Self-Help Project Inaugurated

Sewing students

Deputy Chief of Mission Samuel Brock inaugurated Embassy Kinshasa’s newest Ambassador’s Special Self-Help project with the Congolese NGO La Vie Pour Tous (VIPOT) on Wednesday, July 8 in the Kinshasa community of Masina.  The project provided funding to buy new sewing machines and equipment for VIPOT’s education center.   Under a previous Special Self-Help project, the Embassy helped construct the sewing classroom and provided an initial set of sewing machines.

After cutting the ribbon to re-inaugurate the sewing classroom with new machines and equipment, Mr.  Brock and Pauline Kompany Sona, president of VIPOT, handed out training certificates to a group of 20 women, all graduates of the latest sewing class.  Several graduates were visibly touched by the ceremony as this was the first “graduation” in which they had ever participated.  VIPOT’s sewing classes provide women with life skills and employment training, so they can be more self-reliant.

The Ambassador’s Special Self Help program is a grass-roots assistance program funding small, community-based development projects.