Forced to flee
Gulamo Anli is 25 years old. He was born and raised in Macomia, in the Cabo Delgado province of Mozambique. He completed his primary education there, and it was also there that he met his wife, got married, and the couple had their first child.
Then, in 2020, they were forced to flee, leaving their regular day-to-day lives behind.
Gulamo tells us, ‘It all started unexpectedly, when strangers suddenly arrived in our communities and started capturing people, including children. My wife and I had a 2-year-old son at that time.
‘When these attackers entered Macomia, they started shooting, and there was no time to take anything with us; we just had to run to get to the main road.
‘We walked about 31 kilometers before finding the national highway.’
Starting again…
The couple finally managed to get some public transport that took them to a resettlement centre in Chiure District, south of Cabo Delgado. There, they found kind people who offered them food and provided them with the basic things they needed to start again.
And it was in the resettlement centre where the family still lives, that Gulamo and his family received help from Tearfund and our local partner The Anglican Diocese of Nampula.
Gulamo, along with 50 other men and women from local communities, received training on how to put together a business plan. Then, the group members were offered a variety of different kits to start a business with. This enabled them to earn some money, which they used to meet basic needs in their households. He says, ‘We were able to get a small amount of cash on a daily basis, and we never had to worry about basic school supplies, like pens or books, for our children, or other household needs like water, food and soap. My wife also had some cash to contribute in her savings group meeting.’
Gulamo and his team received basic mechanical and technical training and tools so they could start to work repairing motor bikes.
These skills are in high demand in the community, as lots of people use motorbikes as their means of transport!
‘Unfortunately,’ Gulamo tells us, ‘before the business picked up well, after we received the materials, there were some attacks (related to the same violence we had faced in Macomia district). That forced many families to relocate again to the other side of the province of Nampula. This really destabilised everything and we could not continue with our normal routine.
…and again…
‘After some time though, families came back and we resumed our normal activities.
‘But, just when everyone thought all was well and life was getting back to normal, Cyclone Chido hit during the month of December in 2024 and many houses were destroyed – including our stand where our workshop was built.’
…and again!
The loss of their business was a huge blow to Gulamo and his business partners but, despite the setbacks, some months later they decided together to start afresh and they set up a new bike repair stand in their community.
‘There are always motorbikes that require repairs!’ Gulamo says.
Of the original four, one of Gulamo’s team has now left, but the remaining three are working hard together. With a real sense of ownership and pride in their work, they take it in turns to run the motorbike repair shop so that they can also all have time to tend to their farming and other responsibilities.
‘We are facing hard times,’ says Gulamo, ‘but going home with a small amount is better than taking home nothing.
‘I would like to thank The Anglican Diocese of Nampula and Tearfund for all the assistance in our community since the attacks and our displacement.’
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