Kimbilio

Children find themselves abandoned on the streets of Lubumbashi for many reasons – the consequence of parental death due to HIV or malaria, or their family may be too poor to feed them, or they may be stigmatized as child witches. On the streets, they are prey to violence, exploitation and addiction. The risk of catching HIV or Covid is high.

Since 2009, Kimbilio has been enabling homeless children to learn to be children again.

At our day center, children come off the streets to get a respite from the challenging conditions in which they live. The children are offered breakfast and lunch, with the opportunity to wash their clothes, shower, and engage in activities including sports, cooking and crafts. In the case of any health issues, we accompany the sick child to a local health centre or hospital and pay for their full treatment. Malaria, infected wounds, and drug abuse is common. Our qualified social workers work with the children and whenever possible, pursue reintegration of children with their families. We support 500+ children per month at our day center.

Kimbilio also operates short-term and long-term homes for boys and for girls. The short-term homes are for the children with whom a family reintegration process is progressing. The long-term homes are for those children whose family reintegration is liable to be longer and more difficult. We have about 40 children in our homes at any given time.

We also have a primary school for homeless children as well as children in the local community who would not be able to attend school otherwise. We offer a high standard of education to 170 children at present, and have the physical capacity to double our numbers with additional funding.

In Congo, if we can improve the lives of women, it in turn improves the lives of their children and the situation of the community. With this in mind, we operate two sewing trade schools for women. The school teaches machine sewing of marketable garments, as well as basic business skills, and upon graduation gives each woman a sewing machine and supplies to get started in business. Our graduates are typically earning $50 per month with their new trade -- this represents substantial earnings in Congo! Many of the women are mothers of our homeless children, and the additional earnings are in part what enables them to bring their children back into their homes.