story of stress and the inability to make ends meet is constant.

The elderly have nobody to care for them because the children are gone away to try to make a living.

A young woman with four children, abandoned by her husband comes to us looking for a solution about how to make ends meet. We suggest helping her start some self-reliant project – petty trading. She had tried that. She says: ‘You buy a 50kg bag of something like rice, sugar or salt to sell in kilos. Sitting for a whole day under whatever shelter you can find, you sell one or two kilos when you are lucky. That is just enough profit to buy food for the children for that day. By the time you finish selling the bag of whatever, you have used up the money and have nothing to buy more and nothing to feed the children with the next day.’

A civil servant is stressed out because he has so many irons in the fire. To educate his children and live a reasonable lifestyle he works hard at his job and is also studying to upgrade himself. He accepts odd jobs in the construction business and also runs a shop.

A mother with her two children, aged 11 and 12 years, went out in the evening after school to look for something to eat. In their anxiety, the mother went one way, and the children another. By 7p.m. It had grown completely dark. Someone told the two lost children to knock at our gate and explain what had happened. It was dangerous to be out in the city after that hour so we gave them food and a comfortable night. At daylight, we took them out and helped them find their way home – to be reunited with their parents who had passed a very stressful night. Our days are filled with many stories like the one above.

Last modified: Saturday, March 28th, 2009