Friends of Monkole and toy company ASÍ help orphaned children with Christmas campaignThe lives of 27,438 people have been changed thanks to the Friends of Monkole Foundation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, financing health care for poor families through the Monkole Maternity and Children's Hospital and its three medical clinics on the outskirts of Kinshasa (the country's capital).
Since its establishment in 2017, they have helped more than 150,000 Congolese in vulnerable situations, mostly women and children, and last year the volunteer doctors of Friends of Monkole provided more than 2,000 hours of training. Currently, this foundation carries out 13 projects focused on improving the health and educational quality of people.
"Friends of Monkole" in 2024.
Among the 2024 projects, the Elikia Project (which means "hope" in Lingala) for uterine cancer screening in women stands out. Thanks to the work of Dr. Luis Chiva, head of Gynecology at the Clínica Universidad de Navarra, and his teams of volunteers, 1,200 women have been treated and 8 women have undergone surgery for serious cancers. With the Rickets Project they have attended 79 children and with Forfait Mamá they have supported the birth, control and follow-up of 56 premature babies.
They also promote the Primary Care service, serving 25,400 people in 2024. With the Dentistry Project, thanks to the work and solidarity trips of the stomatologist Ignacio Martínez, 103 children, adolescents and elderly people without resources were attended.
Thanks to the hip depranocytosis project, 27 young people have been successfully operated on, in which the work of Dr. Víctor Barro and his team of volunteers has been fundamental.
The Agricultural Training for Women Project has had a significant impact on the lives of 40 women market gardeners from the COMABOK Cooperative, improving both their productive capacity and their resilience to climate change.
In addition, Amigos de Monkole has been able to provide schooling to 30 children from small orphanages by granting them scholarships. They have also promoted the Child Nutrition Project in Kimwenza, taking care, together with the missionaries of Christ Jesus, of 253 children with serious nutritional problems. They have also granted scholarships to 12 young girls from the Monkole Hospital Nursing School so that they can study nursing at the ISSI school.
Upcoming projects
In 2025, the foundation continues to promote these projects and is launching another one for the empowerment and professional training of vulnerable women in the municipalities of Mont-Ngafula and Selembao, in Kinshasa. The aim is to benefit 230 women young peopleparticularly those in vulnerable situations between the ages of 16 and 22.
Regarding the current conflict in the D.R. Congo, Enrique Barrio, president of the foundation, points out that "we are aware of the delicate situation that the D.R. Congo is currently experiencing and we hope that peace and stability will return to the east of the country as soon as possible. "We continue to work on the ground and will continue with all our projects in Kinshasa, which is just over 2,500 kilometers from Goma," he adds.
