Amélia Alberto Chilengue found herself in a challenging situation in Mozambique when her husband was tragically killed in January 2021. This left her as a young mother responsible for two small children, struggling without a reliable source of income to support her family.
Determined to make ends meet, Amélia initially turned to house cleaning for income. However, the money she earned from this endeavour proved insufficient to adequately provide for her daughters' basic needs such as food, education, and essential utilities like water and electricity.
Fortuitously, Amélia's fortunes took a positive turn when she connected with a neighbour who was involved in monitoring mangroves at The Eden Reforestation Chilhale site. This neighbour facilitated Amélia's transition to a new role as a planter within this ecosystem.
Nowadays, Amélia's daily routine begins at 5:00 AM as she prepares breakfast and tends to her family's needs. By around 7:00 AM, she embarks on her work, meticulously planting propagules at intervals of one meter amidst the dense mud of a mangrove planting site. As her workday of planting comes to an end, she gathers propagules from fully grown mangroves, meticulously organizing them by species in preparation for the next phase of planting.
Through her dedicated efforts in this endeavour, Amélia has managed to secure the well-being of her daughters and ensure they receive an education.
“It makes me proud to leave a legacy for my children,” says Amélia. “As they grow up, they will know that their mother contributed to planting trees to restore the environment.”
Amélia Alberto Chilengue
