Yes, Brother Pinto, My name is Rui .I am the only one responsible for my family. I have my mother, my sister with three children, my wife, and my son. They all depend on me, and I am the one who supports them, even though I don’t live in the same house. I pay for the house where I live, which costs $10.17 per month, in addition to the electricity and water bills. However, the problem is that I don’t have a stable job. My odd jobs are sporadic, and there’s no guarantee of daily work. Sometimes, I get a job that pays me $15.65, but it could take weeks or even a month before I can get another one. With all these responsibilities, it’s hard to sustain my family and still provide for two homes with food.
In addition, I am studying and need internet every day, but there are times when I go two days without access. Things are very tough, especially since I don’t have a fixed income. When Brother Guente mentioned ByUpathway, I was very interested and decided to join. Now, my challenge is to continue studying and find ways to improve my situation.
Here in Marromeu, in the other part of Mozambique, job opportunities are almost nonexistent. There are no available projects, and still, I keep trying to move forward because I believe I can make a difference. I know that many young people are in the same situation. For me, having a fixed job that guarantees a monthly salary would be a huge relief because it would help me face some of the daily challenges. I was trained in the field of metalworking and worked for some companies in Beira in the past. Currently, I’m doing plumbing work in homes, installing water pipes in bathrooms, kitchens, and reservoirs. I got married last year with the help of the brothers from the church, with a beautiful wife, and together we had a child. One of the things I thought about as a business to help me is selling clothes. I don’t need much, just a little to move forward. My wife is named Catarina, and my son is Donildo. The truth is, I don’t know how my marriage happened. I had a list of some active brothers in the church who needed to marry because they were living together. Some succeeded because they overcame many excuses. I truly needed to get married, but I didn’t know how, since I really didn’t have the conditions to arrange for the wedding. To this day, I don’t know if it was the area or the church that helped me with the documents because I had the desire to marry and keep the law of chastity. I had to choose my witnesses and express my difficulties, but even so, they volunteered to help with the organization in general, including food, which was expensive for us. To this day, I don’t know how this happened, but all I had was the faith and hope that it would happen as Heavenly Father had planned. Now, I am fighting to seal my family.
hat worries me the most, and causes me great suffering, is the lack of employment because I need to ensure a more stable future for my family. I have been the pillar of my home since my father passed away, and this responsibility has been very difficult to bear. My concern is constant because I don’t have a defined routine. I wake up every day, walking aimlessly without a plan, knowing that I have a family to care for.
