I was fortunate enough during this project to get in contact with the NGO Pact. I arranged with them to interview four ex-miners and those conversations can be found below:
I was also inspired by my project and conversations with ex-miners to help further. In one particular interview, I was told how football is a great way of strengthening the communities and a way for children to socialise and play safely.
I decided to launch an initiative, Kit Out Kolwezi, which asked for people to donate their old, unused, or spare football shirts to send over to the children in the DRC. I am thrilled to say so far I have received donations of over 50 shirts.
Alongside asking for shirt donations, I also started a fundraiser in the hopes of raising £200 to buy footballs, notebooks, and pens to send over to Kolwezi. The remaining money would be donated and split between Pact and Bon Pasteur.
For example, £13 is enough to pay for one child’s term of school.
We managed to raise £200 within hours of the fundraiser being active.
I then decided to raise the target to £500, and at this point I was contacted out of the blue by an American clean energy company called SimpliPhi Power. They offered to match the next £200 raised which was fantastic. I also put them in contact with somebody I had spoken to regarding my project, and they are currently discussing fitting their home with solar panels so that they can have a constant supply of energy, which is lacking in the DRC.
I’m really proud of the campaign, and I would really like to take it further. At the time of writing the fundraiser has reached £540 (not including SimpliPhi’s matched donation). So I hope to make a real positive impact on the mining communities of the DRC.
If you would like to donate please click HERE and if you would like to read more from The Cost of Cobalt click HERE.
More from this project:
Playing in a Pandemic – A Timeline of Events