Below is a speech by the former President of Mozambique to a school named ADPP (Humana People to People run). It was very uplifting to read this speech tonight and is a great example of being modest while making significant change.
http://www.drh-norway.org/TextPage.asp?TxtID=169&SubMenuItemID=116&MenuItemID=55
Former President Chissano of Mozambique: I wish to congratulate ADPP HUMANA
Speech given by the president at ADPP (Ajuda de Desenvolvimento do Povo para Povo - Humana in Portuguese) HUMANA Mozambique 20th year birthday
President Joaquim Chissano- "Do you know who is Birgit? Birgit will you please stand up. This is her. I don’t know what her age was in 1982, but when I met her she was very young. I don’t want to know her age but when I met her she was very young. Now 20 years have passed. I looked at her when she received me at the entrance and she continues to be very young.
This shows that ADPP, who is 20 years old, also continues to be very young, with great strength. ADPP started with strength and maintains this strength. The first idea of ideas that I have here, and this I am now going to say, is that ADPP should always be youthful, ADPP should always have great strength and ADPP should always be energetic.
I did not come here today to give many ideas but to praise ADPP for the work they have achieved during the last 20 years. When ADPP started this work this was evidently the idea of foreigners and a few foreigners at that, to work with the people, to mix with the people. ADPP wanted not to be an organization of foreigners but a Mozambiquan organization run by Mozambicans, with the participation of Mozambicans. I wish to say that this is now the reality. For I have heard here that today ADPP is run by 80 Mozambiquans and only 25 permanent staff who are foreigners ad some of these foreigners are more Mozambican that foreign.
For example, Birgit here, when she arrived in Mozambique was a foreigner now she is Mozambican. There are also others who like Birgit worked with us during the Liberation struggle and came with the same spirit to Dar-es-Salam in Tanzania, working with us with schools, working with us with information and finally came with us, after independence, to Mozambique, and became Mozambicans.
This organization, ADPP, appeared in Mozambique in ’82, but this was not new for us, as we were together in the Liberation struggle. Groups of youths from Europe and from America came to work with us, these groups being called support groups. These support groups had shown support during the Liberation Struggle in various forms, in the areas of teaching, of health, sending medicines to us, sending from their countries school books, books and pens, sending blankets made from bits of cloth, cloth that had been thrown out from clothes factories. Having groups that take these discarded clothes and make them into beautiful blankets, then sending container loads of these blankets to us.
They also assisted us to know our country whilst in exile. This and the spirit grew and transformed into ADPP. Thus it was it 1982 we received ADPP with open arms and with the knowledge that this in fact was a very positive thing. 20 years later I can confirm that it is in fact a very positive thing. As we have heard here, from theatre plays, from songs, from speeches that this positive thing continues with ADPP in Mozambique. We came here today to congratulate ADPP and to express the desire that ADPP continue with their success in the future.
One idea I would like to give, as you have asked me for ideas, is that ADPP should work to raise their profile with the general public, with our institutions both public and private because it is my belief that very few people know of this location where we are now, also very few people know of the seven teacher training colleges. Birgit has just informed me of the seventh teacher training college, I knew of six and when I was road here I said "ADPP has six schools or six IMAPs or six teacher training colleges which is equal to that of the state". Working together in collaboration and working with the same objectives but when I got here I was informed of a new teacher training college, so that ADPP now has seven. This is not well known here as all your other activities are also not well known. Even less well known is what the Humana representative had to say. When we here in Mozambique talk of Humana very few people understand who or what Humana is.
Work is needed to correct this lack of understanding. I am today even more convinced of this than ever because when I was coming here in the car I was reading this newspaper, I will now read you a passage from today’s newspaper ‘Noticias’; Noticias says ADPP etc etc … when ADPP was formed its purpose was to sell used clothes. This is the idea that the newspaper is giving to the people, that when ADPP was formed it was formed for the purpose to sell second hand clothes but when ADPP was formed they where not selling second hand clothes. When ADPP was formed it was formed to work on literacy, in the rural areas, in the area of Matutuine and started to build schools and teach.
Finally in the ‘80’s ADPP came to this present location where there has been a multiplication of training courses, in the areas of agriculture, clothes making and catering. There are former students who have left here and gone on to work in restaurants or opened their own little restaurants. Maybe there are many already doing this. When I visited here, in 1989, all these courses where in the process of being formed. Therefore these courses are preparing people to be self-sufficient. The sale of second hand clothes started as a form of fundraising to support the other activities.
Today ADPP is creating a higher education institute and therefore this first higher education institute is a continuation of the work that started with primary schools. Visit school building sites and you will find that they are run by Mozambiquans, building blocks and constructing schools. I have seen this for myself. I have visited teacher training colleges in various provinces, the latest to be inaugurated was in Angonia, no, it was in Lichinga, a very big school. I have also visited a school in Inhambane as well as a school in Nhamatanda. In many cases these schools and colleges have been built in institutions that had been abandoned or under used and in other cases completely new structures have been built. All these activities deserve our praise. I repeat that I like the fact that ADPP continues to be youthful with a special example of solidarity at various levels that ADPP may increase its activities for Mozambiquans, for the communities. Good ….. ADPP is full of imagination and therefore will know how to take initiatives to adapt to the rhythm of the economic development of our country, to the reality of it and to make the necessary adaptations.
Today we have many graduates, some of which do not know what they want to do, they graduated and afterwards didn’t know what to do. ADPP is certainly interested in these people joining the solidarity movement of people to people as they say for the people. The important thing is not to add the "P", what is important is to have the spirit and to act in such a way that in reality the people do not approach ADPP solely to ask for help, as they see the function of ADPP is solely for handouts but that the people approach ADPP as a source of inspiration so that the people can resolve their own problems, to inspire solidarity, so that the communities will be inspired in this work of solidarity and resolve their own problems. The city of Maputo has many problems and it is the duty of the communities in the city to find the solutions to these problems. The city of Matola has many problems and it is the duty of the communities in the city to find the solutions to these problems. And it is in this spirit of solidarity of people to people by the people, and it is for the people to develop the people for the people.
I wish to congratulate ADPP for the fact that they have taken the name of Mozambique across many frontiers through the work of the volunteers that have come here to work, many nationalities have come here, Koreans have come here, Americans and Brazilians have come here. I don’t know how many different nationalities have come here, nearly all. When they return to their countries they take something of Mozambique with them, this is a solidarity movement for Mozambiquans but it is also an international solidarity movement. This international solidarity, this feeling of solidarity with the world that we Mozambicans have, has been made stronger due to the fact that it helped us in our victory in the struggle against colonialism.
Today we need to maintain this spirit of solidarity. It is not what others do for us but our sentiments in relation to other peoples that will make the respect we deserve. We need to have solidarity within ourselves, we need to be united and we deserve the confidence and solidarity of the world to achieve victory. This is what is happening in our country right now. We need to know how to raise the flag very high, the flag of international solidarity. Humana is doing this work, through all its initiatives and ADPP, Mozambique will never tire of taking this solidarity forward.
Birgit has told me that we are hungry and I don’t want to miss this offer of lunch by ADPP, I was invited for lunch and so I will finish here so that we may all have lunch. I hope to return for more celebrations and another lunch in 20 years time, with Birgit, always youthful and with ADPP, always youthful.
Thank-you very much."
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