Care for Beira - fundraising for a university in need
Please donate and help us raise money. From one university to another. Together we can ensure that education in Mozambique can continue. If a cyclone destroys everything, you put your shoulders together.
A humanitarian disaster happened in Mozambique. Thursday evening, 14 March 2019, cyclone Idai made landfall in the port city of Beira. The tropical storm raged over the country for two days. Heavy rainfall and strong winds left widespread devastation. Beira in particular was hit hard. 90% of the city is damaged or destroyed. Around 483,000 people lost their homes as a result of the disaster which also hit neighbouring Zimbabwe and Malawi.
Little is left of Universidade Católica de Moçambique
Universidade Católica de Moçambique (UCM) in Beira, a collaboration partner of the School of Health Professions Education of Maastricht University, has been hit hard and can no longer function. For 30 years, UM (SHE Collaborates and MUNDO) has been working together on projects related to the development of the health and medical faculty of the university in Beira. This includes faculty development, curriculum revision, staff training, educational innovations and, more generally, health promotion in Mozambique.
"This is the biggest disaster in Mozambique's recent history," says SHE Collaborates Director Geraldine Beaujean, who was in the country for a project at UCM when the cyclone struck. She has witnessed the widespread devastation it has left. The university building has been virtually destroyed. It urgently needs a new shelter and construction materials to rebuild the university and resume education.
In various place, the water is meters high. Entire buildings have been swept away or flooded. There is no electricity, the hospital is no longer usable and a makeshift temporary emergency hospital has been set up on the ground floor of the university. The health faculty and the hospital have been destroyed. It is impossible to provide education to students and doctors in training; the first priority is reconstruction.
You can help. This campaign from Maastricht University aims to help Universidade Católica de Moçambique with financial resources and a positive impact so that the students can resume their education quickly and restart the project cooperation with UCM from 1 January 2020.
Donate now. If you want to help, donate to bank account
IBAN: NL21 INGB 0653 6632 42
BIC: INGBNL2A
stating Stichting Universiteitsfonds/SWOL Care for Beira, Maastricht University