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Rotary Club of Vancouver Mission visits partners in Kinshasa DR Congo

In September 2009, a six person mission of the Rotary Club of Vancouver (RCV) was received in Kinshasa, DR Congo by our twin club, the Rotary Club of Kinshasa Kingabwa (RCKK).

Since 2002, with support from the Vancouver Club and the Rotary World Help Network of BC, the RCKK has received and has distributed five 40 foot containers of  medical and educational equipment and supplies to hospitals and educational facilities in the City Province of Kinshasa and in adjacent Provinces. A sixth container will be sent in 2009.

These containers provided a number of 'firsts' for the desperately needy population of Kinshasa, including (a) the first public computer training facility in the City of Kinshasa (2002), (b) a computer training facility run by Nuns in a very poor district whose closest computer connection was 7 kms distant, (c) a fully equipped maternity hospital, the first in the 300,000 population suburb of Mpassa, (d) dental chairs to reference hospitals on the periphery of the Kinshasa Province, (e) beds and hospital equipment to the first new hospital since the 1950's in the City of Mbuji Mayi (population 3 million); (f) support which precipitated the re-launching of the University Clinic of the University of Kinshasa, (f) the first computer lab one of some two dozen RC Secondary colleges in the Province.

The DR Congo, population 62 million, though rich in natural resources, has one of the poorest populations in the world. Over 90 per cent live on less than $1 a day. What little infrastructure survived the Mobutu era, was destroyed by the 1998-2003 regional war waged in the Congo.
WATER WELLS PROJECT: The RC Vancouver, the RC Kinshasa Kingabwa, Seven Rotary Clubs of Provence, France, Districts 5040(BC), 9150 (Central Africa) and the Province France and the Rotary Foundation this year have embarked on a series of projects designed to bring clean water to 125,000 Congolese villagers in the Bokoro Health District of Bandundu, up the Congo River from Kinshasa. A drilling rig and equipment, supplies and a team of engineers travelled in December 2008 six days up the river to Kutu to drill four wells to serve the 35,000 residents of Kutu, Currently, the women and children of Kutu walk many kilometers, several times a day, on treacherous slopes to obtain small quantities of water from spring catchments. Once the deep bore wells have been completed in January 2009, these villagers will be freed from this drudgery and from the water borne diseases rampant in this District. The Congolese Organization for the Alleviation of Poverty (OCLP), the local partner of the RCKK, will provide the training to the village water committee to ensure the maintenance of the wells and the future development of revenue generating activities.

The Vancouver Club and its partners already are looking toward funding in 2009 the drilling of four more wells. Our Rotary partner the Rotary Club of Setagaya Minami, Tokyo, Japan plans to support the effort. In the coming years, we hope to provide clean water to all the 125,000 villagers of the Bokoro District.
During its 5 day mission, the Vancouver Club was royally received by our RCKK partners and their spouses. Together we visited several of the projects our clubs are supporting with special attention to water projects. We were lodged by the Archbishop of Kinshasa, in the Nganda Retreat and Conference Centre, toured the sprawling Congolese capital Kinshasa, population 8 million, stood on the banks of the mighty turbulent Congo river, visited the reserve of the Bonobo monkeys, and were wined and dined by our RCKK hosts throughout the visit. Witnessing their generous and energetic support for their countrymen and experiencing the warmth and fellowship of their welcome we had an unforgettable experience of the impact of Rotary partnership.
Our mission concluded with gala Rotary evening, replete with marvelous Congolese cuisine and entertainment, organized by our RCKK hosts in which five Kinshasa Rotary Clubs participated.

The Vancouver Club Mission was led by Verona Edelstein, Congo Project Chair and former Canadian Ambassador in the DR Congo and comprised Tom Crean, Past President of the RCV, his spouse Jo-Ann, Earle Newton, Chair of the RCV World Community Service Committee and Carolyn Newton and Mass Abedi, also members of the WCSC. Mass, a film producer, has produced a 20 minute HiDef DVD of the Congo mission and has undertaken to provide a copy of it to anyone who makes a $20 or more contribution to the Congo Water Project.