Our story in UK

If you were planning to start a charity to impact lives in rural Mozambique, I can't imagine the first person you'd choose would be a fresh-faced 22 year old British girl.....

But sometimes chance meetings turn into something you would never have dreamt of.

In the summer of 1995, 22 year old Elizabeth Thomas was in Zimbabwe, doing a reccy visit as her role as trustee for a gap year trust around various rural schools. A chance meeting with Zimbabweans Frikkie & Juanita de Jager and a visit to Manhinga Village and school in eastern Zimbabwe culminated in a trip into Mozambique (then the poorest country in the world, emerging from a horrendous civil war) to see the beginnings of project they were embarking on with the local people.

A humbling experience of extreme poverty mixed with the recognition that Frikkie & Juanita had been quietly getting on with this tough work in harsh conditions, ignited sparks of inspiration in her. It spurred her on to return to the UK and begin raising funds for this work in Mozambique. As the enthusiasm for this work caught on, Vila Maninga, the charity was registered in 1996 and the rest is history.

Today Maninga in the UK works in partnership with Vila Maninga and the work of the de Jagers in Mozambique serving and working with some of the poorest, most at risk children and adults in rural Mozambique. Our close working relationship has meant many UK volunteers have both benefitted and benefitted from working with the community in Mozambique over the last 15 years.