Building schools in Mozambique

Hi, I am Clara from IKEA Denmark. I work at the IKEA Contact Center, which is a part of our customer service offer.

In the spring, I was lucky to be selected to go on this year’s field trip and the destination was Mozambique, where the IKEA Foundation collaborates with UNICEF.

Mozambique is a country in southern Africa, a country which is very different from what we know here in the Western part of the world. The country has big healthcare, political and social issues! The majority of the population lives in extreme poverty and is struggling every day to achieve the most basic needs such as food, clean water and literally survival. Moreover, very few have access to education and those who do receive some education only obtain very basic reading and writing skills.

Money from our Soft Toys for Education campaign makes it possible for UNICEF to build schools, educate and pay teachers, and provide the students with paper and pencils. UNICEF also showed us projects that are not funded by the Soft Toys for Education campaign, such as HIV clinics where they offer free treatment, and we met women who receive financial aid and help because they are struggling to cope alone after their husbands have died.

My week’s experiences and the feelings and thoughts that came from it are unspeakable, but a few words that can describe it, is that we can all be proud of IKEA as our workplace – because IKEA really makes a difference to many people!