Keywords

Introduction

What does it mean to talk about the future in vulnerable communities? What future is visualized by teenagers from a poor country that has been devastated by a natural disaster? Talking about the future in vulnerable communities means discussing concepts such as resilience, social vulnerability and cultural identity as aspects that allow us to understand the mobility and relationship dynamics that are generated in these communities. It is also critical to discuss changes in cultural values and development as vital elements of a future increasingly affected by climate change. Using feminist standpoint theory, which aims to empower the oppressed, and considering that standpoint is about “histori-cally shared, group-based experiences” (Collins, 2017), in this chapter, I look at the vision that a community of young Mozambicans have towards the future in light of the impact of Cyclone Idai in March 2019.

Identifying adolescents’ concerns and views about the world and the environmental crisis now can help build a more resilient society able to face the problems of the future with better tools. Education for the future provides the opportunity for empowerment, so that individuals can work towards their chosen future (Barraza, 2001). Therefore, images of the future play a crucial role in relation to human behaviour and present-day actions, on both the personal and societal levels (Hicks & Holden, 1995). Images that are seen daily affect an individual’s imaginary to project the future they want.

The future has become an emotionally charged matter. We live in a world of uncertainty and, given that, we have to adapt and take responsibility for ourselves (Figueroa-Diaz, 2018). It’s about the uncertainty linked to what Ulrich Beck calls a risk society: “the development of modernity embodies contradictions between the advances that the era brings with it and the risks and uncertainties that implies” (Beck, 2013, p. 34). According to Levitas (2017), our images of the present do not identify agencies and processes of change. This is because the images that show today’s world are images of extreme violence, suffering, decay and desolation. This can only change when we have better analyses of the present which identify possible points of intervention, paths and agents of change (Levitas, 2017). Our actions in the present inevitably help to determine what kind of future will emerge (Levitas, 2017). Therefore, it is not difficult to produce imaginary maps of the future but to produce adequate maps of the present which permit images of a connected but transformed future (Levitas, 2005). To visualize the future we want, it is necessary to work on our present actions and work consciously on what we can do today to avoid a daunting future. To speak of the future is to speak of the possibilities of development, growth and action, but also of contradictions, inequities and inequalities (Figueroa-Diaz, 2018).

It is also fundamental to discuss changes in cultural values and in development models as critical elements of a future increasingly affected by climate change. The sustainable development model incorporates future generations in the responsibility that humans of today should assume in environmental terms. This fact has resulted in looking at a reality linked to different expectations about the future, and that in some specific groups there is a concern for values and topics such as the environment, biodiversity, gender equality, inclusion, multiculturalism, cultural diversity and austerity in the consumption, among others, under the premise that sustainability must be as much environmental as well as social (Figueroa-Diaz, 2018). Ecological pressures suggest that human survival may require more than gradual ameliorative adjustments to our present way of life (Levitas, 2017). The questions Levitas (2017) suggests we should be asking are: what kind of a society can enable us to prosper and thrive in a way that is genuinely sustainable both ecologically and socially? How do we collectively think about the problems this presents? And how might we move in the direction of appropriate change?

In 2000, world community leaders established a shared vision of development based on the fundamental principles of freedom, equality, solidarity, tolerance, respect for nature and co-responsibility, which resulted in the Millennium Declaration adopted by the Assembly General of the United Nations. These Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were replaced in 2015 by the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. This new agenda includes 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that will stimulate action in five critical areas: people, planet, prosperity, peace and partnership. The declaration states,

We resolve, between now and 2030, to end poverty and hunger everywhere; to combat inequalities within and among countries; to build peaceful, just and inclusive societies; to protect human rights and promote gender equality and the empowerment of women and girls; and to ensure the lasting protection of the planet and its natural resources. We resolve also to create conditions for sustainable, inclusive and sustained economic growth, shared prosperity and decent work for all, taking into account different levels of national development and capacities. (United Nations, 2015a)

Eight years after this new declaration, there is an increasingly intense dehumanization that takes us away from the harmony and peace we want for our future. Inequalities within and among countries and enormous disparities of opportunity, wealth and power are rising in the world today. Why is this happening? It is worth distinguishing between the international aspirations declared by the United Nations and the realities of the neoliberal agenda. On the one hand, the SDGs as stated by the UN clearly indicate the criteria by which each country must commit to fulfil them. The problem is that in many countries the interests of those in power with neoliberal policies are counter to the Sustainable Development Goals, and hegemonic governments are increasingly moving away from ending poverty and hunger and not doing what is needed to ensure a healthy environment. Neoliberalism has profound consequences in the way we make use of the natural world, since many economic sectors depend directly on the environment and its resources, and in many cases, economic interests put ecosystems at risk (Durand, 2014). One of the biggest neoliberal conservation problems is that it is founded on an abstract idea of society, in which economic, political and cultural disparities are ignored and the dynamics of power remain invisible (Durand, 2014). Consequently, achieving the 17 SDGs requires a profound transformation in the way we live, think and act.

Youth Resilience and Natural Disasters

Young people play a fundamental role in the future they want to build. It is they who start looking for new ways to relate to themselves, to others and to the environment. Their voice begins to be heard more loudly; they are now clamouring for a greater say in how their societies are being configured. The young have also the potential to propel sustainable development more widely and urgently (UNESCO, 2014). Greta Thunberg has been an example of this and is certainly mobilizing young minds to act.

Young people are doing this so that you adults wake up. Young people are doing this so that you put your differences aside and begin to act as you would in a crisis. Young people are doing this because we want to recover our hopes and our dreams. (Thunberg, 2019, quoted in Kettley, 2019)

In 2014, UNESCO launched the Roadmap for Implementing the Global Action Programme on Education for Sustainable Development (ESD). One of the priority action areas of this roadmap is the empowerment and mobilization of young people. Youths between 15 and 24, now more than one billion individuals, make up the largest group ever to be in the process of transitioning to adulthood (UNESCO, 2019). Youth have a high stake in shaping a better future for themselves and generations after. However, populations of youth in extreme poverty are often the victims of calamitous development and natural disasters. They are affected much more directly by environmental degradation and the lack of economic and social sustainability (UNESCO, 2014). It is estimated that half of those who are affected in natural disasters are children and youth (UNICEF, 2015), and they often have been understudied in disaster research (Fletcher et al., 2016).

In 2013 the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES) was established with the main purposes to strengthen global coordination, increase knowledge and advocate on risk reduction education and safety in the education sector. The work of the Global Alliance ultimately contributes to a global culture of safety and resilience through education and knowledge (GADRRRES, 2017).

Mozambique: A Vulnerable Country

The vulnerability index indicates how vulnerable a country is. This index includes social and physical factors. Physical factors refer to the “natural” vulnerability that countries face, such as historical frequency and average strength of natural disasters (e.g. deforestation, reduction in coastal mangrove density and destruction of wetlands all remove natural barriers to storm surge and wind damage). Social vulnerability, on the other hand, refers to poverty, education, health, inequality and other relevant demographics of a society (Pelling & Utto, 2001; Adger et al., 2004; Birkmann, 2006). According to these two vulnerability factors Mozambique is a highly vulnerable country. The analysis of the IPM-MZ 2014/15 indicates that 53% of its population is multidimensionally poor. There is a big difference between rural and urban areas: in rural areas, 70% of the population is multidimensionally poor, while in urban areas, 17% is in this condition (Zavaleta & Moreno, 2018). Multidimensional measurement allows a country to see things that income measurement does not show.

Mozambique is also highly vulnerable to extreme climatic conditions, with two out of three people living in coastal areas vulnerable to rapid-onset natural hazards such as cyclones, storms and flash floods (OCHA, 2019). In March 2019, five provinces in Mozambique were nearly destroyed by the Cyclone Idai. This weather system brought destruction and damage to 1.85 million people in Mozambique alone (Humanitarian Response Team, 2019). According to the United Nations (2019), this devastating cyclone could be considered the worst disaster the southern hemisphere has suffered, leaving almost 3 million people affected.

Some social-ecological systems are more resilient than others (Folke, 2006). Vulnerable countries are often more resilient to adapt to different adversities—economic crises, acts of terrorism, mounting crime and violence, the HIV pandemic and other disease outbreaks, food shortages, failing education systems and natural disasters—due to their ability to constantly fight back for survival. According to Folke (2006), the ability to cope with extreme stress and resume normal function is thus an important component of resilience, but learning, reorganizing and changing over time are also key. In social-ecological systems, resilience-building practices include adaptive governance, ecosystem management and disaster risk management (Pinchoff & Hardee, 2018). The term resilience is often used in conjunction with other terms such as adaptation and transformation. Resilience can be distinguished from adaptation by considering resilience a trait—the ability to bounce back from adversity—while adaptation can be considered the actions taken to react to shocks (Pinchoff & Hardee, 2018).

Resilience can be defined as “the ability of a social or ecological system to absorb disturbances while retaining the same basic structure and ways of functioning, the capacity for self-organisation, and the capacity to adapt to stress and change” (IPCC, 2012, p. 586). Social resilience is understood as having three properties comprising aspects of how people respond to disasters: resistance, recovery and creativity (Kimhi & Shamai, 2004). A community that is highly resilient has the capacity to demonstrate each of these properties. In a resilient community, cultural identity plays an important role since the social context of a community, its organization, values, traditions and their sense of togetherness gives them a sense of unity in solving problems together. The resilience of an individual over the course of their development depends on the function of complex adaptive systems that are continually interacting and transforming. These adaptive systems are shaped by biological and cultural evolution (Masten, 2014). As a result, the resilience of a person is always changing, and the capacity for adaptation of an individual will be distributed across interacting systems (Masten, 2014).

Study Site

Penvenne and Sheldon describe Mozambique in the following way:

Mozambique is a scenic country in south-eastern Africa. It is rich in natural resources, is biologically and culturally diverse and has a tropical climate. Its extensive coastline, fronting the Mozambique Channel, which separates mainland Africa from the island of Madagascar, offers some of Africa’s best natural harbours. These have afforded Mozambique an important role in the maritime economy of the Indian Ocean, while the country’s white sand beaches are an important attraction for the growing tourism industry. Fertile soils in the northern and central areas of Mozambique yield a varied and abundant agriculture, and the great Zambezi River has provided ample water for irrigation and the basis for a regionally important hydroelectric power industry. (Penvenne & Sheldon, 2019)

This study was carried out in the city of Chimoio, at the International School, founded in 1998 by a group of parents with the aim of providing their children a better-quality education using English as the language of instruction. It is a small school with only 150 students, of which 90% are Mozambicans. In addition to following the national curriculum, the school offers extracurricular activities such as art, music, sports and Portuguese language.

Chimoio is the capital of Manica Province and the fifth largest city in Mozambique. It is located 164 kms northwest of the port city of Beira which was 80% destroyed by Cyclone Idai. The city of Chimoio was also largely affected by the devastating cyclone. “Centrally located, it is also a commercial and industrial centre. The Chicamba Real hydroelectric-power plant on the nearby Revuè River provides power for the city’s cotton, steel, and saw mills and for the manufacture of coarse textiles and processing of other agricultural and mineral products. Chimoio is connected by road and railway southeast to the port of Beira” (Penvenne & Sheldon, 2019).

Methods

This study was conducted just ten days after the devastating Cyclone Idai. It is a qualitative research study in which what interests the author is to have a better understanding of the ideas that students have about their future, their culture and their values in a time of a humanitarian and environmental crisis. The study focused on the ideas that young Mozambicans have towards their future, after being severely affected by a cyclone, rather than their perceptions of the cyclone itself.

Two aspects of feminist standpoint theory were explored in this study: first, to enable students to identify any oppression they may have seen or experienced and then to see what their understanding was about this issue, so they could think on ways to improve their conditions for a better future. Gender norms influence the terms on which men and women communicate (Kalbfleisch, 1995), so in this study the ideas that boys and girls have towards the future were taken into account.

Participants were 43 students from grades 7–11, between 12 and 17 years in age. Girls comprised 53.5% of the participants and 46.5% were boys. Data was collected with each grade level dedicating 90 minutes of questions and dialogue for each group, for a total of five sessions. There was no discussion before the session except to introduce the activity. Students were asked to pretend they were aliens from another planet sent on a special mission to visit Mozambique in 2069. Students had to describe, in writing, what life in Mozambique would be like in 50 years’ time.

Content analysis was used to review adolescents’ vision of Mozambique’s future. All narratives were then used in the construction of thematic categories, for example, infrastructure, development, health, education and technological innovation.

With a group of 15 students, representing 55% of those who had a positive vision towards the future, I conducted a focus group; this session lasted two hours. In the focus group, aspects discussed were related to how humans should behave in 50 years’ time. What habits and attitudes should be changed? And what would be the values of humans by 2069? Additionally, with nine students from grade 8, there was a discussion about what they thought would happen to the culture of Mozambique in 50 years. These questions provided evidence of students’ ability to identify some examples of oppression in their culture and speak of their major concerns as well as ways to improve their conditions.

Results and Discussion

When discussing how Mozambican adolescents visualize the future in 50 years’ time, the author found that 67.4% of the students had a positive vision, 23.25% had a negative image of their future and 9.3% said that there would be good things happening, but there would also be negative and bad things occurring in the world.

The ideas that prevailed in the optimistic mind of the students towards a promising future were focused on six main areas: education, health, infrastructure, poverty reduction, a clean environment and technological development. They mentioned that Mozambique would be the capital of a more united Africa, where peace would prevail throughout the continent. Mozambique would be a developed country in which poverty would cease to exist, the death rate would fall and the population would live in better conditions with greater access to quality education. Health services would be improved; there would be more hospitals and access to free medicines for the whole population. In general, there would be better infrastructure, the roads would connect the whole country and the country would go from being a developing country to being an industrialized nation.

It is interesting to mention that the students of seventh and eighth grade, aged between 12 and 14 years, gave simple answers without having a deeper discussion, their level of information and the issues they addressed were also more limited, and they visualized more images of robots, more buildings and flying cars. The ideas of these students focused more on the areas of infrastructure, development and technological innovation.

I think after 50 years that Mozambique will be a beautiful and a peaceful place to live. People in Mozambique will build very big and nice houses. (13-year-old girl)

After 50 years many things will change, nature, roads, schools and more new things will appear like flying cars, flying motorbikes, and everything will be clean and neat. (13-year-old boy)

Mozambique in the future will be a paradise. There will be a lot of improvements, skyscrapers, houses, schools, hospitals, playgrounds. I will feel very proud to see Mozambique in 50 years’ time. (12-year-old boy)

The conceptualization of the ideas of a positive future by students from 15 to 17 years showed not only greater diversity in topics, but they also connected and related some of the current problems with possible solutions in the future. During the discussion they handled a good level of information on various topics, as the following quotations show:

I think Mozambique will be more developed in 50 years’ time because precautionary measures have been taken. Mozambique will no longer be seen as a less developed country in which leaders were poor and hungry and they ended up stealing the money and using it for themselves instead of making a development for the country they were ruling. Mozambique will be viewed as a more economically developed country. (15-year-old girl)

Today Mozambique is facing some difficulties as a nation, we are currently trying to survive after the devastating impact that Cyclone Idai had on us. We are working hard to try and help our brothers and sisters who lost everything. That is the current situation in Mozambique, but what about 50 years from now? Hopefully we will have recovered from the natural disaster, but there are a lot of other very important things to take into consideration, for instance our forests. People have been cutting down trees for their own personal benefit, the forest is having to heal itself naturally and that takes a lot of time. I believe that if people open their eyes and see that they slowly are damaging our country and help it heal instead of further destroying it, then this land could surely go back to being the beautiful place it used to be in 50 years. (15-year-old boy)

For these students, their vision of the future is strongly related to the current reality. Bourdieu (1998) points out that individuals orient their present actions and orientations towards the future in relation to objective potentialities in the present and in relation to a probable future. The testimonies and ideas of the adolescents mentioned above highlight a reality that they live day to day and are a part of and therefore want to change. The visions of a positive future are based on the problems that young people perceive from a present they don’t like. These positive images respond to a hopeful feeling of young people who visualize that despite the problems they experience in the present, they can take actions which will improve their present and help create a better future.

With respect to the images of a negative future, adolescents showed great concern for nature, the loss of species of animals and plants, pollution and war. They also fear that there would be more natural disasters and that this would bring destruction to the country, volcanoes would cover the country with lava, earthquakes would separate the countries of Africa, and the city of Beira would be covered by water and become part of the ocean. They fear that foreigners from rich countries would continue to extract minerals and precious stones to take them to their countries, leaving Mozambique poorer.

In the narration given by one of the students shown below, we can see the level of information and the depth of her ideas expressed in a very critical way. She clearly shows her genuine and realistic concern for a better future.

I don’t think Mozambique will continue being as rich as it is in 50 years’ time. Most of the endangered animals would have been killed for their skin, horns, fur, skeletons to be made in many different products. The sea might become harmful for us humans and other animals as toxic waste from many industries will be released in the oceans. I once read something that Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia said: “When an African man is rich, his bank accounts are in Switzerland, he invest in Germany, his children study in France, he goes to Canada, U.S.A., Japan for tourism, but when he dies, he is buried in his native country, Africa is just a cemetery for Africans”, how can a cemetery become developed? Africans are not proud of their culture, nor their background. Africa will only grow when the people start to appreciate it more. (15-year-old girl)

This study found that 23.25% of the students fear that the world will be worse than today. Such a result accurately reflects the prevailing cultural pessimism of the time, but it also reflects the real situation that these young people live in. Similar results have been found in other studies regarding the fears expressed by young people for the future that lies ahead (Barraza, 1999; King, 1995; Hicks & Holden, 1995). The context and the situation of the moment lived by the devastation of the Cyclone Idai strongly influences the images of fear, pain and anguish that were revealed by the students in their answers. Environmental problems affect the way individuals see life (Barraza, 1999), and the environmental problems affecting the world are devastating, for example, the amount of rubbish that is generated every day, air and water pollution, almost half of the forests no longer exist, underground water sources and fish stocks are reducing rapidly, and land degradation and acidification of oceans are getting worse (Vos & Jahan, 2012). This reality is clearly affecting the population and students in this study. They are very aware, concerned, afraid and informed about it. Bourdieu, in Rawolle and Lingard (2013), sees all social phenomena in relation to their location in a given field and in relation to others in the field. To change the scenario of a negative future, it is necessary to work on the fears and expectations that young people have in the present (Hicks & Holden, 1995). We must work on our present actions to have the future we want.

Of the adolescent participants, 9.3% felt that positive things would happen in 50 years, such as technological development and with it some improvement in the aspects of education and health, but there would be a greater increase in the population and with it a higher crime rate. In addition, they predict there would be serious problems arising from pollution and climate change.

Mozambican Culture in the Future: Values and Attitudes

One of the aspects discussed in the focus group session was how students think humans needed to behave to live that positive future that they envisioned 50 years from now. What are the values that Mozambican culture will have? What habits and attitudes should be changed?

Regarding the first question—how should humans behave in 50 years’ time—everyone agreed that humans must behave differently from the way they are today. Students said that the essence of the human being must change to live in the future they have imagined. They point out that a person must stop thinking about himself or herself and instead develop a sense of community. They say that everyone should work together, in collaboration, to solve problems together. Additionally, they commented that they should be more respectful of nature and the environment in general. Other qualities that humans must have in 50 years are that they need to be kind, clever, hardworking and healthy, and need to take care of themselves. They should help each other in times of crisis, and they should contribute for better development of the world. Humans need to listen to each other’s ideas with respect and tolerance; they need to know how to forgive and accept apologies. They also need to be more aware of their surroundings and become more open minded and learn to adapt to different conditions and contexts. They should be generous and loving individuals.

Humans will understand that cooperation is the only way forward for mankind. (15-year-old boy)

Regarding the second question about what habits and attitudes should be changed, students mentioned that the habits and attitudes that must be changed to live in a positive future are aggression, violence and conflict in general. There must be habits of equality and respect for both women and men. Everyone must be offered the same opportunities. At the moment there are still many children who do not go to school, and everyone must go. They should change to be less greedy and lazy, and instead, they must work with passion and interest to contribute to a better society. They must stop being selfish and rude and instead have a big heart; they must give up the practice of forcing underage girls to marry older men. We need to change the habit of littering the streets and create an attitude of respect for nature and the environment.

The mindset of killing and being self-centred should be changed. We should learn to have a good relationship with everyone around us and not view ourselves as superior. We must start viewing education as a very valuable asset. (14-year-old boy)

Young Mozambicans have shown a clear vision about the changes that humans must undergo in order to live in a better future. They have listed a number of behaviours and values reflected in 10 of the 17 SDGs declared by the United Nations for the new agenda 2030 (SDGs 1, 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16). The shared goals include eliminating poverty; reducing violence between countries; achieving gender equality and empowering women, children and vulnerable groups; having access to good quality education; promoting economic growth; providing health services for everyone and protecting all ecosystems to ensure a healthy environment.

The ideas expressed by the students as to how humans should behave in 50 years show profound aspects related to the ontology of being; that is, the changes they suggest are not physical changes, but changes that require a higher level of consciousness. They are changes that reveal the desire to be a new being, where new habits and attitudes will have to respond to a new culture. According to the United Nations (2015b), the vision of development for the future must be centred on the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the new agenda for 2030, considering human rights, equality and sustainability in five priority areas. These SDGs have been expressed by the students and prevail in the attitudes and values that need to remain as an intrinsic part of the human being in order to live a better future. According to Jickling et al. (2018), in this new geological epoch of transition, “the Anthropocene, or the age of human impact,” what must be changed is the relationship that humans have with Earth.

This relationship is reflected in how developed countries have lost their knowledge and respect for living well with place, that is, living with care and compassion for other beings, and to live with wonder on Earth itself (Jickling et al., 2018). The ideas and concerns of adolescents in this study reflect that although their culture has been based on having a relationship of respect for Mother Earth, the Western system has disqualified and marginalized their way of seeing and understanding their life. Changing relationships with Earth and its other beings will require learning through active engagement with the natural world (Jickling et al., 2018). New ways of teaching in schools, and new visions and paradigms that help recreate a new human being, are needed if we want to live a better future.

Regarding the third question—what will the values of humans be in 2069?—there was a good discussion about values. Students connected how a person should be in 50 years’ time with the habits and attitudes necessary to live a harmonious and respectful future. Many of the ideas that were discussed focused on being much more thoughtful and careful with each other, but mainly being careful, honest and humble with ourselves. The values would focus more towards the care of nature, our environment and every living being. The main value would be respect for life, and therefore, there would be no early marriages, and girls as well as boys could take up any profession they choose. The value of peace would prevail in the homes of the entire population.

Humans will be less tolerant of corruption and dictatorship. Most humans will think about how their actions affect their neighbours before doing something. Discrimination will no longer exist, there will be no black, white, Arabs or coloured, we will all be just people. (17-year-old girl)

Feminist standpoint theory postulates that those marginalized in social or political power relations will rise to challenge the social order within which they find themselves (Harding, 2004). In this study, young Mozambicans identified power relations as mechanisms of oppression of vulnerable groups, particularly of women and children. This theory was presented as a way of empowering oppressed groups to value their experiences and to point towards a way of developing “an oppositional consciousness” (Harding, 2004, pp. 1–3). Awakening this oppositional consciousness is what allows marginalized groups to see their state of oppression and ideally motivates them to wake up. “Standpoint theories claim, in different ways, that it is important to account for the social positioning of social agents” (Collins, 2017, p. 119).

Images of inequality in the treatment and marginalization that women live are reflected in the values that young Mozambicans want to change to live in a fairer future. The girls in this study indicated that there are still many practices of domination and power on the part of men towards women. They point out that there is a lot of domestic violence and abuse by men towards women in their culture. They have seen how their mothers suffer abuse, and they wish that this abuse no longer existed. They also mentioned that underage girls in the rural communities of the country are offered to older men to marry in exchange for a few meticais (Mozambican currency); this means that girls cannot have a school education. School conditions also discriminate on the basis of gender, where girls leave school with cultural pressure, to take care of younger siblings or sick family members, or get married (Benque, 2020). Girls in this study hope that in the future there will be respect for women and that they will be allowed to perform professionally with the same opportunities as men. What is interesting is that both girls and boys in this study pointed out that there should be no difference between men and women, that both should have the same opportunities and that everyone should be treated as equals. According to Harding (2004), standpoint projects must be part of critical theory, revealing the ideological strategies used to design and justify the sex-gender system and its intersections with other system of oppression. To do this we must work with different groups—both those who are the marginalized and those who are the oppressors. This will help to identify aspects in their behaviours that can be worked on by the different groups.

This study shows the ideas of concern that young Mozambicans have for these practices, and everyone agrees that the only thing that will make Mozambique prosper will be the equal treatment between men and women and the termination of premature marriages of older men with younger girls. But there is also concern about the power relations exercised by developed countries over Mozambique. Students in this study believe that their culture will cease to exist in 50 years due to the intervention of foreigners and that policies of other countries will dominate their ideas and traditions.

Hebdige (2005) suggests that “the various ways in which different futures are imagined will themselves be something we have to begin thinking seriously about. We shall have to establish how particular discursive strategies open out or close down particular lines of possibility; how they invite or inhibit particular identifications for particular social fractions at particular moments” (p. 275).

The issues that most stood out in the discussion from the focus group carried out with students from grade 8 about what they think will happen to their Mozambican culture in 50 years, were related to specific aspects of life in this country: its land, food, family, traditions and ceremonies. Young Mozambicans in this study pointed out that, without a doubt, the culture of a country is what gives it identity and what gives pride to its people. Although they recognized that there are many good things about their culture, such as the family being a social nucleus and the support that exists between the families, they also said that there are practices in their culture that must change, such as premature marriages, the lack of support for children in general to go to school and, particularly, that education for girls must be encouraged. Some students fear that the culture of Mozambique will no longer exist in 50 years and in response to the human selfishness that prevails today. Children will not listen to adults, and respect for elders will be lost. Society itself will have an absence of values without there being a clear direction of where to go to improve things. Students believe that the loss of values that will happen in the Mozambican culture is due to a process of displacement of their own traditions due to the influence of foreign countries that have come to Mozambique with their own cultures.

Educational and Philosophical Touch Points for the Anthropocene

The adult literacy rate in Mozambique is around 47% (Dezanii, 2017). Teachers have very limited knowledge and are poorly qualified (Benque, 2020). From a survey done in seven African countries, Mozambique has the worst qualified teachers (Club of Mozambique, 2015). It is a national priority to work with teachers and raise the quality of education in the country. For this, we need new teaching tools and methodologies that respond to the interests and needs of the communities.

To create a significant change in the educational practice, it is necessary to offer programmes with new methodologies that will help teachers not only to manage groups in a better way but to guide the individual to become an independent and responsible individual in their own learning process (Barraza & Franquesa-Soler, in preparation). Teachers need to see themselves as a conscious subject in a process of critical reflection on their practice to identify patterns of change. They need to be teaching students how to think, how to solve problems, how to be resilient and how to relate to each other and with the environment in order to be able to adapt to one of the worst humanitarian crises ever faced (Barraza & Ruiz-Mallen, 2017). We need new forms of teaching to guarantee effective place-based learning and create problem solvers for this critical situation. Hence, it is crucial to re-think, recreate and generate methodologies outside the traditional conventions that help to promote open minded, critical and sensitive consciences, capable of respecting all forms of life. We need different and novel paradigms that can respond to the interests, needs and work demands of the world today (Barraza & Franquesa-Soler, in preparation). We need to start from the premises:

  • What should every citizen be learning in school?

  • What should be taught?

  • What kind of education do we need to promote in the current context of uncertainty?

  • What skills do we need to promote?

Conclusions

Young Mozambicans in this study have shown their sensitivity and a high level of concern as a vulnerable community towards the environmental and social problems suffered by their country. Their familiarity with and knowledge about the environmental and social problems that their country is experiencing is clearly shown. They have also identified aspects of oppression towards vulnerable groups such as women and children, showing an understanding of those problems and providing some ideas on how they can reduce and remedy these problems. Access to a good education is clearly a solution they all agree on. They say they hope to recover soon from the devastation they suffer from Cyclone Idai, so that they can continue advancing the resolution of more severe problems such as those associated with climate change.

A majority of the participants in this study visualize a positive future, but it implies a change in human behaviour. People need to reconnect with nature with respect and a great sense of community in which the fundamental value will be collective work and support among all. For this, a change in the paradigms of education and in educational practice is urgent.

Their ideas and images of the future respond to the social, environmental and political problems of their country. They demonstrated a broad and critical knowledge about the problems they are currently experiencing. Their ideas and visions clearly show a deep connection to current problems. Both girls and boys in this study evidenced great concern about the marginalization that Mozambique and the rest of Africa has been suffering.

Despite the initiatives taken by the Global Alliance for Disaster, Risk, Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES), there is still a need to find a place for children and youth in Mozambique on the disaster research agenda. It is essential to create secure conditions in schools in Mozambique and to expand knowledge about this important sector of the population. Such knowledge would provide a more complete understanding of the impact of hazards and disasters on vulnerable societies in Africa.