Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0855983418, Paperback)

Each book in Oxfam's "Country Profiles" series describes the social, political, historical, environmental and economic context of Oxfam's work in one particular country. The books focus on the real lives of ordinary people and the major development issues that face them, and are illustrated with photographs, maps and diagrams. The civil war in Mozambique, one of the most brutal ever known in Africa, finally came to an end in 1992. Yet for its 16 million people another struggle was just beginning: to repair the shattered fabric of their lives and to forge a truly Mozambican nation. Rachel Waterhouse, a citizen of Mozambique, explains the background to the conflict, and examines its impact on the lives of farmers, fishing communities, traders, and craftspeople; on traditional values and social structures; on health and education services; and on the natural environment. She finds signs of hope emerging all over the country, despite the nation's ruinous debts and the colonial era's legacy of neglect.