The beginning of the 2021/2022 school year went well.
WE are counting on your donations to support two kindergartens in Lusanga ans Nkoto in DRC.
Back to school!
Fallone, Nursery School Teacher in Lusanga (2021-2022)
Sylvie, Nursery School Teacher in Lusanga (2021/2022)
FAMILLE DEBOUT bought a motorbike recently to make it easier for the person in charge to visit the schools and to enable him to send us the children's reports regularly.
Famille Debout has also recently financed the work on the rooftop in one of the schools.
Roof with no ceiling
Installed ceiling
Famille Debout team would like to thank everybody who attended the Book Sale Fundraising event on September 24, 2017. Thanks to your support we are getting closer to our goal and are raising public awareness regarding Famille Debout’s mission and work.
Our fundraising event was successful and besides the books, we have managed to sell food and drinks. It was a beautiful day and many families showed up to support our work and learn more about Famille Debout’s mission and children in DR Congo.
We would like to extend special thanks to :
Church of Notre Dame and Msgr. John Paddack for hosting our fundraising event.
Carrefour Gabrielle for providing us with coffee and tea.
Soha 118 Community.
Ms. Anna Ryan for supporting the construction of primary school in Lusanga and Kikwit.
Ms. Elizabeth Conn for her generous donation.
Ms. Vanessa Lee of Lionette Jewelry, for her donation and supporting the construction of primary school in Lusanga and Kikwit.
Mrs. Sumi Hagiwana for providing us with books and toys.
Carol Ross and Marc Mauceri for donating books and games.
Mrs. Elsa Fessahye for donating books and games.
Ms. Mariame Opa & Ms. Karen Hawkes for their donations.
Courtney & James for providing us with restaurant gift certificate.
Famille Debout team would like to thank everybody who attended the fundraising event on June 11, and supported our mission and work. Through selling of books, toys, jewelry and clothes, and organizing a raffle fundraiser we have reached 3% of our goal for one school.
Thanks to attendees, supporters, and generous donors we are getting closer to our goal for building 2 schools in Lusanga and Kikwit, DR Congo.
Raffle Prize: Classy, Sensual and Independent Woman T-shirt
Raffle Prize: Malaga Crystal Stone
Raffle Prize: Paella Kit
Ms. Sumi Hagiwana, Ms. Elsa Fessahye and Mariame Opa for donating games and toys. Due to your generosity, we reached 3% of our goal for one school.
Also, many thanks to NY restaurants that donated gift certificates for our fundraising event and for supporting the construction of primary school in Lusanga and Kikwit. Due to your generosity, we reached 3% of our goal for one school:
Famille Debout team attended the First Communion Ceremony at Notre Dame Church today, May 14, 2017. The Church was full of happy people and families who came to celebrate their child’s First Communion.
After the mass, Famille Debout team promoted the fundraising event to be held on June 11, 2017. More information about the event coming soon.
Here are a few pictures of Famille Debout team after the First Communion mass:
Famille Debout team attended the Confirmation mass at Notre Dame Church in Manhattan last Sunday, May 7th. The stunning ceremony took place at 10 am, where a small group of teens, mostly of french descent, received the Sacrament of Confirmation.
After the Confirmation mass Famille Debout team raised awareness about a fundraising event that will take place on June 11, 2017.
The aim of the fundraising event is to raise funds to build 2 primary schools in Africa. More information about the event will be posted on the website next week.
Here are a few pictures of Famille Debout team after the Confirmation mass:
Our president and Famille Debout team have attended the 53rd Session of the Commission for Social Development.
The 53rd Session of the Commission for Social Development (CSocD53) took place from 4-13 February 2015 at United Nations Headquarters in New York under the priority theme “Rethinking and strengthening social development in the contemporary world”.
The history of the village of Lusanga is closely linked to the exploitation of palm oil which reached its peak in the middle of the last century.
While it is the basis of the traditional diet of the Congolese people, this oil became a key export product following the arrival of the soap factory Lever in Africa.
This company, which later became the huge multinational Unilever, which we know today as the owner of an extraordinary number of brands that we buy every day in our supermarkets, obtained large concessions in the country during 1911.
Lusanga will quickly become one of the main centers of palm oil production following the installation of a large factory of the company Lever.
So much so that the village was renamed Leverville! The company was accustomed to this practice even in England because it had built a complete city near Liverpool to house its workers and called it Port Sunlight, named after its fetish product, Sunlight Soap.
While the companies undoubtedly brought about a modernization of the regions where they operated through the creation of hospitals, clinics, factories to manufacture spare parts for the factories, the Congolese population was far from benefiting from such a practice.
The conditions of recruitment of workers, and fruit cutters in particular, were particularly despicable - recruiters of oil companies moved young men more than 150km from their homes, promising compensation to local chiefs.
Numerous constraints were imposed on the workers, who in particular saw their "contract" tacitly renewed without their consent being required. The workers were assigned tasks far removed from their initial function, such as carrying or building roads.
Thus the member of a commission on conditions of work in the region declared in 1932 to the Minister of Colonies "There are in certain regions a system of organization of work which some call disguised slavery and which I shall confine myself to Calling the serfdom of people capable of being cut at the mercy. "
In any case, exports of palm oil continued to rise to their peak in 1965 before beginning a long and inexorable decline.
The political upheaval and bad management of the Zairian state after the decolonization and the decline of the natural palm plantations which, overexploited, could not be renewed at a sufficient rate, lead to the total disappearance of the exports in 2006.
Today, palm oil is still produced on an artisanal scale, and it provides income to the villagers who sell it in the cities. The manufacturing process is essentially artisanal, and palm oil remains a major element of Congo's diet which, combined with cassava flour, provides many calories.
Small local producers of soap or margarine are also asking for palm oil. Average annual consumption is estimated at 3kg per capita, while needs are only increasing and it is therefore important to support artisanal production by supplying mechanical presses.
What about the future? Large-scale production recovery projects have been developed, but they face many problems. The use of palm oil to produce biofuels was discussed, but the usefulness of these biofuels is now being questioned.
In Europe, the use of palm oil in the diet is demonized, it is accused of many ailments because it contains too many saturated acids harmful to health. The manufacturer of Nutella spreads, among other things, went on with a campaign to denigrate his product and moved to using sustainable palm oil.
However, replacing palm oil with another ingredient would require treatment of these oils to give them the same properties, which would not only increase the cost of the product but would not be better for health.
In conclusion, it can be said that artisanal exploitation intended for the internal market will remain predominant in the short and medium term, therefore palm oil is essential in the diet.
Today, Famille Debout (eng. Family Stand Up!) is responsible for the supply of small mechanized presses and will continue to empower the village and its people by providing them education and work through different programs.
