The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints donated hundreds of mobility devices to persons with disabilities in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo on February 13, 2023. Dr Jean-Jacques Bungani Mbanda, Minister of Public Health, represented the Prime Minister and presided over the handover ceremony.
- WHE-presenting-new-wheelchairs---reduced.JPG
- WHE-church-government-and-ngo-leaders-at-ceremony.JPG
- WHE-Elder-Ngabizele-presents-document-to-Minister-for-Handicapped---reduced.JPG
- WHE-view-of-new-wheelchairs---reduced.JPG
- WHE-man-lifted-into-new-wheelchair--reduced.JPG
- WHE-man-trained-on-new-wheelchair---reduced.JPG
- WHE-man-smiling-with-new-wheelchair.jpg
- WHE-closeup-of-wheelchair.jpg
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Other distinguished participants included Puela Albert Fabrice, Minister of Human Rights, Irène Esambo Diata, Minister of Persons Living with Disabilities and Other Vulnerable Persons, and high-ranking officials from the United Nations, diplomatic community, and charitable organizations. The Church delegation was led by Elder David Ngabizele, Area Authority Seventy, and Didier Mutombo, Welfare and Self Reliance Manager. Hundreds of persons living with all manner of disabilities also attended the event.
In partnership with government and private aid workers, the Church purchased and delivered 400 enhanced wheelchairs, 150 crutches, 20 walkers, and 30 canes at the handover event. The non-motorized wheelchairs were designed to navigate difficult urban terrain. They enable users to move and steer simultaneously by pressing the steering column forward and pulling it backward, instead of using their hands to rotate the wheels.
During the handover ceremony Elder Ngabizele recounted the Church’s many humanitarian projects in DR Congo over the past several years. He also quoted Jesus from the Bible, “inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” He cited a Book of Mormon prophet who said, “when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”
One of the first to receive a new wheelchair exclaimed, “I thank the minister [for handicapped persons] and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for this wheelchair. I’ve had to walk with my hands since birth. But now because of the minister and the Church, I can move freely around my home. I thank you very much.”
Members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world pay generous offerings to assist people in need without regard to religion, nationality, race, or political affiliation.