A Bed for Each Child: The Project is Launched!

The A Bed for Each Child Project is now accepting donations.  

Your tax deductible donations will be accepted, processed, and delivered by Lantern Projects, a 501(c)(3) organization in the United States.

                           DONATE HERE

(Say, if you are good enough to donate, please let us know--in the comments here, via email or Facebook.  Lantern Projects is not able to release a list of their donors and we feel badly about not being able to offer a heartfelt one-on-one thank you for supporting us. :-) )

Our goal:  to raise the funds needed to double the sleeping and living space for nearly eighty kids (ages 5-14) who are currently sharing two bedrooms at the Kimbondo Orphanage just outside of Kinshasa, D.R. Congo.

For more detailed information (photos, blueprints, and a detailed cost list), check out this post:

         A Bed for Each Child Introduction

November 12              

                                                                 

Please help us however you can and especially by spreading the word.

Welcome to Our Dream

Introducing:  A Bed for Each Child

The Foyer House Expansion @ Kimbondo Orphanage

Kimbondo Orphanage, outside of Kinshasa, was founded in 1990 and currently houses, clothes, feeds, and educates over 800 children.   

Currently, the Foyer House (the unit we are upgrading) consists of two bedrooms (each ~20 square meters) and two bathrooms and is shared by 80 young people, ages 5 – 14.

           

The Existing Foyer House Floor Plan:

Upper Row--Storage, Volunteer Sleep Room, Bedroom #1, Bedroom #2
Lower Row--Outdoor Pavilion, Kitchen, Shower, Toilets

Three teachers from a local international school, working with a trusted six-year live-in volunteer, have begun the “A Bed for Each Child Project”, to add-on two large bedrooms and bathrooms.  When the new addition is outfitted with long-lasting concrete frame bunk beds and mattresses, each of the 80 children will be able to sleep in his/her own bed.  We are committed to maintaining the current number of occupants in this unit, while doubling its size.

This is the existing Foyer House unit.
The A Bed for Each Child addition will be built on the empty space to the right of the photograph.

One of the two current bedrooms.  Each of the ten bunk bed mattresses sleeps two or three young people with the rest sharing roll-out mattresses on the floor.  As noted, this room generally houses 30-40 kids, ages 5-14.

We have received preliminary blueprints and a detailed estimate of costs for the project from an architect who has faithfully served the orphanage for years.

The new bedrooms and bath are positioned at the bottom right of the blueprint above. A early stages proposed view of the interior is below.

The total cost of the project will run between $25,000 and $30,000, dependent upon local prices at the time materials are purchased.

As examples, we will need
* 400 bags of cement @ $12 each;
* 80 TONS of sand @ $12 a ton!;
* twenty sets of concrete bunk beds @ ~$60 each;
* 80 roof sheets @ $11 each;
* 4 doors @ $145 each;
* paint @ $300;
* 10 paid apprenticeships for Kimbondo residents @ $50 each

The complete costs estimate is here:

The project will also provide labor for 25 people—hugely important in a region wracked by unemployment—and put $4,000 into the pockets of local families. Additionally, ten Kimbondo teens will receive training as brickmakers, painters, and tailors with an eye toward future employment.

The A Bed for Each Child Project will be receiving support from Lantern Projects, which will allow all US-based donations to be tax deductible.  Please click on the Lantern Projects link to donate to our cause.  You can pay via credit card, PayPal, or by sending a check in the mail.

Please continue to visit this blog for updates, photographs, revised blueprints, and more information about the A Bed for Each Child Project.