Liliana lives and works in Tete. She is 20 years old and comes from Mutarara, one of the districts of the province of Tete, in Mozambique. She currently manages a small restaurant that she named “O Coração de Liliana” ( Liliana’s heart).
Her dream is to increase her catering activity, build a house and work as a cook and teacher in order to become self-reliant and, at the same time, contribute to the growth of the local community.

Rice, chicken, fish, kidskin, spaghetti. Liliana’s pride is punctuality, her culinary specialty is a rice dish with vegetables and chicken legs. She often sends us photos of her dishes and videos with her recipes.
We asked Liliana to briefly tell us her story.
At the age of 9, she was already an orphan: her father was a fisherman and lost his life in the river, while her mother died of an illness.
Liliana lived with her grandmother and an aunt, and she used to go everyday to the marketplace to sell bolinhos, fried cakes that she made herself.
She would use this money to buy notebooks and pens, and to help her grandmother.
At the age of 14 she went to a reception and training centre in Chitima, where she remained until she reached the age of 18.
In 2015, Liliana attended a three-month cooking course in Rome.

In 2017, she had heart surgery at the Policlinico Sant’Orsola in Bologna to fix two very serious congenital malformations that were putting her life at risk. That’s why she wanted her business to be named “Liliana’s heart”. After surgery, she started a new life, full of happiness and hope.

In 2018, Harambee is promoting the professional training of 60 young women in Tete and Chitima. Help us! Together we can increase employment and improve the lives of many families. Click here and make your donation.