In March, when what felt like the entire planet went into lockdown, we decided that with the help of our church and a few friends here in Germany, to try and help those who were not cared for during the lockdown in the Congo.

Our team on location in Congo worked very hard to identify those who were most vulnerable and who would need help during these hard times. In Congo the elderly are not cared for by the government and even during lockdown the government did not provide food for these elderly people’s survival, so we know that automatically being an elderly person is a vulnerability in Congo.

The team’s research led us to a small village outside of Goma where many elderly people were in great need. While there distributing food parcels and protective masks we got to know Kafupi, a 75 year old man who works as a tailor in his community. He has been working for many years as a tailor and always had something to eat, but when the lockdown happened the clients did not come to his little shop anymore.

Not having any resources and not knowing what to do, he was just waiting for his time to come because he was completely without hope that he would find food to eat. His only hope, his tailoring work, was silent as no one came with work for him to do. Instead, Focus Congo showed up with food and he was full of joy that finally someone thought of his village and brought them help.

We wanted to know more about Kafupi so when we finished distributing food and supplies he took us around and showed us where he lived. As we approached his little shack we noticed that it was leaking profusely and was in extremely bad condition. We understood from looking at his home that someone his age would not be able to survive another rainy season under these extreme circumstances. 

After this visit we made the decision to build a shelter for Kafupi so that he will be able to stay dry and well; no more need to be scared of the rain pouring through the roof and making him ill. When we gave him the news that we would do this for him he was astonished! He was so happy that he had tears of joy in his eyes and said that he had never had anyone help him in this way. 

We have since completed building Kafupi’s house – he has already moved in with gratitude and thankfulness to those who helped him survive in this time. He also prayed for all of those people with good hearts to continue to help other elderly people who are still living in the same poor conditions that he was.

There are many more elderly whom we could help with safe shelter. If you would love to support building a shelter for the elderly please donate here.

It has been a while now since we first introduced you to the story of our friend Ombeni, who we first met on a visit to Congo.

Back then, he worked as a garbage collector going around the back of a dirty track which traced a path around the city of Bukavu. Little did we know that his life story would be the start of our work with orphans.

One morning my friend Ryan and I noticed a young man collecting garbage. We noticed him mostly because there was something funny and even joyful about him. We saw that he wore glasses, but as we got closer we realised that he didn’t have lenses in the frames. It gave us the opening to speak with him naturally. Why was he wearing frames with no lenses? He told us about how he loves making people laugh and that is why he was wearing those glasses.

I was curious, so I asked him more about himself and told me his story. Ombeni was orphaned when he was just 10 years old when his parents were killed during the conflict in Congo. He actually saw his parents and one of his brothers being killed. Not only that, but he was left with three siblings, his sister and two brothers, to take care of. He works everyday collecting garbage to make sure his family will have something to eat, but we knew that this job doesn’t provide enough for the care of his siblings.

After this first meeting we knew that we wanted to help Ombeni, so we kept in touch with him. It wasn’t for another few months that we were able to start supporting him. When we called him and gave him the good news that he would be able to send his siblings to school and that we would also be able to help pay for shelter and some food, he was full of such joy and celebration. He told us that it was the best news he has ever received!

However, Ombeni’s care didn’t stop there. Using what we supported him with, he decided to take in 9 other kids that also lost their parents during the war. Why? He told us that he has lived on very little already, and now that he has some support he would really love to give a chance to other children that are struggling. That showed us that you don’t have to have a lot in order to support others; you just need to have a heart for people and understand the saying of loving your neighbor as you love yourself.

Ombeni now lives in a home that Focus Congo is renting for him. He lives there with his brothers and sisters, and the 9 other kids that he has taken in.  Beyond our initial help, we decided to assist Ombeni further, by helping him start a small shop where he charges mobile phones and sells different accessories to customers. This helps him to concentrate his efforts and to be in a position where one day he will be able to independently provide for his family. 

Sadly, there are many kids in Congo who are like Ombeni. Having lost their parents, most of them live on the street with no future and no hope. We believe these kids deserve a shot at life: they deserve to have something to eat; they deserve to have access to good health care; they deserve to have an education.

This year, especially as we were out delivering food packages, we saw many of these young kids with nothing to eat; you could see that they were in bad condition. When we were distributing food in Chiherano, the village where I was born, a kid approached us. We saw that he was dirty, and although he could walk well we saw that his toes and fingers were rotten from the worms in his body. It was scary, but at the same time it made us realise that it is time for us to take action and help these kids that are in such bad condition. 

To do this we have decided to start HOUSE OF HOPE!

Our dream is that this will be a house where these kids can come and be given a home, an education and mentorship. Of course we want to see how we can help them have a better future. I talked to my father and asked him if I could have the house that I was born in to renovate and make into the House of Hope. 

My father was very happy to hear this idea! Now we just need to renovate this house, furnish it with the materials it needs to run as a home and school, and there we go. We are very excited about this house because it once gave me life and now it will be giving life to these kids in need. We want to be the change in our society by offering a better future to these kids and I believe that tomorrow they will become whom God has intended them to be.

THE CONTAINER

If you happened to have read any of our recent blog posts you will understand how our experiences with Covid response, Chahi Hospital, and the Home of Hope project have all inspired this Container project! 

We are sending HOPE to Congo by providing the tools needed for people to learn and work in their communities. This is the beginning of sustainable change in these communities who lack resources.

We are currently preparing a container to send to Congo at the beginning of 2021. If you are interested in contributing to our container please take a look at our ‘wish list’ here. We have collected some medical equipment, but we need many other things as well!

This container is an amazing opportunity to support the projects we are running in Congo in a practical way that directly contributes to the radiant future of our young people! 

We would like to include laptop computers, cameras, solar panels, generators, sewing machines, and any equipment that would be able to be used to train young people in a variety of trades. We need soccer equipment and sports materials that we can use in our sports camp that we run every year. The list goes on and we are thankful for all contributions made to Focus Congo.

If this is something you would like to help with, take a look at our ‘wish list’ – there is such a wide range of potential items. If you have something that you think might work, but aren’t sure, feel free to contact us! We would love to hear from you. 

If you don’t feel that you have any suitable items to donate, please consider contributing to the shipment fees! We also need to raise 10,000€ (approx. $12,250 USD) to send the equipment to the DRC

CHAHI Hospital – by Stephen Gaiseb, Surgeon

As part of a humanitarian Outreach with Focus Congo I had the chance to work for 2 weeks in Chahi Hospital – a small but resourceful hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). It is found in Bukavu, the Capital of the Province South Kivu, strategically placed in a poor community that treats those who are in medical need.

It was an honor to be part of the surgical department, where I was mostly involved in training, teaching and observing. Working with Dr. Kishimbi, a Pediatric surgeon, I learned to work making the most out of the least; to notice the lack of medical equipment was the most challenging and humbling of all experiences.

This lack of necessities most drastically showed after we delivered a baby by C-Section. After a successful surgery both mother and child were brought to the maternity ward. During the staff meeting the next morning one of the pediatricians reported that the baby boy passed away. The baby died because oxygen was not administered to him. This struck me so deeply because this is something unheard of anywhere. Yet the Hospital only had 1 functioning Oxygen concentrator and nothing could be done at the time. I realized then that something really needs to be done there.

Once back in Germany, we immediately started to collect Hospital/medical material and equipment for Chahi Hospital. We are so full of joy to see all that came together so far – our storage places are packed up to the roof. Among most of the donations we have received are priceless items: laparoscopic towers, surgical instruments, anesthesiology monitors, surgical scrubs for the surgery team, patient stretchers, ultrasound machines, drapes, compresses, pediatric gowns, maternity equipment, baby diapers and a dental practice.

The donated surgical instruments and equipment will definitely increase the chances of procedures being performed quickly and efficiently. This should decrease the length of a patient’s hospital stay while increasing the number of elective procedures able to be planned per day, which means more patients can be treated.

It is such a sigh of relief to know how much we can accomplish this much equipment; and all this effort would not have been rewarded without teamwork, so many thanks go out to those individuals and institutions which have made our project possible.

Special thanks and appreciation goes out to:

• Katharinen Hospital
• University Hospital Tübingen
• Olga Hospital Stuttgart
• ENT Surgery Department Stuttgart
• Dr. Thomas Urbanowicz, Reutlingen
• “Hoffnung für eine neue Generation” Rudersberg

Our goal is to send a container with all the equipment to DRC in 2021, until then we are still collecting medical equipment. Anyone can become a supporter of our project, either by donating financially, equipment or becoming a representative of Focus Congo e.V. by sharing the word. 

To be part of a humanitarian organization such as Focus Congo e.V. gives one the sense of being part of something bigger than oneself. Hence the means of collective effort in supporting a Hospital so far away.

Thank you

Stephen Gaiseb Surgeon

Don’t have access to medical gear? We still need you! In fact, we need to cover shipping costs and here are some other items that we would like to include in our Focus Congo container: click here (include a list of needed items or ideas)

The whole of humanity depends on us seeing humanity in others. -Demond Tutu

We have all faced many challenges this year because of the Coronavirus Pandemic. In Germany we are entering our second lockdown of the year. Almost as soon as the pandemic started, we saw the large-scale impact on the Democratic Republic of Congo as we began to receive incredible reports about what happened during lockdown.

We heard that many people were rarely allowed to leave their homes and were no longer allowed to work. The normal markets were closed, so it was extremely difficult to get food. Many people ran out of food and some died of hunger. It was clear to us that we, as Focus Congo, had to start a crisis intervention there.

We began with the work of one team but the need is so great that we now have 3 dedicated teams onsite in Bukavu, Goma and Uvira. The 14 young people who make up Focus Congo’s onsite teams have worked hard and done an incredible job. From March, when the lockdown happened, through until the end of October we distributed 1200 food packages to families, hospitals, refugees and orphans. 

Our team

• Visited a village outside of Bukavu and distributed food packages and hygiene products for 150 senior citizens.
• Took basic necessities to 120 families in another village where they had heard that someone had already starved to death.
• Renovated the house of an elderly man who had always partially provided for his community but lost everything, partly due to the crisis, and was living in his home which was falling apart.
• Provided food and respirators to two different disability groups that were struggling.
• Rented a truck (twice) to bring fresh water to a village that urgently needs a well, as their nearest water point is 10km/6.2 mi. away. They would normally walk this distance.

The team made it onto the radio!

During this time of hard work of bringing relief to a village, a local radio station became aware of the team and came to see for themselves what was going on. They were Completely beside themselves with excitement when they saw that these young people were doing so much for the poorest of the poor in their region; they immediately broadcast their story on the radio. Through the report from this radio station our team was able to communicate our core message to the entire listening community: hope for a bright future in Congo. Especially in times of crisis, people need hope, acceptance and support.

It was overwhelming to experience the joy and gratitude that our help caused in people’s hearts. Tears of gratitude merged with laughter and singing of songs of hope. These were heart-to-heart encounters that will be remembered for a long time. 

During this time of crisis we understood how having the opportunity to help people in deep need makes us more human, because it reminds us just how much we need each other. From the bottom of our hearts we are grateful to God that we were able to experience His action and help in the midst of difficulties. We were able to do things this year that we did not even dare to dream about.

Thank you to all those who have so generously supported the crisis intervention financially. Without this help, we would not have been able to help people survive to the extent that we did.

Praise God that Coronavirus has not yet hit Eastern Congo in large numbers. In the event of an outbreak the healthcare system is not prepared to adequately care for those infected.
Continue reading “Corona – We care for the hungry!” →

Come back soon for recent updates and news on our projects and the precious people we work with on the ground!