Lubango - The First Lady of the Republic, Ana Dias Lourenço, delivered this Friday to the population of Toco, in Lubango Municipality, southern Huíla Province, working equipment, seeds and foodstuff, as part of her visit to the region, where she launched the Integrated Community Development Programme of that locality.
In addition to the equipment, Ana Dias Lourenço offered a rehabilitated water point, in the 10 de Maio neighbourhood, through the Clean and Sustainable Village project, of the Safe Water sub-project, which will support 700,000 families. The infrastructure had been paralysed since 2018 due to vandalisation.
Fifteen tonnes of maize, millet, sorghum and bean seeds were also delivered to over 300 farmers affiliated to agricultural cooperatives in the sector, in addition to sports equipment to football and basketball practitioners in Hoque commune.
Speaking about the Integrated Community Development Programme of Toco, the governor of Huila, Nuno Mahapi, said that the visit was “fruitful”, considering that it is focused on supporting the most vulnerable families, mainly children and elderly people.
“The foundation project is a brilliant idea that the community of Toco has embraced in the best possible way and we are to be congratulated for being the first province to benefit from the initiative”, said the governor.
The parish priest of Mamã Muxima Catholic Church in Toco community, Father Américo Gomes, said that this project will make it possible to satisfy the needs of the population, improving the social condition of the local community.
He pointed out that the community used to be only “grass and trees” and since 2012, with the installation of the parish in the location it began to have another dynamic and the Church did not cease its efforts to advocate in favour of the community.
He added that it will also allow the communities to work towards their self-sustainability, from technical-vocational education, which can give tools to a young person to leave delinquency and succeed in life and other mechanisms of profitability of the families.
He stressed that the issue of water, with the recovery of two boreholes that were previously deactivated due to vandalism and breakdown, now have enough water to give to the population, stressing that it is also of interest the agricultural aspect and the women empowerment.
The Integrated Community Development Programme (PDIC) of Toco, of the Ngana Zenza Foundation, led by the First Lady, Ana Dias Lourenço, to be implemented until 2025, plans to support 3,887 families, which corresponds to 18,282 people from the community, which is 35 kilometres from Lubango.
The programme aims to contribute to the improvement of the living conditions of the most vulnerable populations of the Toco community, through a multi-sectoral, integrated and inclusive approach of sustainable community development that promotes the full participation of families and interaction with other actors.
