Angola after the war

Following the signing of a peace treaty by the Angolan Government and UNITA Party, the two World Alliance of Reformed (WARC) churches in the country invited a WARC-led ecumenical team to visit Angola. Lazarus Sigauke, Chairperson of ECLOF Zimbabwe, represented ECLOF on the eight-person team and reports on the huge post-war task the people now face

All of us saw with our own eyes the damage caused by Angola's war, both in human and material terms.

The people told us they had lived in constant fear during the war, as it seemed it would never end. We heard that many of the people who had fled their homes in the rural war zones to seek refuge in the cities had either died or undergone immeasurable suffering. One pastor spoke of people attending church naked because all their possessions had been destroyed during the fighting. Another pastor said that he had often conducted as many as five funeral services in a day for victims of the war.

The pastors and the people said that they had seen their neighbours and friends dying of starvation and disease, and being buried in their front gardens, in parks and anywhere else a grave could be dug. During the war, there had been an unwritten rule that if someone fell wounded, the person was left unattended because no one could afford to help. Landmines had also taken their toll and people lay where they had stepped on to a mine; in some cases pleading with others to finish them off.

Amidst the suffering I discovered hope. One pastor told me, "We suffered to the extent that we lost our values and even refused to accept our own relatives into our homes. But, by the grace of the Lord God, we are here and hope to build our country once again.”

Angolans now need counselling and other treatment to come to terms with the trauma of war. The church is strong and in a position to help. During the war, the church maintained hope among the people. Now it is concentrating on spreading a message of reconciliation, acceptance, healing and self sustainability.

The people's hope and optimism are reflected in their visible efforts to rebuild, but they have no money to buy materials. Hospitals are trying not only to rebuild but also to find the means to purchase or otherwise get badly needed supplies of drugs.

We visited reopened schools but the children have no desks or chairs, and they write on stones and bricks because there is no paper.

Angola is rich in oil, diamonds and land, but most Angolans are poor because the war, which was waged in an attempt to control the country's wealth, destroyed almost everything the people had. Angolans need and want to rebuild. The problem is that those who live in cities lack the resources, while those who wish to return to the rural areas from where they fled cannot do so because the land is still infested with landmines.

The world must understand that Angola desperately requires help to rebuild and to ensure that the fruits of the country's mineral wealth benefit the majority rather than a small elite collaborating with outside corporations.