Casa Margherita

by Laura Montanari

As part of my long term project “Restlessness” regarding the attitude of people to move during the day, the seasons, their whole life or generations I also examine events that force people to move or to stay against their will or potential attitude. And I was moved from the following question: how is it possible to reconstruct after 3 decade of conflict?

28 year of civil war destroyed 1.5 million lives, infrastructure, traditional economy, and social structure, making millions of refugees.
Two generations are missing and also the potential to rebuild. Teachers, professionals and management are often to be imported.

Casa Margherita is one of the Care Homes that host displaced children in Motta, Sambizanga, almost called Lixeira. Alberta takes care of twenty children, five of hers and the other arrived here in different ways. The youngest, L., has three years and was abandoned outside the door of Casa.

Children in Lixeira, a favela where during the civil war the refugee flow together to run away from the conflict, often leave the family to live and work on the streets. These “Casa Famiglia”, Care home, managed by Angolan people, are part of a long term project to bring them back to their family or as a last choice, to find a new valid one, and give a professional education

VIS is an ONG operating in Albania, Angola, Argentina, Brazil, Burundi, Cambodia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kosovo, Lebanon, Palestine, Democratic republic of Congo, Dominican Republic, Sri Lanka and Vietnam.
In Angola is present from 1991 and is one of the few still there with projects on literacy, health education, training on human right, woman and child right, teacher training, health care, programme against child poor-feeding and recently for aid for children living in the streets. Not a charity...but a support in improving and growing.

Laura Montanari On behalf of VIS