Merry Christmas 2019
On the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin Mary!
The new Construction of the Herbert-Brauhardt Clinic in Durba with your Donations!
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear friends and supporters of the Kongo Social-Care e. V. Association.
With my letter "Call for donations for the construction of the Brauhardt Clinic" dated 9 May 2019, I announced the start of construction work on the new Herbert Brauhardt Clinic in Durba. The start of construction had become possible thanks to the generous support of the friends and sponsors of Kongo Social-Care e. V. The circle of friends of our deceased member Bernward Plenker, the senior community Liebfrauen-Altenbochum-Laer and Auxiliary Bishop Ludger Schepers, vicar bishop for the universal church and mission deserve special mention. The proceeds from the Sternsinger campaign in St. Joseph and the Christmas bazaar in St. Hubertus, both congregations of the Christophorus parish in Krefeld, also brought grateful joy.
With these donations we were able to acquire a basic stock of building materials and tools: Water tank for 1000 litres, wheelbarrows, heels, sand, cement, iron rods and many other necessary things. Now the conditions were given to produce the monoblocks for the erection of the foundation walls. Inner and outer walls were placed on the foundation at a height of 2.20 metres. This was followed by a concrete belt of 20 centimetres and then another 60-centimetre-high monoblocks to finally reach a wall height of three metres.
After this first construction phase the financial means were exhausted at first. The construction work had to be suspended for an uncertain period of time. But sometimes there are events that are, as they say, curses and blessings at the same time. If you like, the armed attack on the clinic in mid-October 2019 was certainly a curse. You remember: The perpetrators destroyed the door of the pharmacy with brute force and captured cash, a computer, medicine and documents. The news of the attack triggered an incredible wave of helpfulness among friends and supporters. The call for support and the request for donations in order to continue the construction of the clinic as quickly as possible led to an overwhelming solidarity. The blessing - a blessing!! Besides many new donors, who could be won for the project by a personal address, the long-time friends and supporters once again proved their solidarity and loyalty to Kongo Social-Care e. V., and this partly in a noteworthy way:
In faraway Kinshasa, our friend Anokonzi Masikini, who transported the historic fire truck from the border of Uganda to the clinic, donated a new laptop to the clinic. And here with us, Veronika and Gregor Baumeister promoted the project in their table tennis group and finally motivated their team to make a generous donation. In Magda Malutzki's bereavement, the family asked for a donation for Kongo Social-Care e. V. instead of friendly flowers. Last but not least, a big thank you goes to "ZWO G GmbH" in Viersen, a company that is active in environmental protection and on whose regular contribution the project can literally build again and again. Finally and in a nutshell, the quoted blessing can be specifically named in a donation amount of 6,433.75 euros. This donation result opened not only the rapid continuation of the shell construction. But this great result also stands for a strong community behind the Congo project, which gives the new and long-standing friends and supporters the feeling of inner solidarity.
With this financial cushion, the next structural measures could now be realised. The roof was the first priority. For the roofing, roof edge strips, wooden beams, nail plate trusses and roof plates were purchased. The roof plates, which are manufactured in China, were the most expensive on the material list, but unfortunately also indispensable.
After more than six months we are pleased to inform you that with the completion of the roof the shell of the clinic has been completed. Thanks to your generous support, the first decisive construction phase has been completed. The roof work could only be carried out so quickly because we had ordered seven bricklayers from Faradje, a neighbouring village, and had them stay overnight on site in the rooms of the transitional clinic. They did their job diligently. As is customary in the Congo, they were well cared for during this time.
On the photo you can see that the shell is really finished! How shall we continue?
The next step is to install the doors and windows. As you already know, the door frames and door leaves of our temporary clinic were only made of wood. Therefore, the perpetrators were able to enter the pharmacy relatively easily. For the new building, both the doors and the windows have to meet certain security standards in order to prevent another burglary. Eight metal doors and ten metal windows are therefore planned.
Then a floor is to be laid to facilitate cleaning in order to maintain hygiene. The ceiling should also be insulated in order to lower the room temperature slightly, as the outside temperature in the region often rises above 30° C, which is difficult to bear for inpatients. In the last section, the electricity systems will be installed and the walls painted.
In addition, the construction of toilets, shower rooms and washbasins is another necessary step. The sanitary facilities will help to prevent the spread of the Ebola virus, protect the population from infection and ensure hygiene standards in the clinic.
In all these steps, we always rely on your support. All planned projects and measures can only be realised with your donations. The community of friends and supporters forms the foundation of all activities in the association Kongo Social-Care e. V. We appreciate this very much and are grateful for every donation. Tell your friends or acquaintances about this project or refer to the homepage (www.kongo-social-care.de). Maybe there will be a personal event in the coming year (birthday, wedding, anniversary, etc.) where you would like to do without presents and instead ask for a donation for the Congo project. We would be very happy about that.
Christmas 2019 - Birth of the Lord - in our hearts and in the world. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all with all my heart for your generous support this year. Special thanks go to our sponsors, who continuously support the clinic project and the sponsorships with their donations. I would also like to express my gratitude on behalf of the entire Executive Board. In mention of the board I would like to inform you at this point that at the 5th annual meeting the long-standing supporter of the association KSC, Ursula Bienert, was unanimously elected deputy chairman.
We wish you, your family and all family members a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2020.
All the best and God's blessing
Dr. Dr. Jean-Bertrand Madragule Badi (Pater Badi OP)
Chairman Congo Social-Care e. V.
Bochum, December 8th, 2019
