Fulfil vision for multipurpose street kids centre

Thank you very much for your generous support to the Project to build a multi-purpose day centre for street children in Lubumbashi.

I am very pleased to say that we have raised the $50,000 required to purchase the plot of land we identified as suitable for the building. This has been achieved by the generosity of our supporters and will lead to Kimbilio being able to offer new facilities to the street children such as a health clinic, showers, toilets and a large room for indoor activities. We also hope to be able to ghenerate income by renting out rooms for local groups, dance workshops, wedding receptions etc

We now move forward in the New Year to begin raising funds to build the two-storey day centre.  

Thank you very much for your donations towards the purchase of the land for the new multipurpose Day Centre in Lubumbashi. We have raised $30,000 already but need a further $20,000 by Christmas to secure the land.This is a big challenge!

Ian Harvey, our founding director, has met with Jim Smith (above) who is the builder/planner who designed the Kimbilio Primary School. They have had preliminary discussions and Jim is working on plans for a two-storey building for the multipurpose Day Centre. The new Day Centre will include a health clinic for the street children, showers where they can wash, toilets, a large room for activities, a team meeting room and a kitchen. In addtion, there will be a hair salon where the ladies trained on the young mums course can set up their business and where women trained in the sewing workshops can sell their products. This will create income for them to feed their families and prevent children coming back to the streets.

In order to generate income for Kimbilio, there will be a studio that can be rented out for dance workshops/church meetings/weddings/receptions. 

Ian Harvey visited Lubumbashi in July and met with the leadership team who took over from the late Jean Bosco (below). 

(l-r) Rodrigue (administrator), Carine (Co-Ordinator) & Clement (treasurer).

Thank you for your donations towards our vision of creating a multi-purpose kids centre in Lubumbushi. We have now identified the land on which to build the new centre and it is conveniently situated opposite the current day centre that we need to leave.

The new day centre will include a health clinic for the street children, showers where they can wash, toilets, a large room for activities and a kitchen. There will also be a hair salon where the girls trained in the Young Mums Project can set up their business, and a shop where women trained in the Sewing Workshop can sell their products. This will create income for the girls/young mums to feed their families and prevent children coming back on to the streets.

We also plan to include a studio that can be rented out for dance workshops/Church meetings/wedding receptions which will create income.

The cost to purchase the land is $50,000 and the owner has agreed to accept $20,000 as a guaruntee and three payments of $10,000 before the end of the year. Our priority now is to raise the $20,000 needed to secure the plot of land, so please encourage your family and friends to help us with a donation.

The vision to provide a multipurpose centre for street kids in Lubumbashi will be our main focus this year.

We anticipate requiring approximately $60,000 to buy a plot and build the centre or alternatively to acquire a building that can be refurbished to provide street children with a safe place to eat, access clean water, play and be listened to. In addition, we will provide family and community support for families on the edge and life skills training for former street children as well as parents with no income.

We look forward to keeping you updated over the coming months on progress towards achieving our vision.

For many years, the Kimbilio Day Centre for street children in Lubumbashi has used the Anglican Cathedral building.in the city centre. The Diocese wish to refurbish the cathedral and this gives us the opportunity to create a multipurpose kids centre.

The donations that we receive will go towards the purchase of a site where we can develop a centre which will provide street children with a safe place to eat, access clean water, play and be listened to.In addition, we will family& community support for families on the edge and life skills training for former street children as well as parents of children without an income. Providing families with an income could be the key to preventing their children ending up on the streets.

It is exciting to embark on this new project, which will enhance the work of Kimbilio in the DRC.