From Congo to South Africa then to West Africa and now to Horn of Africa, Cilongo Foundation reaches out to the needy.
A fundraising cocktail was held recently in support of Cilingo Foundation at the Johnsville Library in Blaine. Foundation members exhibited how the organization progressed over the years extending its hand to the needy.
It is a story that began supporting one school in Congo, then another call of help from South Africa and then another, and another, unitil today the foundation reaches out schools in two continents (Africa & Asia/India).
The Cilongo Foundation is a Non-Profit 501 (c) (3) Organization that supports educational initiatives in Africa and the United States. Since 2001 the Foundation has dedicated its efforts to creating awareness of its activities both in the United States and in Africa. It is true only small minority of us, immigrants, think to pay back to the communities they left behind and this is another example of that. This Organization was created in 2001 through the efforts of a concerned group of Congolese immigrants who wanted to provide education for students in African countries and help students in the United States gain access to various scholarship opportunities and attend colleges or universities.
“Our contributions to these schools pay for the tuition of students and the salary of teachers” Albert Nyembwe, Foundation President. In addition of cash assistance since 2005, the Cilongo Foundation has sent, uniforms, school supplies and shoes for students in some of of their schools. In order to accomplish its goals, the Cilongo Foundation is engaged in various activities to leverage funds to meet the financial demands of those schools. “Our activities in the United States consist of teaching French Classes through Community Education, cultural presentations in various schools across the metro and suburban schools, catering services specializing in Congolese cuisine, volunteering and translation work”. said Nyembwe. “Most importantly, our greatest accomplishment was the production of a three language CD for sale at Amazon.com.
“Our future work will include focusing on the publishing of children’s books.” He added. The Cilongo Foundation currently supports schools in three different African Countries. In the Democratic Republic of Congo we have supported College Toute Grace since its conception in 2006. Currently the school has more than 250 students in grades K-12. The primary focuses of the school are general mechanics, auto mechanics, construction, and tailoring. In South Africa, we support few schools through church community services. In Sierra Leone, the Cilongo Foundation supports orphans from various schools in Freetown and southern provinces including The Service Secondary School and The Government Secondary School at Bo. Students who attend these schools were previously supported by the United Methodist Church (UMC).
The Cilongo Foundation strongly believes that education is a way out of poverty. Therefore, supporting education initiatives for students in rural and urban areas and providing them with the opportunities to communicate with the outside world will create a positive impact in their lives.
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To learn more about their work or partner with them in helping needy children further their education, please contact Albert Nyembwe at this address,The Cilongo Foundation P.O Box 49602, Blaine, MN 55449 Phone: 763 767 0986, Email: cilongu@msn.com
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