With very few new cases of COVID19 detected in recent weeks, the Mozambican Government has decided to take a step towards normality, withdrawing the state of emergency. The pandemic is not over but during the summer season that is about to end there have been no new peaks, except one in January caused by the many South African tourists who flocked to the country for the holidays. With winter approaching there will be the decisive test of the holding of vaccinations and the safety measures that are maintained, such as the use of sanitizing gel and masks in closed places. As of mid-April, official data counts almost 28 million doses administered, with 44% of the population fully vaccinated. A fact that gives hope for the future of the country.

In this newfound normality, the many AGAPE projects have restarted, almost all at full speed. The Distance Support programs have never stopped, and today the referent associations are also able to give greater continuity to visits to families and parental education, fundamental to help parents give the right attention to children and help them grow up as best as possible. The Machaka Association, in the Mafalala neighborhood, is able to do all the artistic workshops, both art and music, and our volunteers Omar and Soares take care of music therapy not only there but also in the other Centers that we support: The A.V.I.M.A.S. nursery in the Choupal neighborhood and, since this year, Casa Esperança in Catembe, a suburb on the other coast of the Maputo bay. For a few weeks now, these school support activities and art workshops have also been offered to children and young people who live in the Choupal neighborhood, near the A.V.I.M.A.S. Center. After the renovation of the spaces carried out last year taking advantage of the school closure, today the structure has resumed its activities and the volunteers are going regularly to work with children and young people of all ages.

Finally, the Mahotas Center, while continuing its rehabilitation and support activities for the families of psychiatric patients, has not yet started welcoming volunteers again for fear of contagion among the most fragile patients. We hope that in the coming months, as the pandemic situation improves, there will be more spaces to be able to work: the occupational workshops were an important opportunity for both children and adults to develop manual skills and creativity.