In Gorongosa, Mozambique, a woman with pregnancy complications may travel nearly three hours to reach a hospital that could save her life. One available ambulance could carry her there faster, if there is fuel to power it.
“It’s not strategic … it’s not feasible,” said Pio Vitorino, associate director of health at the Gorongosa Restoration Project.
This is not the story most people associate with Gorongosa, a rural district in central Mozambique better known for a landmark conservation project. Over the past two decades, a partnership between the government of Mozambique and the Gorongosa Restoration Project has helped restore and protect roughly 1 million acres, reintroduced animal populations lost to decades of civil war, and transformed a post-conflict landscape into both a research and safari destination.