News

On June 28th, after performing an extensive due diligence, the Global Fund for Women awarded the Lurdes Mutola Foundation (FLM) a grant of $8,000 to fund ongoing activities of the Mais Escola para Mim program. Friends of Lurdes Mutola Foundation and FLM are very proud for having their work recognized by such a prestigious organization and hope to continue the relationship in the future.

The second MEpM house has been completed and is about to be inaugurated. Together with the first house, it will guarantee a better quality of life for the MEpM scholars in comparison to last year's rented facility. For 2010, the Lurdes Mutola Foundation (LMF) has granted 25 scholarships for young Mozambican girls to study in Magude. Two of the scholarships are partial (only covering boarding at Magude secondary school), and the rest are complete scholarships.

The first dorm for our educational program is finished. We are all very excited. Maria Mutola attended the inauguration of the house which was built with the donation from COFRA and the Hochman Foundation. (more...)

The first house is almost ready. It took longer than expected because utilities were not yet available in this area of Magude and the FLM had to work with the city to bring them to the neighborhood. The first house also included the water reservoir and the septic tank for all the houses. To complete the project we need to raise additional funds to continue building while providing school and food supplies to the students.

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You can read the Annual Report that narrated by LMF to get more information about the program, funding and finance, program site and staff. It also captures last year performance of the "Mais Escola Para Mim" program, accomplishments, and the plans and preparations for second year of the program (2009).

Also you can take a look at LMF's newsletter META's second issue.

As you can see in these photos, the construction of the first two houses is progressing. Due to the heavy rain and the monsoon, the 40 students are living in the same dorm we rented last year for them. School started on Feb 2nd and the girls will be in their new housing as soon as possible.

Stay posted, more pictures to come.

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The project of building the first two houses is progressing fast even if the workers have been slowed down by heavy rain and the foreman's flu.

We hope that the houses will be ready for the students to move in starting with the new school year in January 2009. Magude is about three hours away from Maputo, so it takes time to bring supplies on site. The heat in these summer months is unbearable and people cannot work all day long outside and when it rains they have to stop; very often it floods.

Go, go, go Mozambican workers!

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Thanks to your generous donations, the project of building the first two houses was started last week. We will soon be able to post pictures of the work. Hopefully the houses will be ready by January 2009 to accommodate the 20 returning and 20 newly selected students.

In October 2008, ground has been broken in the construction of the two dorms that will host the 40 students attending the next school year, starting in January 2009.

On the side, you can see the architectural plans and view of the facilities. To view larger, please click on each photo. These architectural plans show:

• The full floor plan where the girls are going to live
• The site plan
• The sideviews of the building

The building holds in 2 shared bedrooms, (10 students per room in bunk beds), 1 room for the social workers, living room, dining room, kitchen, shared bathroom, and also has a porch at the entrance.

Outside of the building, there will be a machamba which is a garden that is very common in Mozambique. A machamba is small garden where people grow food for themselves, and sometimes sell it at small road side stands.