By Elisa Cappai | Junior Project Manager
Dear Friend,
This September, the Project Coordinators and the director of Aelimar undertook a monitoring trip to Congo, where they visited the Balou Centre.
As mentioned in the previous report, our local partner, the Balou Centre, supports young people with various disabilities. They have recently initiated a collaboration with the University of Lubumbashi, specifically with the Superior Institute of Medical Techniques (ISTM Zawadi). The goal of this partnership is to expand the educational offerings at the University by establishing specialized courses for expert caregivers of individuals with disabilities, including mental health and psychiatric care, speech therapy, kinesiotherapy, psychomotricity, general care, and obstetrics.
Additionally, power supply was a major challenge at the Balou Centre. The electricity grid was available for less than an hour a day, and with an outdated generator that was insufficient, the centre faced significant difficulties. In particular, the hospital and dormitories housing children with epilepsy and sleepwalking were often left in the dark. Thanks to GlobalGiving donors, Aelimar was able to install a photovoltaic system on several of the centre's buildings, providing reliable electricity. As you can see in the picture below, the system was checked during the visit, and we can confirm that everything is working well.
All activities at the centre are ongoing, and it was both interesting and rewarding to speak with the children and observe their progress and well-being in a peaceful environment. To ensure that all educational activities can continue, it is clear that donations remain essential.
For example, the attached photo shows a boy at the centre, whose story is particularly inspiring. Thanks to the Balou Centre and your support, this boy graduated in Data Science and is now starting his internship in the IT department of a small company. This is a story that fills us with pride, as opportunities for education are scarce for children with disabilities in Congo due to the prevailing stigma.
Any contribution, no matter how small, can create a significant positive change in the lives of the young people with disabilities living at the centre.
Thank you for all your invaluable support!
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
