Living without our mother

Twelve-year-old Elisa Bila, named for her aunt, stands in the doorway of her siblings’ new Habitat home, built for the family of orphans through Habitat Mozambique’s Orphans and Vulnerable Groups program. ©Steffan Hacker/Habitat for Humanity International

The orphaned Bila children, Dercio, 17 (left), Albertina, 15, Helio, 4, and Elisa, 12, stand inside the front room of their Habitat home, built through Habitat Mozambique’s Orphans and Vulnerable Groups program. The children became orphaned after their mother died of AIDS. Their aunt, who lives nearby, helps look out for them. Dercio sleeps in a nearby relative’s home. The other children sleep inside their Habitat house. ©Steffan Hacker/Habitat for Humanity International

Bob Longino, creative director, Habitat for Humanity International

Albertina Melita Bila was 31 when she took sick in her tiny rural village in Mozambique. On the first day she complained of diarrhea. By the third day, she was dead.

An AIDS sufferer, she left behind four orphaned children aged 4 to 17, and an older sister who cherishes her memories of their youth together.

“I used to stay with her and I took her to school,” said Elisa Bila, 46. “We would play different games. Like jump rope. Albertina was very good at jump rope.”

Elisa also said her sister was a good mother.

“She was interested in all her kids going to school and teaching them how to work at home and in the fields. She would even help with my kids. If they had a problem she would listen and talk to them. She was someone who liked to give advice.”

For a while, the four children – Dercio, 17; Albertina, 15; Elisa, 12; and Helio, 4 – tried to continue to live in the family’s rickety reed home that would leak badly in storms. Elisa’s own leaky reed home was nearby.

Eventually, the roof on the children’s home fell in, and before repairs could begin the entire structure collapsed.

Habitat Mozambique eventually found the family and now Albertina’s children have a safe and decent Habitat house. It was built eight months ago through Habitat’s Orphans and Vulnerable Groups program and is located a short walking distance from Elisa’s reed house.

The kids are very proud of their new home. Albertina, named for her mother, planted a small garden with sprouting leaves of red and green near the front door.

“This house reminds us we are not alone,” the elder Elisa says. “There are people who love us. This is an amazing thing for the children. I think God was listening to my prayer. I can’t find words to say thank you enough.”

The house also offers another cherished reminder of her little sister.

“When I see this house, I remember Albertina,” Elisa said with a smile. “This house is Albertina.”