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Chantal Kasongo

My name is Chantal Kasongo, currently residing in Coquitlam, BC. I have created an orphanage project called Shiloh Place (Silo en Frencais) in my native home of Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The project has been in my heart for many years and will be home to orphaned children cared for by widowed women. Africa has no shortage of orphaned children and widowed women are among the most forgotten, displaced, and disadvantaged people in all of Africa. I, myself am a widow and understand very well the traditions of African cultures whereby women lose any entitlement to their late husbands, including a place to live. These women live miserable lives and are too often left with nothing more than the sole burden of raising children in poverty.

Shiloh Place will be a home for such women and they, in turn, will provide love and care to orphaned children who are not necessarily their own. To clarify, widowed women will be permitted to bring their own children, but they will also become mothers to children who do not have parents.

I have so far created a committee that includes the town mayor. It has taken a lot of savings and sacrifice, but I have been able to send enough money to purchase the required land and to build the first of several homes in the Shiloh Place compound.

Shiloh Place Photos Courtesy of Chantal Kasongo.