About The Congo

"Judge not the poor for their poverty, but judge the community for its indifference."
-Dikembe Mutombo

Children in the Congo face many health threats. Infant mortality, estimated nationally at 109 for every 1,000 children born, often results from malaria and diarrhea. The mortality rate for children under five years is 186 per 1,000. Life expectancy is 47 years and because the area is tropical, mosquitoes carry yellow fever and malaria breed throughout the land. Black flies in the river region carry onchocerciasis, known as river blindness and villagers sometimes develop Hansen's disease, also known as leprosy. Unfortunately, victims must travel many miles to reach a hospital, typically coming by a dug-out canoe or on foot. Diseases such as measles and polio, which have been eradicated from developed countries, still take their toll on children here in Africa. According to the former Health Minister, Jean-Baptiste Sondji, "the situation is truly catastrophic." He added that the Congo is a zone of dreadful epidemics." In 1995 the Congo had the biggest polio epidemic of the 20^th Century. Also in that same year the city of Kikwit was hit by the deadly Ebola virus.

At the United Nations Poverty Eradication Day in New York, Dikembe Mutombo spoke about the effects of poverty on the health and development of a country. He said that "the worst condition for a child to be in is to be born in poverty. Born in poverty, a child starts its life at a tremendous disadvantage. They are born malnourished because their mothers are malnourished and have no prenatal care. They have a very high infant mortality rate and those who survive this prenatal period are subject to childhood disease because of lack of immunization."

Recognition of children's multiple and interrelated needs are the first steps in caring for them, according to Dikembe Mutombo. In his closing remarks, he drew on a Talmudic proverb to drive home his message: "Judge not the poor for their poverty, but judge the community for its indifference."