Democratic Republic of Congo

Location

Democratic Republic of Congo
Contact: Jean Pierre Alemboa, Bolomba Project Director
Bolomba Likolo, Mbandaka
Congo (Kinshasa)

FULLER CENTER FOR HOUSING BOLOMBA-LIKOLO    

Learn more about our spring bicycle ride to benefit the Congo!
 
Cost to sponsor a house for a family: $2,500-$3,500 

In 1973, Millard and Linda Fuller arrived in Mbandaka in the Democratic Republic of Congo (then called Zaire) to begin what was to become history’s greatest effort to eliminate poverty housing. The DRC was where Millard and Linda Fuller first implemented the concept of partnership housing. Working in a neighborhood called Bokotola in the city of Mbandaka, they built the first Habitat houses, which still stand today as tribute to their vision.

The Fuller Center Bolomba Likolo was organized in the summer of 2007. Despite its remote location, the absence of a local bank, no nearby store to purchase building materials, inadequate roads and transportation methods and an unpredictable rainy season, work progresses as the people of Bolomba pour their hearts and souls into the project. Over 200,000 houses later, the vision born and work started in that remote corner of Africa has begun anew. The Fuller Center is in the Congo at the invitations of the Hon. Pierre Maloka, a member of Parliament and friend of Millard and Linda’s from many years ago, and Dr. Jim Conway, who works with USAID in Kinshasa.

BACKGROUND
The DRC is one of the poorest countries in the world, with a per capita annual income of about US$300 in 2007. This is partly the result of years of war. Visiting Bolomba, accessed by a six-hour ride on a river boat from Mbandaka, is like taking a step back in time. It is a place without electricity, cell phones or litter where the people live off the river and the jungle.

PLANS
Construction materials from Boso-Djafo fill The Fuller Center warehouse, including sheet metal, nails, roofing nails, locks and hinges. As of Oct. 1, 2008, each family was hard at work clearing their plots, which involves the difficult task of removing brush, cutting down trees and digging up stumps and roots. Residents must work hard and fast to burn the waste, which can only be done on dry days. Because Bolomba is located at the equator, there are no defined seasons and it could rain at any moment.

GOALS
As people finish clearing their plots, they begin construction of the brick-making sheds. The bricks will be made with the aid of presses obtained from the Hon. Pierre Maloka Makonzi. Two teams have been formed to make bricks, and certain sheds already contain bricks ready to be fired. The bricks are pre-cured. After pressing the bricks, workers must wait several weeks before firing them and at least one or two weeks before using them for construction.

The Fuller Center Bolomba-Likolo has already attracted national interest and has gained the support of the government of Equator Province. The Governor of Bas-Congo province has written asking for information on how a project could be started in his area as well. Fuller Center work there completed the circle started by Millard and Linda over three decades ago. There are not currently Global Builders teams scheduled to visit the Democratic Republic of the Congo. If you are interested in proposing a trip, visit the Global Builders page.

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