Mennonite Central Committee

Written by Bruno Baerg

The impact of war is felt long after specific hostilities exist and long after the global community has forgotten all about it.

This is particularly true in Mozambique some 18 years after the cessation of the apartheid Rhodesia / South African funded war of destabilization (1977-1992) in the country. Approx 1 million people were killed due to that conflict along with another approx 5 million people displaced. This had huge consequences which are still felt to this very day.

By Debbi DiGennaro



Beginning Saturday, Feb. 25, and continuing for three days, about 2,000 youth, armed with machetes, attacked villages in inter-ethnic violence east of the city of Kisumu, Kenya, an area where the Kenya Mennonite Church has a strong presence.

Local Mennonite Bishop Clyde Agola immediately informed Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) and Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) workers in Kenya of the attacks. EMM and MCC responded promptly with $3,000 of emergency aid before other humanitarian aid groups were mobilized on site.

Written by Emily Will

Ethiopian President Girma Wolde-Giorgis presented a first-place “Green Award” to a Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) partner organization in a televised ceremony, Feb. 7.

The award, which includes a plaque, certificate and green band saying “green hero,” recognizes Migibare Senay Children and Family Support Organization (MSCFSO) for its outstanding work in restoring exhausted land for agricultural use, by and for impoverished individuals and families.

By Brenda Hartman-Souder

To walk into Zipporah Moses’ tailoring shop is to enter a swirl of color and activity. Sewing machines hum while Moses and several of her helpers cut and baste the vibrantly patterned fabric used in traditional dress. They measure new customers and serve those who are picking up their orders. All within an 8-by-10 foot space on a busy thoroughfare in Jos, Nigeria.

Written by Linda Espenshade

Daily family conflict controlled Jean Paul Hagenimana’s life. Pastor Prosper Muzaliwa was limited by his beliefs that excluded people. Clementine Uwimana was consumed by hatred for the ethnic group responsible for her mother’s death.

All of these people, embroiled in their own kind of personal turmoil, live in Rwanda, a country recovering from years of ethnic violence and tensions between Hutus and Tutsis and the genocide of 1994.

By Matthew Kistler



NAJILE, Kenya – A goat project among Kenya’s Maasai people is giving birth to more than baby goats. It’s powering to life a cooperative group ethic that is helping 2,000 Maasai families cope with cultural change and ecological challenges.



The Maasai, traditionally pastoralists, have struggled for years to redefine themselves in light of reduced grazing land, pressure to abandon their nomadic way of life and increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.

Written by Karina Daum



Stephen Esaki, 27, dragged himself into his host family’s home in Tete, Mozambique. He was ready to jump onto the couch and kick back after building sand dams all day, but his host sister already had the couch occupied. This familiar situation reminded him of his high school years in Aapaa, Hawaii, when he would come home to find his own sister sprawled on the couch.

This robotic looking creature is actually a sculpture made up of destroyed weapons from the war of destabilization (1980's & 1990's) waged against the Mozambican government by a dissident group called Renamo. This group was funded and trained primarily by the South African military structure during the Apartheid era (although other western countries supported this war of destabilization) and internally in Mozambique had a certain very limited support.

Written By Linda Espenshade

As people of South Sudan eagerly anticipate the official creation of their newly independent country on July 9, their hope is tempered by the realities of increased tensions and the recognition of difficult economic and political challenges ahead. 



Written by Gladys Terichow

Memories of his near-death experience during the 2002 political unrest in Zimbabwe are never far from Bhekimpilo Moyo’s mind.

Captured by a group of men who wanted to kill him, Moyo felt his best chance for survival would be to tell them that they had captured the wrong man and that his name was James.

The men didn’t believe him. They tied his hands behind his back, beat him up and started to take him to the house where they were staying.