Help Street Girls in DR Congo

Thank you very much for your generous donations to the Kimbilio Project to help street girls in the Congo. Girls are very vulnerable living on the streets.

This year, the Kimbilio short-term and long-term houses have looked after an average of 24 girls each month who had been living on the street. As well as shelter, food, clothing and counselling, we can now give the girls the opportunity of education at the Kimbilio school. It is heart-warming to see the changes in their faces as the girls regain self-respect and confidence. In many cases, we are able to achieve reintegration of the girls into their wider families.

In addition, the Day Centre in Lubumbashi sees around eight girls each day who come for help. The Kimbilio staff team are trained to address the needs of the girls, some of whom may have young children or be pregnant. 

Thank you for your finiancial support for the work of Kimbilio with young girls living on the streets of Lumbumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The girls are very vulnerable on the streets and Kimbilio can provide shelter, food, medical care and a safe environment for them

The younger girls living in the homes run by Kimbilio have just completed their first year at the new Kimbilio Primary School. As well as the normal academic subjects, the girls have enjoyed success in team games such as basketball. It is so encouraging seeing the smiles on the faces of these girls and recognise that they have each been able to move forward from the situation that caused them to live on the streets.

The current Kimbilio Project is to build a multipurpose Day Centre. Up to now we have using the Anglican Cathedral in Lubumbashi but we need our own premises. The Day Centre is the first point of contact with street children. We have identified a plot of land in the city centre and already secured $30,000 of the $50,000 needed to complete the purchase, so we need a further $20,000 by Christmas. We will then be able to engage the architect who desined the Primary School to draw up a design for the new Day Centre

Thank you for your financial support for the work of Kimbilio with street girls in the Democratic Republic of Congo. This is such a vital task, as young girls are so vulnerable when living on the streets and Kimbilio can offer them shelter, care and affection, education and the opportunity to be reintegrated into their wider family. 

One of the activities that the girls enjoy is art, which allows them to be creative and to express themselves. The joy on their faces at their finished creation is lovely to behold. While the girls are with us, they now get the opportunity of education at the new Kimbilio Junior Schooll and we see the girls gain in confidence and self-worth and, of course, the knowledge and skills that acquire at school will give them better opportunities when they get older.

In 2021, the Congo Children's Trust looked after each month an average of 22 girls who had been living on the streets of  Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo. These girls were accommodated in the short or longer-term homes run by the Trust.and given food, clothing, and protection from the dangers awaiting them on the streets. In addition, the Trust helped many girls at the Day Centre which is open three days a week.

It is such a joy to see the happiness return to the faces of these young girls, whose lives have been affected by factors beyond their control. They have their childhood back again! The new Primary School opened by the Trust on 11 October 2021 allows the girls at the Trust's houses to receive good quality education alongside children from the local neighbourhood whose families couldn't afford normal school fees.

Thank you for your suppport that is changing the lives of girls living on the streets in the Congo

Kimbilio continues to show care to those girls who, for many reasons, have been forced to live on the streets of Lubumbashi. One of the activities for girls who come to live in both the short-term and the long-terrm houses is to be creative in paint or materials.One of the Kimbilio leaders, Joel Kidindwe, takes regular lessons where the girls can enjoy sketching in pencil, crayon or paints, and make objects using different materials. It is lovely to see girls, who may have missed out on academically in their lives, achieving success with their creations. Their faces show what joy and confidence this brings.

I must report that Jean Bosco, the director of Kimbilio in Lubumbashi, passed away suddenly from Covid in July. Jean has been a father figure to the team and to the children, wise and kind to all, and we will miss him greatly. Two senior members of the team have stepped forward to undertake Jean's duties and we will review the position in three months..

The new Kimbilio school is almost complete. The head teacher has been appointed, staff are being recruited and the school will open next month