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  • Title: The bottom line: Mozambique.
    Author: Owen M.
    Journal: Plan Parent Chall; 1997; (1-2):45-7. PubMed ID: 12293465.
    Abstract:
    In this interview, Margaret Owen, the founder of Empowering Widows in Development discusses conditions in Mozambique with Olinda Mugabe, the Executive Director of the Mozambique Family Planning (FP) Association (AMODEFA). In response to a question about the greatest obstacles to her work, Mugabe notes that the population finds it difficult to discuss sexuality or sexual matters, that most women believe they should have six children, and that maternal and infant mortality rates are very high. One strategy AMODEFA is using to overcome these problems is the community distribution of information and services by trained health educators. Constrains are posed by the country's poor infrastructure, a very limited health care system, and a dearth of trained health personnel in rural areas. In addition, it is hard to make people understand the rationale behind having smaller families, young people have no sex education, girls drop out of school when they become pregnant, girls marry at a age 10 or 11, and men believe that having sexual intercourse with a virgin will cure them of AIDS. Women tied to the traditional culture have no power over their bodies or their activities. Widows are the most vulnerable because the tradition that women can not inherit leaves them destitute and at the mercy of male relatives. The daughters of widows are also at risk of exploitation and rape. Illegal abortions account for much of the maternal mortality, and AMODEFA is attempting to help people avoid abortion through FP. Women do not need their husbands' consent to get FP services, but they do to become sterilized. AMODEFA hopes to gain the funding it needs to expand its services into the rural areas where the need is greatest.
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