Current Be A HERO Project: Completion of dorms; completion of school/community centre, and further development at Mamma Jeanne’s Orphanage in Goma, DR Congo, in partnership with Kitimat Harvest International and Mamma Jeanne’s Orphanage. With update of what Napa Valley Language Academy has been doing to assist these children.

Mamma Jeanne’s Orphanage History and Overview

Mamma Jeanne started bringing in orphans and separated children in 1993 at Masisi.  Children had been orphaned, or become separated from their parents during interethnic conflicts and successive wars in 1996 and 1998 at the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo in general, in Masisi territory in particular.

In 1997 Mamma Jeanne moved the children to Goma City due to the widespread insecurity in Masisi territory.

Since 1993, Mamma Jeanne and her staff have cared for more than 800 children. Some have been reunited with their relatives, Many have been victims of rape, and a small number have been infected by HIV/AIDS.

The stated goals of Mamma Jeanne’s home are:

• work to reunite separated children with relatives
• care for the children physically, provide them with love and counseling to aid in their healing after severe trauma witnessing murder, rape, beatings etc
• provide the children with an opportunity to attend school (currently the children walk to a government school – future plans are to build and maintain their own private school where the quality of education will be much higher)

Mamma Jeanne and her husband, Pastor Prosper, along with about ten other adults, were caring for 250 orphans in an inadequate building on ½ an acre. The ½ acre site was solid lava and lay in the path of future eruptions. 

Due to lack of space and lack of beds they had eight kids per bed.  Also due to lack of funding these children could not be fed every day and often went to bed hungry. 

Their income was $500.00 CND per month, which was provided by Kitimat Harvest Ministries International in Kitimat, British Columbia, Canada. 

Also a couple of local doctors from the Congo helped with food occasionally.  These same doctors allow Mamma Jeanne to farm a separate parcel of land, 30 kilometers away.  On this parcel they grow corn and other vegetables but they must borrow a vehicle or hitchhike to get there which makes this very inconvenient. 

Change of location:

In 2005, Kitimat Harvest Ministries of Abbottsford, BC, went to Goma with the intention of building another structure on the original site.  When they saw how small the site was and the location of the site (directly in the line of future volcano eruptions, the last eruption was in 2001) they decided to find a larger, more suitable parcel of land to build on. 

Kitimat Harvest Ministries bought Mamma Jeanne 2 hectares (5 acres) of land for $20,000.00 ($5,000.00 from Kitimat Harvest ministries and $15,000.00 from a Canadian donor).  This new land, though there is lava beneath the soil, has dirt and grass.   It is not in a direct path of future volcanic eruptions, although former eruptions have caused lava to flow nearby.  There is also a lake below with clean water. 

Under the direction of Art Lucier and his team Kitimat Harvest Ministries built a 24’ x 50’ concrete block building with a metal roof on this new parcel of land, and purchased some beds and bedding. 

                          

In 2006, a team from Harvest International Ministries in Kitimat, returned to Goma with donations from Be A HERO and Harvest to install doors and windows in this first dormitory for the girls, and begin construction on another dorm (for the boys). They also completed the road, built the two water catchment systems, and built the foundation and slab for a school (which will also be used as a community center).

They also bought a neighbouring property of 2.5 acres (cost $7,000.00) which includes a large house and two foundations for buildings that were started but never finished.  This house will be for the Director and some children, and the foundations will be used for future development. The two properties now total 7.5 acres for the children.

The new water system installed in September, 2006 was from a donation through Be A Hero by the Napa Valley Language Academy in Napa Valley California, providing water at the site!  
The system that has been brought to the orphanage by the students at Napa Valley Language Academy involves a huge reservoir.  This containment device collects water via down sprouts as rain runs off the building beside the tank.  Without this in place the young girls need to walk three miles, three times a day, with two 50 pound jars, one on their heads and another on their backs. Often, the water they bring back has small parasites which can cause disease when ingested. With the water system in place, water can be collected on-site and filtered. The tank is shown being constructed at the orphanage site.  Concrete is put in place around the tank to prevent it from being stolen. Gutters and down drains are hung from the building to be connected to the tank in order to collect the rain water.

This will improve the quality of life for the children enormously.

Sources of finances:

• Mamma Jeanne’s staff farms a parcel of land, growing corn, beans, potatoes, cabbages, and onions.  Some of the harvest is sold to provide income, and some of the food is used to feed the children.
• The Be A HERO child sponsorship program is now working to raise sponsors for these children, to provide regular monthly support, ensuring that the children’s basic needs are met. 
• Harvest International Ministries from Kitimat, BC also assists financially with the needs at Mamma Jeanne’s.
• A few local doctors help out when they can, loaning vehicles to transport crops, and occasionally supplying food.

Project Proposal

• Install the ceiling in the girl’s dorm, and the floor and ceiling in the boy’s dorm ($1200.00)
• Connect power to the site from the nearby school ($3000.00)
• Install a third water catchment system to provide even more water (Two are presently on site)

• Build 1 more dorm building 24’ x 50’ each ($15,000.00; capacity 80 children)
• Furnish the boy’s dorm and the proposed dorm – beds, mattresses, blankets ($1000.00 each building)
• Finish the school/community centre building and add a kitchen ($25,000.00)
• Equip and furnish the kitchen ($3500.00)
• purchase a vehicle for farming, transporting supplies, taking children to medical care etc. (used 4 x 4 crew cab - $10,000.00)
• build a lava rock wall around the seven acres, to divert any future lava flow in the event of an eruption, and provide security and safety for the children. ($12,000.00)
• build widow’s homes on the site, as caregivers for the children ($5000.00 each)

Operating expenses will be covered by child sponsorship, through Be A HERO’s child sponsorship program.

In December 2007 the Napa Valley Language Academy raised $3,200 to help build a rock wall around the orphanage to provide safety for the children in the midst of the ethnic and tribal wars and to provide protection from lava flows.  A team from Canada left in January to begin construction of the wall, and deliver letters and photos from the NVLA children.

In addition to funds raised at the concert, local families chose to sponsor 25 children from Mamma Jeanne’s, providing food, clothing, medicine and school supplies. 

Budget for Relocating and Expansion

Goma Democratic Republic of Congo
Mamma Jeanne's Orphanage
Capital Budget for relocation and expansion:
Funded and Completed Projects:
Description	Amount Funded
2-Hectres of land (South Goma)	$20,000.00
Power to Site (from nearby school)	3,000.00
Purchase of neighbouring property and buildings	$7,000.00
Girl's Dormitory #1 24 x 50'	$21,000.00
Boy's Dormitory #2 24 x 50' (not quite complete)	$12,000.00
Road	$3,500.00
Supplies: Beds/Mattresses/Blankets/etc.	$1,000.00
2 water catchment systems	$2,500.00
Foundation and slab for School/Community centre	$8,000.00
Capital Expenses To-Date Totals:	$78,000.00
.Proposed Capital Projects
Description	Amount Projected
Ceilings for dorms, floor for dorm #2	$1,200.00
Dorm #3 24 x 50'	$15,000.00
Complete School/Community Centre, add kitchen	$25,000.00
Residence Building 40 x 80'	$20,000.00
Power to Site (from nearby school)	$3,000.00
Property & Compound Fence (Lava containment)	$12,000.00
Kitchen Equipment & Cafeteria Supplies	$3,500.00
Beds/Mattresses/Blankets/etc. Dorm#2 & 3	$2,000.00
Vehicle for orphanage (used 4x4 Crew cab)	$10,000.00
Widows homes ($5,000 each)	$50,000.00
Total Projected Capital Expenses	$139,700.00

100% of all funds donated for this project will be applied directly to the project. Be A HERO does not keep anything for administration. Be A HERO is able to do this because the Hero Partnership and Pillar Program participants designate their donations specifically for administration. If you would like to invest in this project, we accept donations by cheque or by credit card.  Click here to donate.

If you wish to sponsor one of these children click here.

You will be sent a receipt for income tax purposes early in the following year.

To view more photos of Mamma Jeanne’s children and site click here.