“Mpokolo wa Muoyo” (“Source of Life”) is a welcome center for persons in distress in Kananga, a large city of about 1.5 million people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Kananga is the capital city of the Western Kasayi province. This region is profoundly poor. There is no industry; almost the only mode of earning a living is through small enterprise or selling various wares in the markets and on the streets. Moreover, most residents do not have access to water or electricity. The majority of the population is struggling daily to survive.
The harsh realities of survival in our region are compounded for those who have become homeless. CICM began the “Mpokolo wa Muoyo” center in response to the staggering number of adults and children who, for various reasons, have wound up living on the streets. Many of these homeless and wandering individuals have been rejected by their families and society. Our initiative is meant to welcome and alleviate the suffering of those who have nowhere else to go while also working with them toward a long-term solution.
Our philosophy
The main goal of our program at Mpokolo wa Muoyo is family reintegration. We believe that familial support is a more effective and durable solution than that which most institutional structures can provide. Because nearly 90% of the homeless we receive here are minor children, we encounter people who suggest that we function as an orphanage: taking indefinite responsibility for the shelter, care and schooling of homeless children. Based on our previous experience though, we believe that a family setting, even within the context of poverty, is the most natural and solid venue for the formation of a child. We also recognize that children in well-organized but artificial settings such as religious communities or orphanages often suffer the psychological and emotional deficits of being segregated from a family dynamic. Therefore, we do our best to locate family members who might be able to provide a more desirable and lasting solution, and we work to facilitate those arrangements.
For successful family reintegration, there is an extensive process of care, reflection, discernment and inquiry that must take place. Our center is supported by ten individuals whose daily activities range from medical care to cooking and cleaning, counseling services to administrative and investigative work! It is no small task to restore a homeless person to decent standards of health and existence while also attempting to arrange the services they need to reunite with their families.
Who comes to us
Most of the homeless we welcome are kids. Many of them are orphans whose parents have succumbed to the epidemic of HIV/AIDS. Other kids have been rejected or abandoned because they are mentally or physically disabled, or because they have been suspected of witchcraft or gotten into some kind of trouble. Some kids come from the countryside in search of work and get lost here in the city. There are also many kids who have run away from their homes because of extreme poverty, lack of food, family violence, etc.
Among adults, we regularly serve a good number of single mothers who have been rejected by the fathers of their children. We also deal with people of all ages who have been rejected because they somehow became a burden to their family members. What’s more there are the occasional newly released prisoners, who have reached the end of their incarceration but have nowhere else to go.
Almost every day we welcome new vulnerable and abandoned persons. They receive clothes, food, a bed and shelter; very often they are given medical attention as well. Our employees and volunteers take care of the food preparation, laundry, cleaning, maintenance, medical care, administrative tasks, and more. One of their most time-consuming and important duties though, is listening to the stories of people who have come here in profound need of love and attention. We do our best to understand their issues, so as to be able to provide durable solutions. Mpokolo Wa Muoyo is a transit center. We welcome people, provide the structure and atmosphere of a family, but only for a limited time: the goal is to establish a lasting solution, within two to three months time.
We believe that living together in the center creates the dynamic of a family, which can be therapeutic on many levels. The specific goal of our center is to help these “lost” people get somewhere. We are a connecting station along their way: reuniting or reintegrating them with caring family members, near to or far from Kananga. We have two full-time social workers who handle this hefty task. They respond to our homeless individuals’ situations and reach out to the family members, establishing communication in order to facilitate solutions.
During the first four months of this year alone, we have reintegrated 112 people with their family members. That’s an average of just under 30 people per month—or around 350 per year. Recently, we have been housing some 35 to 40 people daily in our center. In addition, we provide food and health care for 10-12 orphaned children under the age of two. Though these infants are living with relatives, their caretakers visit the center weekly to obtain food and other necessary items to care for the children. Among the many children we have been able to reintegrate with their families, we actually continue to provide assistance for about 50 of them.
If reintegration is not possible or does not work
Sometimes family reintegration is not directly possible. If that is the case for a minor child, they will move on to a center called “Kankala,” specifically for street children. There, they are given shelter and formation. If reintegration is improbable with an older teen or young adult, at times we can help them to find a job here in the city so that they can begin to support themselves. He or she may also move on to a center in Tshilumba that focuses on forming young adults to be able to live on their own. Sometimes, friendships inspire a few to strike out together, sharing their resources to rent a place communally. Rarely, the process of family reintegration does not succeed, and we will have a child come back to the center. In that case, we welcome him or her, and start the process again with a different perspective.
How it’s achieved
After various interviews with a child or adult who is new to the center, our two social workers are tasked with beginning to track down family members. Sometimes with only the name of a village, or a single phone number, they set out to piece together a personal story and a workable solution. They travel by motorbike, distributing pictures in churches and schools, and even sometimes purchase local radio airtime to broadcast our plight. We have an extensive network of helpers built up over the years: partners who are willing to spread the word and help search for families in other regions.
Once a connection has been established, and a solution agreed upon, we next have to arrange transportation. Travel in general is a tricky affair when considering the lack of infrastructure through much of the country. If the family members are relatively close, the able-bodied who are old enough to go on their own can walk, and we provide them with money for meals along the way. Most of the time though, we must hire transportation or provide it with our own cars or motorbikes. We have a network of bike drivers—the ones who regularly work bringing goods from the countryside to the city and vice versa. They have come to know our work and are willing to transport kids when we need them. That, however, is a more expensive option, as we must pay for meals for the driver and child during the journey (sometimes days). We have needed to use the train and even airplanes a few times. Because our work is considered humanitarian, we have been able to negotiate a free ticket, but we still must pay tax fees and also the expenses of the accompanying agent.
Considering the magnitude of the need and the extent of what we provide, it is easy to understand that funding is our greatest continual challenge. Our latest cost analysis, which took into account all the food, clothing, supplies, continuing care, administrative and travel costs, revealed that the overall cost of sheltering (2-3 months) and family reintegration was approximately $112 per person.
We understand that people of good often like to see the tangible signs of their support: construction projects, water tanks, chapels, etc. We also know very well that family reintegration is not something that is explicitly visible. But we believe it constitutes a profoundly important endeavor. We see lives transformed—from our $112 investment. Mpokolo wa Muoyo is not just a shelter—a temporary fix. It is a place for people to regain their health and human dignity. It is a safe place that aspires to interfere with the cycles of abandonment and homelessness, encouraging families to further develop and heal in mutually beneficial ways. Family reintegration gives people a second chance at the most basic of support systems: the family setting.
The aptly named “Source of Life” center cannot exist without the generosity and support of Missionhurst benefactors. You have enabled us to intervene and invest in the most marginalized and needy of our brothers and sisters here in the Congo. We thank you for your continued confidence and trust in our work here, where you are truly our most valued friends and co-missionaries.
Ivo Vanvolsen, cicm
Kananga, DR of Congo
Fr. Ivo Vanvolsen, cicm, is a native of Belgium who joined Missionhurst-CICM in 1970 and was ordained in 1978. Working in the missions since 1972, Fr. Ivo is currently engaged in a social apostolate for the homeless in Kananga, DR of Congo.
