Bulletin Q&A Article; Published 12-17-23:
How are things going with Fr. Jean and the clinic in the Congo?
This question didn’t actually show up in the question box, but many people have stopped me and asked for an update on the work of the Friends of the Congo, Inc.. For those who do not know about the effort to help the people in the little village of Yassa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, let me first give a little background.
Fr. Jean Ikanga is a priest from the Congo who came to the U.S. to study to become a doctor so that he could go back and help his countrymen. I met him at my previous assignment where he often celebrated Mass while he was doing his preliminary studies at the University of Detroit Mercy. He completed his medical studies in 2017 and returned to the Congo. Shortly afterward, we established a non-profit to help fulfill a dream of his to build a small clinic in a village near where he grew up working on his father’s farm. Our first accomplishment was to build a Maternity Clinic building with the first electric lights in the village. I had the privilege of being able to travel to the Congo for its dedication in 2019. While there, it became obvious to me that there was a need for running water to make the clinic functional, and so we initiated our second major project—a solar powered well. It was determined that the well needed to be 600’ deep.
In the summer of 2021, water flowed for the first time in Yassa, and we began to collect funds for an Examination Clinic which would house equipment donated by MedShare. The equipment had been sitting idle in storage for several years. Unfortunately, a year later the well failed. Apparently, the original well contractor had cut corners. We brought in experts who determined that the well could not be repaired or salvaged, and that a new larger diameter well would be required. This was a major setback. We contracted with a respected international well drilling company to do the work, but the cost drained our clinic building fund. I am happy to report that as of July of this year, running water has been restored. But now our fund-raising for the Examination Clinic is beginning anew. And with inflation over the last two years, our original construction quote is no longer valid. As we are reassessing the design budget for the clinic, we are slowly working to restore our building fund. Once a new plan is in place, construction will begin and then progress as funds are available.
If you would like more information about the work of the Friends of the Congo, please visit our website: www.congowomensclinic.org. If you would like to contribute to help make the Examination Clinic a reality, you can donate on the website or use the envelopes on the tables by the doors of the church. Friends of the Congo, Inc. is organized and operated exclusively for charitable purposes in accordance with Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.
Fr. Jean has visited Immaculate Conception on several occasions and many were moved by his powerful preaching. He is a humble man who sacrificed an opportunity to stay in the U.S. living a comfortable life, and instead decided to return to the Congo where he now lives in the overcrowded capital city of Kinshasa. He lives with 18 other priests of his order in a home that has only enough water to supply one toilet. Electricity and internet are intermittent and political corruption is rampant. But he doesn’t complain.
Fr. Jean was in the Detroit this past summer, but unfortunately he was sorry not to be able to visit us here at Immaculate Conception because his stay was too short. He has warm memories of his visits and is impressed, as I am, with the generosity of our parishioners. Hopefully, he will be able to visit again next year and give us an update on an Examination Clinic that will hopefully be under construction.