Help Lift Esther's Family in Congo out of Poverty

This is my first ever GoFundMe fundraiser. It's for my friend Esther Mumbanda. Esther has a beautiful plan for lifting her family back in Congo out of extreme poverty.

Esther is the oldest of 8 children orphaned in 2008 when their parents were killed. Esther, in immediate danger, fled Congo. She arrived in the U.S. as a refugee in 2015. I met her a few weeks later, and we have since become good friends. Her two youngest sisters also eventually immigrated here.

The five siblings still in Congo have struggled to earn a living for themselves and one sister's three children by sewing, mechanics, and selling food and small items. Unfortunately, this meager income plummeted during the pandemic, from which Congo is only starting to recover. As a result, this family lives on the edge of homelessness and hunger.

With her wages earned in a hotel laundry room in Denver, Esther helps her family to survive and pay the rent for a small living space with unsanitary conditions. However, she envisions something better for them: a stable, decent home with a dorm-style bedroom for her brothers and two nephews and a 2nd bedroom for her sisters and niece. Now that it is safe to return, Esther has purchased a ticket to visit Congo in October. She plans to buy a small piece of land (approx $4000) with potable water underneath for a well (approx $1200 to dig the well). She will then hire a builder to build a simple, concrete block house for her siblings (approx $5000). With no running water system or indoor plumbing in the neighborhood, the well would provide the family with both drinking water and a business selling water to their neighbors.

Esther is a strong and determined woman. I believe she has the capacity and connections in Congo to carry this off (including some extended family members in the construction business). She only needs the funds to make it happen, a minimal amount of money considering the impact on this family's lives, especially the three children. Her nephews, Josue and Gloridei and her niece Fortuna work hard in school every day, hoping for a better life for themselves and their family. Please help them realize this hope by investing now in a stable home for them. Thank you in advance for contributing. Please also share this link with others who may be interested.