The Story of Kambove Community

Kambove is a mining community with a population of 36,000 people. When the mines closed, the local economy was devastated and the infrastructure broken. With thousands of people unemployed, Kambove saw a massive increase in prostitution, further exacerbating the spread of HIV/AIDS in the region. The mines in Kambove also polluted the water for people living in the community, leaving just one clean water source for the entire community to access. Many people use contaminated water for washing, cooking and drinking. Recognising the severity of the situation, Hands at Work mobilised individuals from the local churches in Kambove to establish a Community Based Organisation of volunteer Care Workers, committed to caring for the poorest of the poor. In 2009, the Maisha (meaning ‘life’) Community Based Organisation was born, the only group in all of Kambove actively caring for children.

Kambove.png

175 Children currently supported

14 Care Workers coordinated by Aimerance

Basic Services Started in 2010

30 kM from the Likasi Local Office

With the support of the local Hands at Work team in Likasi, the Care Workers identified 100 orphaned and vulnerable children who were desperately in need of care and invited them to the Life Centre. Here they are supported with a hot, nutritious meal daily, education and basic health care and have the freedom to play as children. In addition to providing these basic necessities, the Care Workers are committed to visiting the children and their families in their homes, ensuring that they are physically, spiritually and emotionally cared for.

In 2019, a new Life Centre was constructed and life is springing up amongst the most vulnerable in Kambove. In 2020, a new, secure toilet was completed, ensuring the health and hygiene of the most vulnerable. Always pressing in to reach the poorest of the poor, the Care Workers from Maisha Community Based Organisation have done a number of reassessments of the children to ensure that they are reaching those who are the most vulnerable. These reassessments have led to an increase of 100 to 175 children being cared for.

Meet Paulina

Paulina’s parents were living in Kambove when war broke out in 1992, forcing them to flee their home. Soon after leaving, her parents passed away, leaving Paulina and her younger brother alone with no one to care for them. Eventually, word passed to the children's grandmother back in their previous home of Kambove and she took in Paulina, but her brother sadly had passed away. Thankfully, Paulina has been coming to the Kambove Care Point for the past 10 years and the Care Workers are like mothers to her. Because of the love and kindness she has received from these women, Paulina is an example to others by leading worship, helping wash the little ones, leading youth, sharing God’s word and praying for others. Recently, Paulina was struggling with stomach pains and it was discovered that she had appendicitis. By God’s grace, she was able to receive the operation she desperately needed through help from the local Hands at Work team in Likasi. Care Worker Maman says, “I feel like a parent to her. Whenever Paulina is facing difficulties she feels free to come and share them.”

The local Hands at Work team in Likasi currently supports nine Community Based Organisations, which exist to care for the most vulnerable in their communities. The office provides training, networking, and encouragement to those Community Based Organisations like Maisha.  It also gives administrative support, including helping with funding proposals, monitoring and evaluation, bookkeeping and reporting to donors.  

BE INSPIRED BY UPDATES FROM KAmbove COMMUNITY

MORE FROM THE DRC 

Stories
Meet Mwete
Meet Mwete

Raising a large family isn’t easy but Mama Safi isn’t alone in caring for Mwete. He has a bigger family of support at the Care Point, with the Care Workers and the other children.

Update: Volcanic Eruption in Goma, DRC
Update: Volcanic Eruption in Goma, DRC

On Saturday evening we heard the news that there was an eruption of the volcano called Mount Nyiragongo, which is situated in Goma. And of course it immediately caused huge panic and people started fleeing into Rwanda immediately, and some people fled to the nearest city outside Goma called Sake.

Meet Tina
Meet Tina

Tina and her siblings were struggling with their health when they were discovered by the local volunteer Care Workers from the Maisha Community Based Organisation (CBO). Initially, Tina couldn’t play, and rarely smiled. Her hair was falling out, her belly was protruding and her feet were swollen; all symptoms that she was severely malnourished.

My Calling - Angel Musoka
My Calling - Angel Musoka

Through serving with Hands at Work, I have learned what it means to forgive. A few years ago, I felt the Holy Spirit telling me to forgive my auntie and pray a prayer of forgiveness. I was able to talk with her and release the bitterness and bondage that I had in my heart. Afterwards I felt joy and a new sense of connection with her.

A Vision that Keeps You Coming Back
A Vision that Keeps You Coming Back

I was surprised, moved and thankful for the things that had changed. New additions to the team. New Care Points serving more children than was previously possible. New dreams and imaginative possibilities for partnership with the international church.

Meet Liu
Meet Liu

In February 2017, Emerance, a dedicated local volunteer Care Worker, from the Maisha Community Based Organisation (CBO) was passing by the fields and noticed four young children working in the field and Liu laying lifeless in her great-grandmother’s lap; helpless and severally malnourished. Emerance acted out of compassion and urgency and took the children directly to the Care Point, so they could receive a meal that day. She knew that if they did not eat, there was a possibility that they would not survive.

2017 Watchword Reflections
2017 Watchword Reflections

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction and faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need and practice hospitality.” Romans 12:12-13

Several Hands at Work volunteers reflect on how the watchword for 2017 has impacted them:

Care Workers Across Africa
Care Workers Across Africa

Care Workers are the key in bringing healing and transformation to the lives of our children. They are men and women from the local churches within our communities who recognize their Biblical mandate and answer their call to care for the most vulnerable children. They demonstrate what it means to give freely, love unconditionally, and sacrifice everything. Often, Care Workers face their own traumas and live in dire poverty, just as the children they care for do, but their determination to persevere and care despite their own circumstances challenges everyone they come into contact with. They are greatest in the Kingdom of God!

A Miracle - Praise
A Miracle - Praise

Just a few weeks ago, Blessings had the opportunity to return to the DRC and visit Praise again. He shares an update about him and says, “This year Praise turned three. Last year when I met him, he was very sick – at two years old he was not able to stand on his own. I had very little hope that he would make it in life. We surrounded him with prayer and interceded, but I still had little hope, and doubt overwhelmed my heart.

Praise
Praise

Praise’s grandmother Bertha began caring for him, but she was desperately poor and trying to survive. Praise was hungry - continually crying. People in the community said he would die and tried to put ritual charms around him but Bertha refused and knew God would provide. After her husband passed away many years ago, she said she learned to trust God throughout any hardship.