Congolese and Spanish people hand in hand

The NGO Malembe was born in 2017 with the purpose of promoting the personal and academic development of children and young people at the orphanage at Kimbondo, Kinshasa (Democratic Republic of the Congo). This orphanage has existed since the 90s, and supports more than 500 children until their schooling is completed, at the same time, it is a hospital with hundreds of patients per month. The organizational structure is comprised of over 200 people (educators, cooks, cleaners, doctors, nurses and administrative staff), and distributes the kids and young people by age or life circumstances in different sections that become their home.

Right now we have launched a campaign and are raising funds to try to stop the spread of COVID-19 at Kimbondo, to donate just visit our webpage www.malembe.org and follow us at our Instagram @malembe_kimbondo. 

I am one of the founders of this NGO, and I would like to share some of the stories that take place here:

The “Maison Foyer”, space for kids between 6 and 13 years in which we are developing our education project, has several workers. One the one hand we have the “mums”, women who take care of the kids and maintain the space, on the other hand, the educators. One of the main problems at our Orphanage at Kimbondo is the negligence or indifference from some of the workers, which makes running the institution more difficult than it should be. Nonetheless, at Foyer, we are lucky to have a “mum” very caring and hardworking, who really wants to make a positive impact, Maman Bibish, and Papa Marcel, an educator who is not only diligent but dares to take initiatives for the benefit of the kids.

Papa Marcel finished his contract recently, but it was renewed and when he came back, he was full of ideas and looking forward to making a positive change! He talked with Rafa, our permanent voluntary there, and established a full activities schedule that is for the first time being followed. During holidays, all the kids have support classes in the morning and follow everything with a discipline never seen before.

Anicet is a young man working here who is finishing his studies in pedagogy. Malembe has hired him, while boys are in class with Papa Marcel, he is giving class to the girls, who older or younger, are, by far, more advance in school, and need a higher level to explore and develop their potential.

The point is that right now, Congolese people are teaching Congolese kids, they understand each other much better, and more importantly, they make this positive change by their own initiative. Malembe is now supporting in the education task and coordinating the efforts, either with economic or materials contribution, or Rafa’s work, which is truly diversified and stimulating at the same time.

We are really hopeful, because, even though we don’t know the specific outcome of our future projects, the objective remains clear: bring the Papa Marcel or Mama Bibish out that there is inside every worker, with Malembe’s support, but respecting their initiatives, authority and judgment.