Activities and projects of OASI

Especially in its early years, OASI had the opportunity to make itself known both locally and nationally, through, on the one hand, numerous conventions that it promoted, both at its head office and above all at the Ateneo di Bari (Bari University), on topics and issues related to its activities in developing countries, with guests of international standing and with significant support from the public; and on the other hand, through affiliation and cooperation with CIPSI (the most authoritative national coordinator of Italian NGOs, its head office being in Rome) and with some of the most respected Italian NGOs that are active worldwide.

Over the years, OASI has received both national and international accolades, favourable acknowledgements and assessments, for having shown that it conducts effective cooperation activities with developing countries, especially with Mozambique and Albania, through a system of local interventions that are very simple and transparent in terms of their accountability, particularly for their many private donors.

Among other things, OASI and its members can be proud of:
building an elementary school that has become one of the best regarded in Mozambique having promoted and supported the largest cooperative enterprise producing poultry meat in the whole of Mozambique having saved thousands of people in the year 2000 Mozambique floods
having organised humanitarian interventions in Albania during the years of new mass exoduses, following the collapse of financial institutions having given providential and vital support to the marginalised ethnic minority, the Magjup, in the town of Scutari (Albania) having saved a large group of orphans and children in need from the isolated island of Chinde, Zambezia mobilising the population of the town and province of Bari (Italy) with theatrical performances organised to raise funds, for the project named "Chinde calls Bari" that won the support of thousands of locals; ...and so forth. 

Completed projects and projects under way

With the exclusive aim of social solidarity, in its first fifteen years of activity, OASI, has promoted and created, the following structures and intervention projects in the field of community oriented social and health services:

• 3 health centres, each having a mobile medical team, in the rural areas surrounding Maputo, capital of Mozambique, which is characterised by severe over-crowding following the civil war (project no.12, completed);
• a dental technician's studio in the extremely poor area of Nangololo (north Mozambique) operated and managed by Antonio Baccarelli, with the assistance of lay people (project no. 12, supported financially since 2002;
• recovery centre in Quelimane, capital of Zambezia, where hundreds of street children experiencing extreme poverty and ill-health are welcomed, fed and sent to school, using a system of long-distance adoption, with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 13, under way, financed since 2002);
• a food relief centre for the most poor, located in Maputo, where lunch is organised daily, in several sittings for hundreds of children, elderly individuals and persons suffering ill-health who are living in extreme poverty. Carried out with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 22, under way, financed since 2002);
• the Martiri di Inhassunge elementary (primary) school, in Quelimane, attended by 3500 students and the most important in the highly populated town, with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 22, under way, financed since 2002);
• a secondary school set up in the populous islands of Inhassunge and Micaune: the project covered the salaries of 15 teachers during its first years and up to when the school established its own administrative provisions and financial autonomy. The project was realised with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 31, completed);
• a humanitarian relief centre (providing building materials, tools, seeds and livestock) for the poorest families in north Albania (Nenshat). It continued operating throughout the long period of dramatic mass exoduses. The project was realised with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 32, completed);
• a literacy and education centre for the marginalised and extremely poor Magjup minority in northern Albania (Scutari), realised with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 37, completed);
• the construction of a mill for grinding maize, built in Luabo (Mozambique), serving the entire population of the town, realised with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 38, completed);
• S.O.S. Mozambique, humanitarian interventions following the floods of 2000 that destroyed the marshlands of southern Mozambique; projects realised in the Green Zones of Maputo, through the General Union of Cooperatives directed by Father Prosperino Gallipoli, for the production of poultry, thereby saving 5,000 families (30,000 people), following their loss of all sources of sustenance (project no. 40, completed);
• the construction of an artesian well for supplying water, built in the forest area of Luabo (Mozambique), serving the entire population of the area, realised with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 41, completed);
• S.O.S. Zambezia, humanitarian interventions following the devastating flood of 2000 and consequent overflowing of the Zambezi river that destroyed rice fields, transport links and entire villages in the vast area through which the river runs; projects were realised through local cooperatives directed by Father Fortunato Simone to rebuild roads, build new huts, reclaim land, and supply seeds and agricultural tools (project no. 43, completed);
• the opening of 42 primary schools in the forests of the vast province of  Morrumbala (Mozambique), which are attended by 3,500 children. The project covers all the teachers' salaries and those of three inspectors appointed to constantly supervise the organisation of the schools as well as the cost of teaching materials. It operates with the collaboration of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 44, under way, financed since 2006);
• the construction of sanitation provisions at the prison in Morrumbala, where  men and women live in inhumanly unhygienic conditions, realised with the assistance of the local population (project no. 47, completed);
• canteens for the most poor, organised in Quelimane and Nicoadala (Mozambique) to cope with the food emergency affecting approximately 100 people per day, including elderly persons, lepers and widows, realised with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 49, ongoing, financed since 2006);
• the reconstruction of roads and bridges in Mopeia (Zambezia, Mozambique) that were destroyed by the overflowing of the Zambezi river, isolating the population of this fertile and cultivated area. It was realised with the assistance of members of the clergy and lay people (project no. 51, completed);
• the construction of houses for elderly disabled persons in the agricultural area surrounding Quelimane, where numerous elderly persons, widows and lepers have based themselves in order to obtain sustenance and provide produce to the Casa Famiglia and the San Francesco canteen (project no. 52, in progress, financed since 2006);
• the supply of tools and locations where honey can be produced in the village of Nangolo in northern Mozambique, carried out with the assistance of an association of beekeepers (project 53, completed);
• school meals at Maputo for 400 children, for the children of those employed by the Maputo Cooperative Union (Unione Cooperative di Maputo), supported in its first years and up to when the school established its own administrative provisions and financial autonomy. Realised with the collaboration of the aforementioned Cooperative Union (project no. 54, completed);
  
• the supply of a non-contact tonometer for measuring ocular pressure to the hospital in Quelimane (project 55, completed);
• enlargement of the pharmacy and emergency room waiting area at the J. Macamo hospital, located on the outskirts of Maputo, to save patients from having to wait outside under the burning sun or in the rain (project 56, completed);
• support for orphans and families of those with AIDS in the marshlands of Zambezia (Mozambique), through both the microcredit system for assistance in starting work, and the supply of complete kits for managing the symptoms of the illness suffered by the affected relative. This project was realised in cooperation with project Dream, directed by the Community of San Egidio in Rome (project 57, ongoing since 2008, completed);
• the construction and support of a home for orphans and children in difficulty on the island of Chinde in the Zambezi delta since 2004. (project 58, the orphanage has been completed, food relief is ongoing);
• creation of a hospital maternity department near Nenshat (Albania), with the cooperation of the Comune di Giovanazzo (project 59, ongoing since 2010);
• construction of a social centre in Mopeia, Mozambique (project 60, completed);
• Equipment for a dressmaking school in Quelimane (project 61, completed);
• support for the orphanage of San Roque in Maputo. The centre currently hosts 35 orphans (project 63, ongoing since 2010);
• Educational grants for university students in Mozambique and Albania, which have helped three doctors, teachers, lawyers, administrators, both men and women, to complete their degrees (ongoing, project 45);
• creation and support for a home that houses 70 street children in Quelimane, in collaboration with the Promote People Cooperative (Cooperativa Promuovere l’Uomo) directed by Brother Antonio Triggiante (project 64, construction completed, food relief ongoing);
• creation of an agricultural produce warehouse for the Peace Agricultural Association  (Associazione Agricola della Pace) in Mopeia, Mozambique (project 65, completed);
• support for the agricultural activities of individuals who visit the San Francesco canteen, in the Nicoadala area (Quelimane) and Boroma in Morrumbala, through the provision of agricultural tools and seeds and payment for skilled individuals to operate the vehicles that transport the supplies (project 68, ongoing);
• supply and installation of equipment for making hosts for the Diocese of Maputo (project 70, completed);
• support for the Beato Zeferino school, located in Scutari (Albania), dedicated to educating the Magjup ethnic minority through payment of teachers' salaries and funds for the school canteen, in collaboration with members of the clergy and lay people (project ongoing since 2010, natural progression of project 37);
• a general fund for the provision of medical and health supplies in all areas of Mozambique in which  OASI is active (project 12, continuous, financed since 2002);
• a general fund for covering the travel expenses of volunteers (doctors, nurses, engineers, teachers, geologists, agronomists, technicians, etc.), almost always members who are sent on missions by OASI (project 30, ongoing, financed since 2002).
  
  

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