mozambique 101.

I recognize that many people in the world have never even heard of Mozambique (well, until this blog!) and even then, many could not even tell you where in the world it is! I wanted to take this opportunity to let you know a little more about the situation in this amazing country that I am currently calling home.

Mozambique, a sub-Saharan African country loctaed on the East coast of the country, between South Africa and Tanzania, has a population of approximately 21 million people.

A minimum of 16% of those people... 1.8 million people... are infected with HIV. But in reality, the number is probably much higher. Mozambique is one of the top ten affected countries in the world in terms of HIV/AIDS.

The GDN per capita is US $340.

Only 49% of the population is literate. 40% of men and 63% of women cannot read or write.

As of 2007, Mozambique was number 170 out of 173 on the Human Development Index.

On the Gender Development Index, Mozambique ranked at 140 of 144.

Almost half of the piopulation lives on less than $1 per day. And more than 70% live in absolute poverty.

Almost 1 in 4 children will die before the age of 5.

Only 43% of the rural population and 72% of the urban have access to safe drinking water.

Mozambique suffered through many brutal years of war... first the war of independence with the Portuguese followed by a civil war that just ended in the 1990s, leaving a profound affect on its people.

These statistics paint a striking picture of the poverty and problems in this country. In the States, when I heard things like this it would be impossible to truly understand what it meant, and even living here I still cannot truly comprehend the depth of need here.

But it doesn´t need to paint a depressing picture only. These statistics reaveal some of the inescapable problems, but they cannot encompass the joy and optimism of the people, an attitude that will be able to propel the country forward, should it be able to be harnessed.

I just post this to give you a little idea of what goes on on the other side of the world. And I think the world would be a better place if each of us could just take a few minutes out of our busy days, and think about what we can do--no matter how small or seemingly insignificant--to make this world a better place for all of its inhabitants.