Visit to the Assembly of the Republic of Mozambique - A student's story

We were fortunate to be presented to the President of the National Assembly, Her Excellency Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlovo and the Vice President, António José Amélia.  We were able to ask questions about how parliament operates and I was also able to ask what obstacles our democracy is facing.  I was told that lack of education is the main factor but there are also many other things that contribute. It made me think about how important an Academy such as ours is.

 We were fortunate to receive a donation of books about Mozambican politics for our Academy library and were shown around the National Assembly library, which was filled with sculptures and paintings of war and peace. We were also shown the stone from Hiroshima that has been placed in parliament, to help people understand how important it is to discuss problems peacefully instead of going to war. Her Excellency, Verónica Nataniel Macamo Dlovo, President of the National Assembly, introduced us to the members of the house saying words to the effect of ‘We would like to introduce and welcome the Aga Khan Academy to parliament.  Hopefully they will be the next leaders of our country, sit in our seats and make decisions about Mozambique’s future.’ We were grateful to be given the opportunity to visit a place where important decisions about our country’s future are made, and some of us are now thinking about how we can help Mozambique if we study politics in the future.        

Alessia del Frate, Grade 7