C-Fam in Africa

8/22/2018 Letter from Fr. Albert:

Please thank C-Fam and the donors who helped me with the school–you really care about families. Because of them we have finished one building with 3 classrooms and the other has almost half of the work done. We are able to begin this fall. Imagine how many families will benefit from your work!!!

In this photo are the sisters who are going to teach. In the red is Henriette Mbutshu Pala, one of the girl brides I rescued in 2011, took her away from her abusive husband when she was 12, and sent her to school. She will be teaching at our school once she finishes high school.

Tell your sponsors that their sacrifice has brought life!

 

A grant from C-Fam, made possible by our supporters, is sponsoring Noella Oyala and Catherine Takotshe in their boarding school in Tshumbe, a rural region several hundred miles East of the capital in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The grant pays their school fees which are too expensive for their parents. It pays for their food, medical care, and a little pocket money.

Without this support, Noella and Catherine would not be able to go to school, get a good meal or decent clothes. Your support to C-Fam is helping give the girls a better life and prospects for the future.

We will continue to give updates on Noella and Catherine’s progress. Stay tuned.

 

Noella Oyala was born on December 14, 2014 in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Her mother was originally from the Katako Kombe, one the counties that the Diocese of Tshumbe covers. Noella’s mother died one week after giving birth due to lack of means to treat the crisis of eclampsia. Her mother was herself a teen-mother who fell pregnant from a man who even threatened to kill her if she dared to denounce him as father of the baby. The Franciscan Sisters have learned sparse information from the mother’s friends. They first met Noella through her aunt, a young school girl, who cared for her alone, for three months while she did not have place to sleep or what to eat herself in Kinshasa. Noella ran the risk of becoming, with care-taker aunt, street girls. The Sisters admitted Noella and took her to one of their orphanages in the Diocese. The life of Noella was saved and now she is in elementary school. Noella is a success story. Her immediate needs are in medical care since her health was affected by her mother’s condition, food, schooling, and clothes. Her whole life is under the care of the Sisters.

 

Catherine Takotshe was born on February 15, 2011. She is the fourth child of mentally impaired mother who is homeless. Her first child died at the age of two due to lack of care. The second child was rescued by the Franciscan Sisters eleven months after her birth is adopted by an Italian couple five years ago. The third child, a boy, died from fever and malaria eight months after his birth.

Catherine was taken by the Sisters when she was only nine months old and since then has remained under the care of the orphanage. The name Catherine was given to her at the time of adoption and baptism at the convent. Catherine’s father as well as the fathers of her siblings are not known due to the mental disabilities of the mother. Catherine is now in elementary school. Her most pressing needs are medical care, food, clothes, toys, and school needs such as fees and notebooks.