Mozambique

Mozambique - Grannies photo

Muchanga was the first to focus on elderly women whose families accuse them of witchcraft—often as a way to avoid the cost of elder care. (Photo by Mercedes Sayagues)

Mozambique - Salane Muchanga rain photos

Trash-clogged gutters force rainwater to back up into streets that become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. (Photo by Mercedes Sayagues)

Mozambique - Salane Muchanga Rain Interview

Muchanga (left) interviewed residents from flooded communities about the diseases and poor sanitation that often follow rainstorms. (Photo by Mercedes Sayagues)

Mozambique-Salane Muchanga Journalism Award

Salane Muchanga’s most recent award honored her health reporting on a community that has prevented flooding—and the ensuing health risks. (Photo by Mercedes Sayagues)

Jan 192012

Remote Mozambique Relies on Radio for Health News

Mueda is where Mozambique’s uprising against colonial rule started, back in 1960. A memorial and a museum celebrate the event – but that pretty much exhausts the benefits Mueda has derived from its heroic past. Remote and poor, the district got electricity only last year.

Mozambique Radio Training Session

The journalists who showed up for training on health issues have almost no formal training in the basics of journalism, let alone how to cover health news. Knight Fellow Mercedes Sayagues, standing, conducted the training session. (Photo by Emanuel Pereira)

Jan 32012

In Mozambique, Spouses Share Everything But Blood

One problem in Mueda district and throughout Mozambique is the inability of husbands to provide blood for transfusions to their wives, whether directly to them or to replace stocks at the blood bank. Deep-seated beliefs prevent it.

Makonde man with child in Mozambique

Makonde men are a study in contradictions: fully involved in child care and health, many are unwilling to donate blood for female relatives in need. (Photo by Mercedes Sayagues)

Jan 32012

The Makonde Men of Mozambique: A Tradition of Health Care Connections

It is surprising and sweet in Mueda district to see so many men at the clinics, accompanying their wives, holding children on their laps, bringing them wrapped in a traditional cloth called a capulana, the little ones sometimes nestled on their fathers' chests.

You don’t see this in southern or central Mozambique.

Mozambique - Vitor Vicente and wife Fatima Mohamed

Vitor Vicente (left) and his wife Fatima Mohamed, at Mbuo clinic. (Photo by Mercedes Sayagues)