It took me two whole days to find my wife and children, who had also managed to escape and hide in the bush,” says Leonardo, reliving the experience with emotion. I had to run away without being able to take anything with me. “I saw the gunmen approaching from the farm where I was working. In October 2020, the imminent risk of an attack on Leonardo's village forced families and neighbours to suddenly flee. Although they had no great wealth, they felt fulfilled: they had a house with a full larder thanks to hard work on the farm they cultivated their young children went to school, played ball and drew paintings with their friends and neighbours and their older children had become independent with jobs within the village and in neighbouring communities.ĭespite a visual impairment from a young age that rendered him blind in one eye, Leonardo had earned his status as a highly reputable tailor in the village, a craft he perfected over time, passionate about vivid fabrics that filled the village with colour.īut the peaceful lives of millions of people in northern Mozambique have been affected over the past five years by insecurity, as attacks by Non-State Armed Groups have resulted in a precarious humanitarian situation and the displacement of more than 1 million people within the country. Chimoio, 27 March 2023 – Until 2020, life seemed settled for Leonardo, his wife, and their seven children, who lived peacefully in Muidumbe district in the north of Cabo Delgado province in Mozambique.
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