Action Sociale Kesho Congo

Kesho Congo is a nonprofit organization, created on November 21, 2015 in Bukavu, capital of the South Kivu Province, eastern of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It is a nonpolitical, philanthropic, social and cultural nonprofit, registered at the Ministry of Justice under the number N ° JUST.113 / DP / CC / SK / 59/2016 of 10/25/2016. Vision : peace and wellness for vulnerable Congolese. Mission : Building healthy and resilient communities in South Kivu and empowering youth and rural women by their own potential. Our Values : Excellence - Loyalty - Patriotism – Resilience Areas of intervention : health, education, agriculture and livestock farming. Brief history of creation and background of the founder : Since his medical studies at the Catholic University of Bukavu, Dr. Adolphe Nyakasane is known for his desire to bring together young scientists around development ideals for their communities. In 2007, he was elected students' Delegate of the medical faculty of his university. He created the program "Let's Talk about Health", an information, outreach and education broadcast on Radio Star aiming at educating South Kivu's population on health issues. In 2008, he was elected Minister of Health (health affairs officer) for the students' network of the Catholic University of Bukavu. The same year, he took part in an interuniversity competition organized by «Génération Grands Lacs" and "Search for Common Ground" (an American NGO involved in the search for peace and conflict resolution) and placed under the theme: "What can we do as youth to make the Great Lakes region a peace haven in 2025?" He won the Second Peace Prize in the Great Lakes region in presence of a panel of Congolese, Rwandans, Burundians, Americans and French. Then, he undertook to work for peace in his region. Later, he created the Kesho Kongo Ballet, a cultural youth group engaged in the search of peace and peaceful coexistence through culture (theatrical performances, poetry, music and traditional dances). He graduated as medical doctor in 2009 and chose to work in rural hospitals (Mubumbano General Hospital, Nyantende General Hospital, Monvu General Hospital and then Ciriri General Hospital where he continues to work as Head of the pediatric service). In 2011, he started a Master degree in Bukavu and later obtained a scholarship from Belgium to specialize in pediatrics at the Catholic University of Louvain. He was hosted by Professor Christiane VERMYLEN (as internship supervisor) in the Department of Pediatrics at the Saint Luc University clinic in Brussels.He chose to focus on endocrinology, diabetology and pediatric nutrition and received a specialized training in that field at Pierre et Marie Curie University (Paris VI, Saint Antoine site) in France. He returned to the Congo in October 2015 and transformed the Kesho Congo Ballet into a development platform called ACTION SOCIALE KESHO CONGO to contribute to the many development challenges in South Kivu. Dr. Nyakasane's work was rewarded by the "Golden Patriot's Prize" awarded by the New Dynamics of Civil Society in the Congo, in January 2016. The same year, the US Embassy in the DRC recognized his work for which he received a scholarship from the US State Department to take part in the "Mandela Washington Fellowship for Young African Leaders" a flagship program of the US Government initiated by President Obama. This program lead him to the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs of Syracuse University in New York in June 2016 where he was trained in Public Management focused in the fields of health and development. From August 1 to 3, 2016, in Washington DC, he took part to a Presidential Summit for young African leaders convoked by President Obama. After this summit, he was selected to do an internship in an American institution; he was sent to the Vitalyst Health Foundation where he learned a lot about public health, food security and the concept of healthy communities. The Voice of America (VOA) produced and broadcast this short (4 minutes) video on Dr. Nyakasane's internship at Vitalyst Health Foundation and his work in the Congo (see the video above, in introduction). Kesho Congo is made up of young Congolese who understood that solutions to African's issues are to be found by Africans themselves, with openness to the world. These young people therefore encourage all their compatriots who had the opportunity to study abroad to return to Congo to build their great and rich country in the heart of Central Africa. ACTIVITIES FIELDS OF KESHO CONGO: HEALTH, EDUCATION, AGRICULTURE AND LIVESTOCK FARMING The main project is the prevention of chronic malnutrition in children under 10 (with particular interest for those under 5) in South Kivu through:  The production and distribution (in nutritional centers) of high protein biscuits.  Nutrition education through a door-to-door approach (via our community relays) and through our information, awareness and health education programs on Radio.  Empowerment of rural women in agricultural cooperatives where agriculture and livestock farming are promoted. We make outreach of the cowpeas crops that were so far not very well known in South Kivu. The other crops on which the women of our cooperatives work are: corn, soy, sorghum, rice and moringa.The production of leaf extracts in South Kivu is an innovation of Kesho Congo. According to UNICEF (2016 Report), the chronic malnutrition rate in South Kivu is 53%, a real scourge. To fight this scourge, we propose local and sustainable solutions! LEAF EXTRACTION We grind leaves, we press them, we collect the green juice, we coagulate that juice to get a protein concentrate. The protein concentrate is put in the solar dryer. The leaf extract can be kept in small bottles before being used. The leaf extracts are used to enrich the biscuits and / or added in porridge for children's meal,.... The waste of the crushed and pressed leaves are used to feed the livestock. (for more details and pictures of leaf extraction, please, visit our website on www.keshocongo.org We support disadvantaged youth in a trades school and 30 schoolchildren in an elementary school in Ciburhi. We help equip hospitals in remote areas. Thanks to Project C.U.R.E, we have already distributed medical equipment and supplies in two major hospitals in South Kivu. The two hospitals serve an estimated population of 600,000 people.

Our Center for Nutrition and Health Education feeds an average of 120 children daily and provide health education to their mothers. We greatly need to open a Hospital with a modern Maternity in the poorest neighborhoods of Bukavu where so many people die from preventable diseases and where so many women continue to give birth at home because they cannot afford the medical fees in hospitals in town. We do need $295,627 for this purpose. Your contributions, however small, are most welcome. Small streams make great rivers. We thank in advance, all our kind donors who help us to make a real difference in fighting child malnutrition and in empowering disadvantaged youth and rural women! For our other fields of intervention, please, visit www.keshocongo.org

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