World Vision Congo has sent a small team of experienced staff to help launch Covenant Kids Congo in the Equateur province of DR Congo. This dedicated team includes 100 local volunteers who have registered over 10,000 children during the last month. The Covenant Church of Congo (CEUM) is fully involved in the process and is being aided by other denominations, including the Evangelical Free and Catholic churches, who have actively participated by volunteering and contributing to the planning process. The entire community has joined together to define their challenges and prioritize solutions in an assessment and design process that will culminate with an October 2012 program launch.
Children are carefully selected for sponsorship from inside and outside the Covenant church in order to make sure they are among those who will benefit from the improvements being planned and that their families understand the responsibilities they have in representing the community. The well-being of children is the focus of Covenant Kids Congo powered by World Vision. In evaluating their situation, the community quickly agreed that the major cause of illness and death in young children were water and sanitation problems along with malaria. These are emerging as the top priority during the first phase of the initiative. Other areas of focus are the quality of the educational system, improving household incomes, and related nutritional and agricultural programming.
Initially, the majority of Congolese people were not sure what sponsorship is supposed to do. Some were confused and thought that someone else wanted to take care of their children for them. Through community workshops, which have educated people on the effects of child sponsorship, this feeling has dissipated into an understanding that the resources will help all the children, even those that are not sponsored. Many in the community are surprised to learn that people far away care about their children.
As always, we are encouraged by the many ways in which Covenant Kids Congo powered by World Vision is coming together. We are also grateful for those within our organizations (World Vision and the Evangelical Covenant Church) as well as those external partners who are constantly willing to lend their time and efforts to this life-changing work.
