COVID-19 Relief plan report

On behalf of the Bonsomi Healthcare Foundation (BHF), I would like to extend my heartfelt gratitude to those who generously donated to our COVID-19 relief project designed to provide food for two weeks to low-income Congolese impacted by the COVID-19 lockdown. We owe the success of this project to your charitable donations as well as your unconditional support.

Our initial budget request was enough to assist only ten low-income Congolese families residing in Funa District, specifically in the municipality of Makala; however, your benefaction, both private and via GoFundMe, made it possible to add an additional fifty low-income families in other low-income districts, bringing the total to sixty. To ensure an ethical process, as well as the equitability in food allocation, BHF involved the president of the Commission of Human Rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, honorable Vuanga Mukongo Christelle, who graciously oversaw the entire process. With her guidance, our teams were able to adequately distribute food to the selected families. She sent us a letter of appreciation for this project. In return, we didn’t miss the opportunity to extend our gratitude for her unrestricted support and her remarkable sense of humanity.

Currently, there is a gradual increase in the number of COVID patients with 1,834 cases, 61 deaths and 302 recoveries. Also, the state of emergency declared by the DRC president on March 24 has been extended, but with major modifications. The initial state of emergency, which led to a lockdown, sparked frustration because it was made without considering the financial situations of those who already live in extreme poverty. Now, the current lockdown only involves major areas impacted by COVID while proceeding with a gradual reopening of less impacted areas. I would like to emphasize that BHF was not and is not against the lockdown, but such a decision has to be taken while protecting the well-being of the already impoverished Congolese population. The ideal would have been to provide basic necessities such as food, water, and electricity, to those who can’t afford them at all times during this period. Despite the re-opening of most areas, I urge my fellow Congolese to still maintain social distancing as lifting lockdown doesn’t mean the end of the virus.

Also, before the pandemic, DRC was severely hit by the Ebola epidemic and the amazing repost team led by our very own Dr. Muyembe, who worked with the U.S National Institute of Health, developed a monoclonal antibody (mAb114) that helped reduce the number of those infected. There were no reported cases for almost 52 days and the WHO was set to declare this epidemic over. Unfortunately, in early April, another case surfaced amid the pandemic, preventing the WHO from declaring the Democratic Republic of Congo Ebola-free. Since April, no other case has been reported. We believe that Dr. Muyembe’s team is working tirelessly to prevent another Ebola outbreak, and we appreciate them for their work. In the meantime, my team and I continue to monitor closely both the pandemic and the epidemic situations in DRC and urge those who would like to assist more people in DRC to donate (Link) so that together we can prevent casualties in the DRC.

Finally, it is donors like you who help our mission remain alive, so I sincerely appreciate all your support.

With all my gratitude,

Tshibambe Nathanael Tshimbombu