The following information may be used in bulletins, newsletters, sermons, in Sunday school or during other teaching moments.
Mozambique won independence from Portugal in 1975 and is now governed by a 249-member unicameral parliament and president, both elected by universal adult suffrage.
In the early 1990s, civil war and a famine that resulted from drought killed tens of thousands of people, and more than a million refugees fled the country.
Though Mozambique has a market-based economy, it is considered to be one of the poorest countries in the world.
The gross national product has virtually a zero growth rate, and the GNP per capita is one of the lowest in the world.
Malnutrition and starvation are common. Up to half of the population depends on foreign food aid for survival.
Mozambique is approximately twice the size of California and is home to 19 million people.
More than 40 percent of the population is younger than 15 years, and 70 percent of the population is rural.
Most of Mozambique is tropical or subtropical in climate, with temperatures ranging from 65 to 85 degrees F. Warmer temperatures prevail during the rainy season (October - April), when up to 60 inches of rain falls in the north and 30 in the south.
Agriculture accounts for 45 percent of the gross national product, yet employs 80 percent of those who can find work.
There is an unemployment rate of 60 percent.
The average life expectancy is 38 years, and Mozambique has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world. Life expectancy is expected to decrease by 2010 because of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
A number of native languages are spoken in Mozambique, though Portuguese is the official language and English is also prominent in the business world.
30 percent of the population is Christian; 20 percent of the population is Muslim; 50 percent practice indigenous beliefs.
Only 40 percent of the population is literate. Though education is free, only one-third of the school-aged population is enrolled.
1.1 million adults and children in Mozambique are HIV-positive. Over 400,000 children have been orphaned by parents who have died of AIDS, and one million more are expected to be orphaned by the disease in the next five years. The lifetime cost of treating a person with AIDS ranges from between $200 to $900, or 1.2 to 3.3 times the yearly per capita income. Mozambique’s public health expenditures average less than $5 per person per year. An estimated 700 new HIV infections occur each day in Mozambique, with 45 percent of those new infections occurring in youth under the age of 24. Most people are unaware of their HIV status because social stigma and fears of job loss keep people from getting tested.
Millions of undetected land mines prevent access to wells, roads, schools, and land which could be used for farming. All NATO nations except the United States have signed the 1997 Mine Ban Treaty, which calls for an end to the production, stockpiling, transfer, and use of land mines.
Floods in 2000 and 2001 displaced more than 500,000 people. Areas that were previously swept of land mines may now be dangerous because the floods moved many land mines and no one can be sure that previously cleared areas are still safe.
In the past 10 years, the United Methodist Church in Mozambique has tripled in members to 121,000 in 130 congregations, and is now growing at a rate of 20 percent each year. Some pastors serve as many as 20 churches.
The United Methodist Church in Mozambique has established a Vocational Education School in Cambine that provides training in masonry, carpentry, sewing, and auto mechanics. Through a partnership with United Methodists in Mozambique, the Virginia Conference helped build and equip the school.
