Story
<p>Juma seems a fairly quiet and serious boy, which is probably because he’s had to grow up quite quickly. His mother passed away soon after he was diagnosed with leprosy at the age of eight, and his father also moved away leaving Juma on his own. He has benefitted from educational support and funding for goats and to build his own house. He has also started planting beans and other vegetables in a garden at the back of his house. He says you can use the leaves of the plants in cooking too.<br><br>Juma says: ‘I was doing grade five and when I did my exam I succeeded to grade six But in this village, because there is no grade six I decided to do class five again, because otherwise it’s too far and I have no bicycle. I’m studying in the afternoon shift, from 12-5.30. I’ve been going to school for six years. I used to receive support for this, but now I’m not receiving anything<br><br>‘I received a uniform, school materials, exercise book, pens, all those things. Portuguese is my favourite subject – in the future I would like to become a Portuguese teacher for children. ‘<br><br>Juma is 15 years old now and in the evenings he visits his grandmother, helping her with washing the dishes and sweeping the floor. He used to stay and play after school, but he didn’t like the fighting, although he likes playing football very much.<br><br>‘After I realised I was suffering from leprosy I took medication and then I was ok. I was scratching all over my body, that’s how I knew something was wrong. I didn’t realise it was leprosy, but one of the volunteers came here to encourage me to go to the hospital. I was scared when I found out, but the volunteer from the village told me, ‘don’t worry, you will be healed.<br><br>‘I also received support – 7,000 meticais – I was told to divide this in half, using half to build a house and half to buy goats. I bought goats in April last year. In the beginning I had two, one female and one male and now I have another that is a baby. I was thinking of one day having a lot of goats and taking one to sell to pay the school fees or buy exercise books. I usually feed the goats before I go to school.’<br><br>Thank you for helping Juma to transform and empower his life. Please consider a gift today and help to educate other children like him in Mozambique.</p>
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