Cans and scrap metal become pots that fight poverty in central Mozambique

Maria José, 28, looks at a stew made from beer cans and old iron, a “cocktail” she mixes by boiling over coals in a makeshift oven to extract the aluminum and cook pots that fight poverty in central Mozambique.

In the suburb of Chimoio, in Manica, an artisan and single mother earns a living by recycling aluminum, a metal she later uses to make glasses, pans, spoons, irons and charcoal pans, utensils that are in high demand among the underprivileged. performance due to its affordable cost and durability.

“Sometimes I manage to make 20, 15 or even 30 pots a week, depending on how the pots are delivered or the food they bring here to buy,” says Luza Maria José, leaning on an iron hook wrapped around. the top end with the raffia bag he uses to stir the stew in the oven.

The woman got into the business thanks to her mother, also an artisan and widow, and took up recycling, now her only livelihood to support her family, which helped her return to school, which she dropped out due to lack of resources. .

“I support my two kids and my marijuana-based home,” emphasizes Maria José, the only woman among the dozens of men she competes with for clients, with a shy smile.

It is part of an artisan cooperative that since 2020 has been recycling beer cans, soft drinks, perfumes and scrap metal to produce household items that are still in high demand by low-income families living in areas where there is no access to electricity. .

Dozens of kilograms of tin cans and scrap metal leave the landfills and streets of Chimoyo and are fed daily as raw materials to the cooperative “Ferro não se deita” for recycling, helping many families to realize the dream of a simple handmade pot.

Cooperative president Rodriguez Viola told Lusa that 47 workers, including five women, are disposing of trash in makeshift tents set up in the backyard, helping the environment be trash-free and helping families pay their bills.

The aluminum pan business helps cover the daily costs of food, health and employee training, as well as replacing traditional pots made from clay, attracting more customers from the salon because they can use the same utensils for longer.

“When the population makes these traditional clay pots, it doesn’t take time, while it takes time to make these pots of ours, sometimes five or even 10 years, to use the same pot,” explains Rodriguez Viola, a new attraction for pots.

Ana Otilia João, 61, another artisan and the oldest in the co-op, goes even further to ensure that recycling not only fights poverty, but reduces the marginalization of her children as she already borrows them by making money, collecting and selling banks and scrap metal cooperative.

“Our children suffered here because they were beaten, it was enough to see metical, and they said:“ you stole from my house. Now, with the advent of the cooperative, everything has improved, because everyone is already working here,” notes Ana Otilia John.

The woman says she buys 20 kg of aluminium, cans and scrap metal, and produces eight size 9 pans or 10 size 8 pans, which provide enough profit to cover monthly expenses and not skip three meals a day at home.

Another craftsman, Mucheger Mucheta, specializes in the production of coal irons and makes sure that there is no shortage of raw materials, most of which are accumulated during the Christmas and New Year holidays, in order to continue saving energy in cities and making people clean. in areas without electricity.

Most customers “come from cities and some villages where there is no electricity yet” and where a charcoal iron is the only resource for keeping clothes clean, he explains to Lusa Mucheguere Mucheta that it takes an average of two days to receive 30 or 40 irons. ready.

“Even in the city, they are also looking for coal-fired irons, because the cost of an electric iron is high, in addition to high electricity consumption, so they need an iron to save energy,” notes Mucheger Mucheta.

The Chimoyo artisans reach buyers in the provinces of central Mozambique at low prices and compete for space with the various Chinese knick-knacks that flood the market.