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Angola

Luanda

Good Shepherd Mission in Luanda

The Sisters of the Good Shepherd have been present in Angola since 1963 in six missions across the country. There are presently 32 sisters in the following towns:

  • Luanda, Kicolo (capital city),
  • Camabatela (north),
  • Samba Cajù and Uije (east),
  • Lubango (south).

The Sisters’ programs offer education, training, economic and social support to the local population devastated by 30 years of civil war, violence, corruption and poverty. They take special care of women and children and offer medical treatment to patients in clinics that often lack basic equipment and electricity. They offer dedicated services to: abandoned children, (often accused of witchcraft); pregnant women; and single mothers. The sisters offer shelter and psychological support to the most needy. 

Background

POVERTY

Angola is rebuilding its country after 27 years of civil war that ended in 2002. According to 2006 UNDP estimates, 70% of the population live below the poverty line, unemployment is extensive and underemployment affects more than half of the population. Harsh living conditions result in life expectancy rates being 38.62 for men and 37.47 for women. Due to the dynamics of demography, 43.7% of the population is aged between 0 and 14 years.

Extreme poverty has resulted from and is correlated to the influx of Internally Displaced People (IDP) into cities. Luanda, the capital city, built to accommodate half a million now has a population to four million, which is one third of the total population of Angola.

EDUCATION

Only 66.8% of the total population aged 15 and over can read and write, and only 53.8% of women are literate.

According to the most recent UNICEF report, “Angola is still far from meeting the goal of universal quality primary education. The prolonged civil conflict left the Angolan educational sector in a state of disarray. Between 1992 and 1996 alone, the war destroyed more than 1,500 classrooms. The country faces the huge challenge of raising the number of children in primary school from an estimated 2.1 million in 2003 to 5 million by 2015 while keeping up with the rapid growth of the school-age population. (…) Only 56 per cent of children of primary school age attend the first level of basic education (Grades 1-4) with clear disparities by gender and socio-economic groups. (…) Angolan children are still deprived of their right to quality education. At present, it is estimated that at least one million primary school age children are not in school, the majority of them are girls. ” 

General living conditions for Angolan children are at the lowest level in the world according to all social criteria:

  • An estimated 1 million children died during the civil war conflict.
  • Child mortality rate is 260 deaths for every 1,000 live births - the third highest rate in the world, one out of every four children dies before his or her fifth birthday.
  • Maternal mortality rate is estimated at 1,700 deaths for every 100,000 live births, one of the highest in the world.
  • 221,000 children under five die every year. Malaria is the largest single cause of child mortality in Angola, with 1.4 to 2 million cases reported annually.
  • 31% of children under five are underweight and 6.2% are acutely malnourished
  • 30% of Angolan children between 5-14 years old are involved in some sort of paid or unpaid work.

With 63% of the population lacking access to safe drinking water, the risk of becoming infected by food or water-borne diseases is very high. Malaria is the largest single cause of child mortality in Angola with 1.4 to 2 million cases reported annually. Despite the fact that the immunization coverage is increasing, only 47% of one-year-olds are fully immunized.