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| 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 |
In November 2022, Liza Nemba Lemba, Kinshasa Provincial Minister of Health and President of the Liza Nemba Lemba Foundation, came to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for help.
The rapidly growing neighborhood of Selembao in Kinshasa, Dr Congo was facing a critical shortage of clean drinking water. The local government was unable to provide a long-term solution, forcing residents to walk long distances to purchase bottled water to avoid drinking unhealthy ground water. Women and children were the most affected.
The Church responded to this call for help by investing $62,000 USD in drilling two water bore holes and installing four 5,000-liter water storage tanks and faucets in Selembao. The Liza Nemba Lemba Foundation provided the land for the two locations, organized a local committee to manage the sites, and will maintain the bore holes. This project will improve the lives of more than 5,000 people.
The handover of the first bore hole took place in Selembao on May 4, 2023. Liza Nemba Lemba, Provincial Minister of Health and president of her foundation, led the handover ceremony. The Church was represented by Didier Mutombo, Director for Welfare and Self-reliance Services, and Eddy Matondo, humanitarian site monitor. Many members of the local community attended the event, including a representative of the Kimbaguist/Ndona Kimpa Mvita Church in Selembao.
Liza Nemba Lemba expressed her gratitude to the Church for its humanitarian work in Kinshasa. She recounted the Church’s donations at the Kintambo Hospital, and said the Church is showing true discipleship of Christ by walking in His paths and alleviating the suffering of people.
Didier Mutombo encouraged residents to take responsibility for this donation and maintain the facilities. He added that this project was made possible by donations from Church members. “We do this,” he said, “because we are following the Lord’s commandment to love our neighbors.”
Members of the Selembao community rejoiced when Madam Nemba Lemba opened the faucet for the first time and took a drink. One resident said they had suffered much from walking so far to buy clean water. Now they can safely wash and drink water near their homes.
Community members resolved to pay 200 Congolese Francs (about $0.09) for each 25 liters of water to help pay for maintenance of the bore holes.