News - Congo Action

Go to content
***** News *****
*******
Work has Started!
July 2017
Fantastic news! Work on the school re-build has started. Full Story


The Build Ready to Start!
June 2017
One block of the “Kavumba”school is just about to start with the building work continuing over the summer holidays. This will give the school three permanent classrooms, complete with equipment. Our aim is to have the money for the next block by June 2018 and the third block by the end of 2018. Thank you so much for the generous donations. Full story.


Generous Donation
Thank You for a generous four figure donation from our partner Charity, WTCongo, (Working Together Congo), not forgetting other donations received from our loyal and regular sponsors. All of which help towards renewing Kavumba school. Read full story.


Congo Action focuses on Education 
Congo Action focuses on Education in remote rural communities, where there is a dire need for schools, of primary & secondary level. The Charity has a long proven record of encouraging programmes which are self -supporting, and have a long lasting effect on the disadvantaged people of the DRC. Read more...

Martine completes her challenge
October 2016
Martine Le Buzullier (Chairperson of Congo Action) completed her 550 miles challenge commenting that: 'It was a brilliant experience, where I discovered that I had more strength in my legs than anticipated! Sheer determination and stubbornness I think! You certainly view the countryside very differently on a bike!  TOTAL RAISED £1010! Thanks to all our very generous supporters'  Read the full story Congratulations Martine!


Cycling Challenge - Bordeaux to Brittany
Martine Le Buzullier (Chairperson of Congo Action) is taking on a 550 miles cycling challenge. Cycling from Bordeaux to the heart of Brittany (Gouarec), cycling six plus hours a day (50 miles). Please will you sponsor her here 
  
Water tank for the School
In February of this year, we heard of two cases of typhoid at our Kavumba school and sadly, one of the children died. This was followed by a suggestion made by the teachers that we should install a water tank at the school which would have an added bonus of teaching the children about hydration and basic hygiene. The tank is fed by rain water as there is no piped water or electricity at the school. We thought  that this was a very valid request, and started fund raising for the project.  Working Together Congo, a sister charity, joined us with this fund raising. The water tank was bought in Bukavu ( Kivu), and installed at the school in May, to the great relief of the teachers and the delight of the children. The pictures speak for themselves of the practical improvements that this has brought to the life of the school.
 




Thank you Cubs
Jo Golding and the Wateringbury cubs have raised £130. Also Martine has managed to raise another £220. It is planned to use some of this to give the teachers of Kavumba school a well earned bonus of around $15 each.

Kavumba school success
In year 2015, 290 children attended our Kavumba primary school. Out of those, 251 finished the academic year and took exams, 17 children withdrew due to parents being unable to pay the small fee ($1 per month!), 12 children were ill, and had to give up taking exams, and one child sadly died of Thypoid.
But in summary, THERE WAS AN 81% SUCCESS RATE in the year, given that 221 children succeeded at their exams. BRILLIANT!!
This demonstrates the quality and dedication of the teachers, in spite of receiving no salary from the government, and only a small but regular "bonus" from congo action. It also demonstrates how much we need our friends and supporters to back up our efforts to keep the school going.

Vital Kulimushi
Read the biography of our main partner in the Congo

Money for new school starts coming in
Stephen and Vivienne Vaudrey have kindly made a very generous grant to Congo Action to be pledged for the re-building of Kavumba school. The picture is of the old school when it was first built.


Gift from Maidstone Buddhist group
The Maidstone Buddhist group have raised £25 for our Kavumba school. They continue to show an interest for Congo Action work, and we thank them for their kind support.

Kavumba School needs rebuilding!
When Kavumba School was built in 2008 wood was used but after eight years of attack by the climate and ants it is showing signs of serious disrepair. Our plan is to help the community build a brick school, classroom by classroom! Watch out for more details of how you can help the children of Kavumba continue to benefit from the education you with Congo Action help start.

Sewing Group Students pass-out
The Congo Action sewing course students collected their final certificates in February 2016 and now, armed with their sewing machines, are ready to practise their new skills providing handmade clothes in their community and earning a wage which helps to send their children to school and pay the bills. 




Good News from Kavumba School
Kavumba School received a very positive report when the Catholic Schools' inspectors visited in 2015. They graded all aspects as 'good' and stated that Safari, the head teacher was doing a brilliant and conscientious job. Well done, Kavumba!

New News Letter 
The December 2015 Newsletter is here. Please have a read...

Maidstone Mela 2015
Congo Action took a stall at the Maidstone Mela to highlight the charity and raise funds. The annual Maidstone Mela is a popular celebration of culture providing a platform to showcase the food, arts and cultures of nations throughout the world. Congo Action sold craftwork from the Congo, homemade jams and ran a tombola. On a cool and partly wet day we raised £330 for the funds which will go to help support our many projects in the Congo.
.


St Michael's Infant School Supports CA
The pupils of St Michael's infant school raised £75 at their annual summer fete, to help children in our primary school (Kavumba school) in the DRC. They raised this money by making and selling craft items on a stall at the summer fete, after hearing about the difficulties of the children in Congo. A great Thank you to them for their efforts, and Thank you also to Mrs Newton, their teacher, who initiated and inspired their fund raising efforts!



The Kinjuba Spring
The health centre of Kinjuba, in Kivu province, DRC, had been without running water for the past 15 months because their local spring was damaged. The medical staff had to rely on rain water to run their clinic and take care of the sick patients. They were using rain water for doing the washing and the cooking for the patients. Congo Action was made aware of this, and decided to come to their rescue. Thanks to donations from our supporters, we were able to provide the necessary funds for the spring to be repaired. Now that it is fully functioning, the health centre is able to use it again, and so are the 500 families living in Kinjuba.
To ensure that the spring continues to run smoothly, the villagers as well as the staff from the health centre have organised themselves in a committee to take care of the spring and any future repairs.
Thank you to all of you who continue to support our work in the DRC!   (added 11.4.15)

*****
New Toilets
During our site visit in October 2014, we were made aware by the teaching staff of the fact that the toilets were very inadequate and insufficient due to the high number of children. We felt that this needed to be addressed urgently, and we provided the funds needed to build new toilets. As you can see from the photos of the "before" and "after" , the result is very satisfactory! 
Again, Congo action could not do this without our generous supporters, so a big THANK YOU to all of you for your contribution!  (added 11.4.15)
 
*****
Name Change!
Muganzo school has been renamed as KAVUMBA school. The villagers and parents' committee decided that this would be a better name for the school. (added 11.4.15)
*****
Projects Visit 2014
Martine and fellow trustee and treasurer, Pat, flew over to the Congo to visit the projects supported by Congo Action. They were delighted at how well these projects were progressing. Please click here for full report.

*****
Support of Disabled Work update
A Martine and Pat visited some of the people and projects helped by Congo Action while in the Congo in November. Click here for further information.

*****
Ben follows his Brother

Ben is Jo-Jo's younger brother. He has a party planned for the end of June and so far is agreeing to donations in lieu of party presents. 
Don't worry mum tells us they get plenty of family presents!
*****
Grant from Just Trust
Thank you to Just Trust for the  £500 grant Congo Action has received. Just Trust grants are awarded for charitable work overseas that tries to address the difficulties of some of the most disadvantaged sections of society in some of the least advantaged parts of the world. 
*****
Edward Runs for Congo Action

Thank you to Edward Adams who ran the 
North Downs Run in 2014 in aid of Congo Action 
We are currently looking for keen runners like Edward , willing to do a sponsored run for Congo Action. Please think of us for your next event.....
*****
JoJo does it again!
Jo, a little boy whose father is from Bukavu, DRC,, celebrated his 5th birthday on Saturday, 24th of May, in a yurt, situated in some wild woods in Leicester, where they also had a treasure hunt. His parents requested his friends to bring cards only, and no presents; they supplied a collection box for donations to be made to Congo Action.

They had 21 children at the party, it rained, but they had put up a big tent as well as the yurt, and they had "lots of games, lots of cake, and a lot of laughter and energy was shared by many happy children and happy adults! " . The party raised £80 for Congo Action. Very many thanks to them all!
'Charity of the Year' Presentation


A big THANK YOU to the Maidstone Soroptimists who presented Congo Action with a cheque for over £1000 at their recent AGM. Maidstone Soropimists had nominated Congo Action as their "Charity of the Year" during the presidency of Dr Nellie Adjaye. Under her leadership a number of events were held ending in an enjoyable Presidential Lunch at Lenham Community Centre. As much of the money has been gift aided the total for Congo Action will actually be considerably higher. You can be sure that the money will be wisely spent helping the women and children of the Congo help themselves to a better life. Thank you (The photo shows l-r Edward, Pat and Val with Dr Nellie Adjaye)

This is the second year that Jojo and his friends have raised money for Congo Action, and children in the DRC. Perhaps some other parents out there may feel inspired by this novel way of raising money, and enabling children in the UK to have fun, whilst sharing some of the benefits with children in need in the DRC??
*****

Back to content