AHDO Kasai team visit to orphanages in Tshikapa
25 August 2020
AHDO Kasaï team visited two orphanages called "The heart of a woman mother" in Kanzala and that of the sisters "Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary". These orphanages are having problems because of the increase in the prices of essential items due to the Covid-19 pandemic and they are private orphanages where the owners are the teachers who are financially distressed themselves.
The orphanage "The heart of a woman mother" is an association of Christian women made up of 6 women, 2 of them are widows and 4 are married women. One of them is in charge of a school where some of these children study for free and others are enrolled elsewhere but at their expense. The other women on the management team manages petty trading. It is the income from their activities that allows them to feed, educate and provide medical care for these children. They have no assistance either from humanitarian partners or from the provincial government. Having a plot with an orphanage whose construction is unfinished, they are requesting from humanitarian partners and the government the completion of the construction and funds to feed and educate these future children of our country. They have a total of 18 children of which those aged 0-59 months are 11m and others are over 5 years old. In relation to gender, there are 9 boys and 9 girls. The oldest is 15 years old. Some have become orphans because they lost their parents either during the Kamuina Nsapu conflicts or by AIDS. The others by maternal death whose fathers are unable to take care of them.
The Orphanage "Dominican Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary" is already 10 years of existence in the city of Tshikapa. This orphanage was established under the initiative of the responsible sister who is a university professor. They take care of these orphans without being assisted by either the Catholic Church or the provincial government and even less by humanitarian partners. The orphanage is requesting financial or material support to finalize the construction work in progress and enable them to provide for food and clothing needs. They take care of a total of 8 children (3 girls and 5 boys) of which 0-59 months are 6 and over 5 years old, 2.
