United Church of Christ in Mozambique 

Goigoi is in an extremely remote area of Mozambique, cut off from Mozambique’s major city and the headquarters of the United Church of Christ in Mozambique (UCCM). The region is heavily impacted by its history and the decisions made by colonial powers from the 1900s. The Mozambique/Zimbabwe border divides the Ndau people and left the Ndau of Mozambique isolated from the rest of their fellow Mozambicans by geography, and also isolated from the Ndau in Zimbabwe by an international border. The effect of the isolation and having two different colonizers has left the Ndau in Mozambique far less developed than the Ndau in Zimbabwe.

The United Church of Christ in Mozambique has focused priority attention on Goigoi in recent years. The initial phase of development was the building of an elementary school. This was negotiated with the Ministry of Education in Mozambique. Education was the first priority for the community.

The second phase is the development of a farm which will serve as a source for food and employment for the people in the community. The project will serve families in the community and help Goigoi continue on the path toward development and sustainability. The farm is being developed with the help of the United Church of Christ in Zimbabwe (UCCZ) across the international border. The farm at Goigoi in Mozambique will provide food for the 200 to 250 families that live in the community. The current food situation is tenuous at best and families currently scrape out an existence which is heavily impacted by malnutrition and hunger.

The project will employ a farm manager as well as workers, primarily women, from the community. Workers compensation will be modest, provided to recognize time worked during the clearing, planting, tending, and harvesting of fields. The initial plan is for cultivation of crops with the potential to later expand into the raising of animals to provide eggs, milk, and meat, as well as the added income. The farm also will serve as a means for education and training for the community, as a whole, and for its youth, in particular.

Collaborations over the beginnings of the farm at Goigoi have served to strengthen the relationship between the UCCM and the UCCZ. The UCCZ has long been the recipient of mission funding. Assisting Goigoi is an opportunity for them to reach out and help others. While Zimbabwe continues to face its own share of issues, including limited financial resources, their outlook is “the little we have, we share.”