Lumumba Village Sustainable
Donation protected
It’s important that you read all of this, so you can know exactly what this project is and what is going on. Sending love from everyone at the IheartAfrica team. We have nearly done it, a sustainable village for orphaned children/displaced families in the Congolese countryside. The children are all back at the Kijiji ya Lumumba (village of Lumumba) living with their extended families and carers. To be honest with you, we don’t believe in orphanages or adoption of children by people outside of their culture or indigenous lands. This is why when the volcano eruption happened in may 2021, we wanted to help resettle people in the communities that they know. We ended up taking in orphaned children whose families had been killed because of the war for minerals; died because of sickness or had been abandoned when the volcano erupted.
We have been: feeding, clothing, paying for schooling, medical bills, staff and all things child related for around 30 children now for just over 2 years. Not all of the children are orphaned, some of them have parents but their parents had their houses destroyed and they have no means to live. Our goal was never to create a welfare village. Aid isn’t really useful in Africa, it creates dependancy and stifles progress, making a poverty industry. No African country ever developed from aid.
So here’s what we’re going to do. We are going to get all of the adults and teenagers who are able bodied involved in business education development and vocational training, so that they can become entrepreneurs or work in skilled jobs. By doing this they will be able to support themselves.
La Mano is one of the best companies in the DRC for furniture, carpentry and interior design. Their carpentry/ furniture making training takes 6-12 months depending on learning ability and costs $1000 per person to complete the course.
It will cost $1500 in total including food and travel. Once they have completed the course and become qualified, they will be employed by La Mano. We are aiming to put 20 people on this course. Maman Jeanne is a plant-based soap maker. She makes them from scratch using therapeutic herbs. We have given Maman Jeanne a house as a workshop to train some of our women on how to make this soap. Once production starts, this soap will be sold to local hotels. We may also start global distribution depending on demand. Production, including ingredients and materials will cost $2400. The training will cost $500 per person for a duration of 3 months. Packaging and distribution will be $600 per batch. We aim to get 15 people on this course, so that they are able run a successful soap business in the future.
One of the major issues in the Congo is the lack of access to proper facilities for industrial production. So when people want to treat their wood to make furniture, they have to go to Rwanda. This is highly inconvenient and also means the furniture industry in Congo is reliant on another country. We will provide a solution by purchasing a wood treatment machine for Goma. This machine costs $60,000 including delivery. The maintenance and runnings cost will be $5000 per year. However, the machine can generate up to $5000 of profit per month. The profits from this will support the running cost of the village.
Our staffing costs are $5000 per month as we need to pay for our team in Congo to run everything. We estimate that it will take 9 months to transition the village into financial independence. Whilst this is happening we are starting a Monthly Donor Programme, connecting families to supporters directly. It costs $600 to support a family per month. Please express your interest by sending us a dm on our Instagram page. We will send you all the information required to get involved, including choosing which family to support and payment methods. Once you have enrolled, you will receive monthly updates on how your family is doing via email. We hope that this has provided context to what is going on and how we plan on moving forward. Thank you for your love and continued support.
We have been: feeding, clothing, paying for schooling, medical bills, staff and all things child related for around 30 children now for just over 2 years. Not all of the children are orphaned, some of them have parents but their parents had their houses destroyed and they have no means to live. Our goal was never to create a welfare village. Aid isn’t really useful in Africa, it creates dependancy and stifles progress, making a poverty industry. No African country ever developed from aid.
So here’s what we’re going to do. We are going to get all of the adults and teenagers who are able bodied involved in business education development and vocational training, so that they can become entrepreneurs or work in skilled jobs. By doing this they will be able to support themselves.
La Mano is one of the best companies in the DRC for furniture, carpentry and interior design. Their carpentry/ furniture making training takes 6-12 months depending on learning ability and costs $1000 per person to complete the course.
It will cost $1500 in total including food and travel. Once they have completed the course and become qualified, they will be employed by La Mano. We are aiming to put 20 people on this course. Maman Jeanne is a plant-based soap maker. She makes them from scratch using therapeutic herbs. We have given Maman Jeanne a house as a workshop to train some of our women on how to make this soap. Once production starts, this soap will be sold to local hotels. We may also start global distribution depending on demand. Production, including ingredients and materials will cost $2400. The training will cost $500 per person for a duration of 3 months. Packaging and distribution will be $600 per batch. We aim to get 15 people on this course, so that they are able run a successful soap business in the future.
One of the major issues in the Congo is the lack of access to proper facilities for industrial production. So when people want to treat their wood to make furniture, they have to go to Rwanda. This is highly inconvenient and also means the furniture industry in Congo is reliant on another country. We will provide a solution by purchasing a wood treatment machine for Goma. This machine costs $60,000 including delivery. The maintenance and runnings cost will be $5000 per year. However, the machine can generate up to $5000 of profit per month. The profits from this will support the running cost of the village.
Our staffing costs are $5000 per month as we need to pay for our team in Congo to run everything. We estimate that it will take 9 months to transition the village into financial independence. Whilst this is happening we are starting a Monthly Donor Programme, connecting families to supporters directly. It costs $600 to support a family per month. Please express your interest by sending us a dm on our Instagram page. We will send you all the information required to get involved, including choosing which family to support and payment methods. Once you have enrolled, you will receive monthly updates on how your family is doing via email. We hope that this has provided context to what is going on and how we plan on moving forward. Thank you for your love and continued support.
Organizer
MelRo Potter
Organizer
New York, NY
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