Joaquina is the first guest of the family home that the Community of Sant'Egidio opened in Mozambique, in Beira. The house had been inaugurated just before the arrival of Cyclone Idai which had seriously damaged it. It is a lovely little house in the popular Munhava district, where the Community has been making the School of Peace for many years. (In the photo we see the old and the new house of Joaquina)
Joaquina is 74 years old; she had a difficult life. After the death of her husband, she was expelled from the house in which they lived and, completely alone, she has lived on alms and survived with the help of the Community for many years. He lived in a hut on the edge of a drainage canal.
The house where he now lives can accommodate up to 5 seniors. Soon a companion will arrive for Joaquina, Ana who has also been a friend of the community for many years. Joaquina and Ana have always been part of the group of around 800 elderly people to whom the Beira Community has been offering a food pack twice a month for over 20 years. For the community, the elderly were also a priority in the reconstruction after the cyclone Idai, which on the night of March 14 damaged 95% of the houses in Beira, completely destroying the poorest and most precarious ones as are often the homes of the elderly. 38 homes have already been delivered to the elderly who lost everything in March 2019.
