PROJECT-SUPPORT CONGO
2022-75-CGO-SDG 1 / Association Darsilamano
2022-75-CGO-SDG 1 / Association Darsilamano
Congo, Butembo and Uvira
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is a country in Central Africa. It borders the Central African Republic, South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Republic of Congo. The DR Congo is the second largest state in Africa in terms of area and the fourth largest in terms of population. The capital and economic centre, Kinshasa, is Africa's largest city with over 16 million inhabitants.
The country is crossed by the equator and has a tropical climate. Large parts of the national territory are covered by tropical rainforest. The almost 100 million inhabitants can be divided into more than 200 ethnic groups. Despite its wealth of raw materials, the state is one of the poorest countries in the world today.
DarsiLaMano is an association that wants to help improve lives in Africa. DarsiLaMano means 'Let's shake hands'.
Founder Martin Näf:
Martin Näf was born with a severe visual impairment. At the age of twelve he went completely blind. However, this did not stop him from studying psychology and education, becoming a doctor, and being very adventurous.
During his time as a university teacher, he came by chance into contact with blind Congolese people. That's how he met Lundimu, who taught at a school for the blind. Blind people are often not even admitted to schools and therefore rarely have a school education. The result; as non-sighted illiterates they hardly find work and live on the streets more often than average. In 2012, he founded the charity organisation DarsiLaMano, with which he raised money to support blind people and for a specialised private school.
DarsiLaMano currently supports two projects in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
School in Butembo
The Ecole de l'Unité is a state-recognised private school in the town of Butembo. The school comprises a kindergarten, as well as a primary and secondary school. It is attended by about 100 pupils.
Association Voix Aveugle in Uvira
The Association Voix Aveugle (AVA) runs a boarding school and a school for blind and multiply disabled people in Uvira. About 20 children live in the boarding school. The AVA also strives to help blind or disabled adults.
Solar-power system for Braille printer
For the project in Uvira, funds are needed to purchase a professional Braille printer for printing educational material as well as texts of all kinds for blind children and adults. Due to the lack of a local power supply, the printer will be operated by a small solar-power system. Support is urgently needed for its acquisition.
Website
Darsilamano