There are currently dozens of Portuguese teachers in Mozambique unable to schedule a return flight to Portugal. One of the teachers at the Portuguese School of Maputo, Inês Sarmento, told the PUBLIC that “between 60 and 70 teachers” at the establishment where she teaches, in the Mozambican capital, are trying to return to Portugal without success. This, given that flights from Maputo to Lisbon have, however, been suspended.
This teacher explained that several of the teachers who expressed interest in returning to Portugal belong to the risk group, either in terms of age or because they suffer from diseases, for example, pulmonary emphysema or autoimmune diseases. And some are even accompanied by small children. Inês Sarmento noted that today, Sunday, it became known that there are two cases in Mozambique of patients infected with coronavirus.
According to Inês Sarmento, 62, teaching in Maputo, at the service of the Portuguese State, the school’s management has already informed the embassy services that “among the 60 or 70 teachers who want to return to Portugal, many are in the risk group ”. The Portuguese Ambassador to Mozambique returned to Lisbon about 15 days ago, while the Portuguese consul traveled last week on one of the last TAP flights before they were suspended, he noted. “So I am not able to schedule meetings at the embassy or consulate.”
Inês Sarmento also mentioned that she has been trying to buy a return trip for several days, and that she kept on working until the decision of the Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, on last Friday, March 20, to order the closure of educational establishments, within the framework of measures to combat this crisis. And he reported that although there are still some flights from Maputo, almost all of them are full, and all with several stopovers, and always in African countries. The concern is that “if we travel, we run the risk of being stranded at airports due to closure decisions” due to the coronavirus pandemic, which “is a danger for those with health problems or young children”.
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