WHERE WE WORK > ANGOLA

Promoting Dignity and human rights in Angola  

The Good Shepherd mission in Angola was funded in 1958 to offer support and assistance to the people affected by violence, corruption and poverty in the slums of the capital city, Luanda, and in isolated villages in the northern country, taking special care of women, children and single mothers. Since 2013 in partnership with GSIF the programs were improved and enlarged, to work closely with the local communities to transform the Angolan society promoting the basic rights of women, youth and children living in vulnerable situations. Over the years the initiatives in education, health, and women’s and girls’ protection were expanded and from 2015 vocational training, microcredit, and community development programs have started. Since 2020 an agriculture social enterprise is being piloted to bridge the gap between local farmers and markets. The overall interventions in the country are aimed to improving the lives and restore the dignity of 200,000 people from most vulnerable communities where we work, of which 20,000 are children and women in extreme vulnerability.  

Activities

• Health care service at affordable costs or free of charge for vulnerable people living in the two rural towns of Samba Caju and Camabatela and surrounding areas. The focus is on maternal and child health and post-natal care, reaching out to an average of 4,000+ clients and over 400 deliveries annually 
• Adult literacy program to vulnerable women and youth in one of the poorest neighbors of the town of Uige. 200+ people received adult literacy classes; 

• Primary and Secondary School São Joao Eudes: in 2008, in partnership with the Ministry of Education a primary school was built, offering free education to children living in Ndala Mulemba – Kicolo, a vulnerable slum in the metropolitan area of Luanda. Illiteracy and lack of skills forced youth into criminality and commercial sexual exploitation and the school has literally changed the face of the neighborhood, providing hope for a future generation. It had been enrolling annually 1,500+ students and a library and a multipurpose courtyard for physical education and sport as an integral component of the overall education service have been set up. 
• In Kicolo and Samba Caju, the Good Shepherd project offers to around 30 girls and children accused of witchcraft a temporary shelter for care, rehabilitation and re-integration into the community.
• Since 2016 the Susan Marie Chia Vocational Training Center supported 500+ vulnerable youth and adult with literacy classes and vocational training: cooking & pastry, tailoring & dressmaking, IT skills, English. The project provides also microcredit schemes and linkages to the job market. 
• A pilot program started in 2018 aiming to train women in agriculture skills, offering inputs, seeds and help them access to market to sell their produce. Starting from 2020 in Luanda, Camabatela and surrounding villages (Kwanza Norte) we are piloting a social enterprise focusing on urban & rural women empowerment and livelihood support through training in sustainable agriculture, to provide dignified sources of income to cooperative of women and to generate sufficient revenues to support community-based social activities. 

PROJECTS LOCATIONS

Samba Caju, Camabatela, Uige, Kicolo

HIGHLIGHTS

6

Projects

9,100

Beneficiaries

—

Local staff

AREAS OF INTERVENTION

Human Rights

Girls and Women's Empowerment

Livelihood and Economic Justice

Community Strengthening and Participation