COVID Emergency Food Supply for Congolese Families in Need

On March 10, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) reported its first case of COVID-19. This came months after the recent Ebola outbreak, which seems to be under control with no new cases reported. On Saturday March 21, 2020, the number of those infected with COVID-19 was 22 and on March 23 it went up to 36 cases with two deaths. Hence, President Felix Antoine Tshisekedi declared a state of emergency and ordered the cancellation of all flights from overseas and all internal activities, in both public and private sectors, for two weeks. A decision that Bonsomi Health Foundation (Bonsomi/BHF) strongly opposed because the measure had been taken without addressing the survival of Congolese population who already live in extreme poverty. The recent data as of March 2020 from the world bank showed that 73% of the 80 million Congolese population live in extreme poverty, on less than $1.90 a day, making the DRC one of the countries with the highest amount of its citizens living in poverty in all of sub-Saharan Africa, ahead of Nigeria.

Thus, Bonsomi raised funds to assist congolese low income families living in underserved areas. During this project, Bonsomi partnered with the president of human rights commision in DRC congress. Please visit the final project report here