Poverty and war left many children orphans in Kamina, Democratic Republic of the Congo. The Kamina Children’s Home was created to be a place of refuge and hope for those children left parentless.

Unable to find work after graduating from secondary school, many youths remain residents of the home. The unemployment rate in Kamina is 90%. Instead of releasing the young residents, Bishop Mande Muyombo decided to work toward creating pathways of training for the residents to become entrepreneurs and vital members of their communities.

Rev. Nkoko Lumbwe Emmanuel, Director of the Kamina Children’s Home is working with Bishop Mande to address the immediate needs for the success of the new vision - separate dorms for the female residents and the creation of programs that will train in vocations such as agriculture, tailoring and carpentry. This new model is expected to take three to four years.

Some students have begun their journey to entrepreneurship though support from the partnership between the North Katanga and the West Ohio Conferences of The United Methodist Church. Bazille Kazadi dreams of owning a tailoring business with multiple seamstresses and tailors to design and create clothing to sell. Currently, Bazille has a space with roughly 5 machines and other tailors at a business center owned by the home.

Claudia Mboyo has begun working in the DRC as photographer and videographer for a local media outlet and as an independent contractor. This was made possible through the support of the West Ohio Conference and the donation of a video camera from a former member of the West Ohio Communications Team. Alpho Ndala aspires to attend Africa University in Zimbabwe to study health administration through a scholarship from United Women in Faith.

These are only a few of the former residents of the Kamina Children’s Home who are continuing to work toward independence. Other residents of the home aspire to become successful in other careers including finance, cosmetology and husbandry.

For more information on how to support the Kamina Children’s Home, click here.

Written by Amy Graham, Communications Specialist