Cultural Center Muodjo

Maputo, Mozambique. February 2nd - 4th, 2010

Muodjo's mission it o assist vulnerable children and develop their cultural abilities, with special focus on streets children and orphans.

We supply materials for an exhibition they organize with pictures the children drew.

Name	Muodjo Cultural Center, Maputo rural area, Mozambique
Aim	To assist vulnerable children and develop their cultural abilities, with special focus on streets children and orphans.
Since	2005
Staff	12 workers
People reached	About 70 children in the community are immediately benefiting from Muodjo. Up to 30 children live in the center.
Contact	Osvaldo Laurenco Yosvaldoo@yahoo.com.br
Donation	10,000 Meticais (323 USD)

We know Muodjo through a couchsurfer in Maputo and visit the small NGO's office in the hot Mozambique sun, in a suburb about an hour outside of the bustling city of Maputo. Osvaldo introduces us to their programs and tells us about the art sensitizing they are doing with vulnerable children.

There couldn't have been a better fit than Osvaldo: He had been an abandoned child and had lived on the street and in orphan homes. When priests took care of him, they discovered his talent for music and gave him the opportunity to study. Now he has a degree in music education and one of Muodjo's projects is a music workshop with traditional African instruments.

Our time with Muodjo was nice, some accommodation was easily arranged, and Osvaldo showed us around in town, showed us the hangouts of the street children, like an old overgrown colonial villa, and told us about their - and his former - begging tricks.

When we were there, they were organizing an art exhibition of some of the children's drawings. We decided to finance this and went to town to buy materials.

Osvaldo's passion and his plans are truly great, and we hope to hear more from him and Muodjo in the future.

The organizer Osvaldo with kids

Some drawings that would be exhibited