More Children of the DRC

These children of the DRC
will welcome your compassion.

Kayumba Nestore is 13 years old. His father died last year.
Kayumba lives with his big brother, age 17. There are five family members.
His school grade is Standard 6.

Makunza Kayombo is 11 years old. His father died last year,
and he lives with his mother. His school grade is Standard 5.

Kalubi Richard is three years old. His father was a soldier.
He stays with his mother, who is sick.
His own health is not good.
See the beautiful maize--the harvest is promising.

Pascal Rukem is eight years old. Both his father and mother died last year,
and he lives with his grandfather.

The home of one of the children destroyed in a rainstorm

Happy children display t-shirts they received as Christmas gifts.

Caring for Orphans and Vulnerable Children

The first in of its kind in Lubumbashi, 20 participants from five districts in Katanga province came together for a training course in working with children in need of care.

As one of the invited speakers, I said: “The human mind is super powerful. Once decided, then we achieve it. With what’s happening around the globe, I think it’s time to take a step and move ahead.”

There is urgent need for better-integrated children’s services in DRC. Many vulnerable children are falling through the gaps between service providers. All must now work together more effectively to raise the quality of children’s services. Child Action needs to do better to ensure the most vulnerable children get the best start in life.

• All children in DRC, regardless of background, should be able to achieve their potential.Some children are effectively “invisible” to services.

• Providers do not use their knowledge on the ground to act soon enough or predict need for intervention.

We want the best for all of our children. We need to close the gap between those children who succeed in life and those who fall behind. That means providing a positive start and ensuring that children’s services really do reach all the most vulnerable and deprived. To achieve this, we want to ensure that we give the best possible start in life to all children with the necessary support to widen their opportunities for the future.

Programs

Focus on child development
We believe that the best way to benefit a community is to develop its youth. When children in our programs grow into powerful Christian leaders, they help to transform their communities. Building up children first, with the help of caregivers, churches, schools, and communities, is an excellent strategy to bring lasting change.

Focus on child discipleship
We believe that the most loving thing we can do for children is to introduce them to Jesus Christ. Nothing is more important than giving children an opportunity to know Jesus and learn the word of God.

How Will Children Benefit?

To meet the unique needs of recruited children, we will

• provide educational assistance, including school fees, clothing, and supplies, or access to vocational training an a literacy program outside formal education, if needed.
• sponsor children’s health efforts and provide medical and nutritional care.
• nourish children’s self-confidence and social skills.
• offer love, guidance, personal attention, and recreation in a safe environment.
• provide regular Bible study and Christian education.
• develop relationships with sponsors, so that each sponsored child may have a real connection with a sponsor through prayers, pictures, and letters, helping that child feel valued and loved.

Remember children who need your help the most.

Hands together, we can change a child’s life.

My Dream

After experiencing for many yeas the sufferings of orphaned and vulnerable children in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), I had a vision to start a project for child welfare, although I had no idea how to go about it, let alone the means. It was not until my training by Child Evangelism Fellowship in 2000 that my mission began to take shape. My ideas developed during my studies at Africa University, a Pan-African institution where students from all over Africa are able to exchange experiences and discuss national issues.

Investing in the future is an objective that must be taken into consideration for tomorrow's society. It is from this point of view that I have expressed my wish to set up a social action project for humanitarian needs, working with underprivileged children and poor families in the DRC. Doing so will enable me to give back to the community skills and knowledge I received both from my studies and from my volunteer activities with children's ministries, such as Fairfield Children's Home at Old Mutare Mission in Zimbabwe and the Good News Dorcas Club (GNDC) I founded in January, 2003.

Child Choir

MISSION STATEMENT
Child Action strives to improve the living conditions of orphans and vulnerable children by creating, inspiring, and nurturing the development of spirtual life, education, health care, food, and recreation facilities. Furthermore, the envisioned activities of the Project are intended to benefit children within the community where they live, without any discrimination of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, political belief, national origin, physical and mental disabilities, or age.

Child Action will target the following goals:

• Improve the social conditions, education, health, and quality of life of orphans and vulnerable children;
• Child sponsorship programs, which provide help with school fees, school supplies, clothes, and food. In addition, the sponsor may supply emotional support through communication with the child;
• Support families and households coping with an increased burden of care for affected and vulnerable children through empowerment programs.

First walking trip

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION
Child Action is located far south in the Katanga Province, in Lubumbashi. Situated near the Zambian boarder, Lubumbashi offers an administrative advantage as the capital of the Province. It provides the Congo's infrastructure, is the commercial and industrial center, and is accessible to the rest of the country.

What is going on with DRC kids?
For many orphans and vulnerable children, their ability to survive depends on their finding work to earn enough for food. They transport goods, sell food, work in restaurants and homes, load and unload passenger buses, and engage in temporary work in exchange for food and money. Other children are involved in hazardous labor such as mining, child soldiers, prostitution, or selling drugs and alcohol. The situation of those children is precarious. Most of them live in dirtiness and total insecurity. They have no rights and no access to education, health care, food, or security. They are at risk of total economic exploitation.

Kibwe Girard (9) - no school


Kapenda (11) head-of-household
No school, no food
Raising 2-year-old sister, Kata

What will become of these kids tomorrow?
Your love and compassion can help us to make a difference in these children's lives.