Covid_19 Impact on NGO’S in Africa - An Interview with Noëlla Musunka | Founder at Malaika ORG

As part of TAP Magazine Issue 14, we asked different leaders and expert to discuss how their specific fields, work and industries have been impacted by Covid_19. This is the interview, Noella Coursaris Musunka, founder of Malaika discusses how the work of NGO’s have been impacted and the adjustment being made. Official magazine issue will be released on Saturday October 31.

Please tell us about yourself and the important work happening at Malaika

My name is Noëlla Coursaris Musunka. I was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, to a Congolese mother and a Cypriot father. After my father’s passing when I was five-years-old, my mother was not able to support me so I was sent to live with relatives in Europe. Her sacrifice changed my life and I gained a qualification in Business Management. From there my career as an international model began when I entered a competition to be the ‘face’ of Agent Provocateur. I won and did their campaign and subsequently landed other campaigns for brands in New York and London.. I have represented Creme de La Mer, MaxFactor and collaborated with designer Roksanda and The Outnet on a collection and some of the profits went to Malaika. 

When I finally had the chance to visit my mom 13 years later, that was when everything changed. I was shocked when I saw the lack of infrastructure and the lack of opportunities that youth, especially girls and young women, faced. Africa is a young continent, full of energy and creativity and has so much potential. It is rich in culture, natural resources, and natural beauty. The DRC is a microcosm of that. There are so many smart, talented, and motivated girls who can change the country and the world, if just given the right opportunities. 

So I founded Malaika in 2007 with an amazing team. It was originally named after my late father. Malaika is much more than simply a girls’ school. We’re really focused on building a model that takes into account the whole life of a girl - from her health, to her education, to the community around her. Malaika is about creating a supportive ecosystem.

Our program provides holistic and free schooling for girls from primary through the completion of secondary school. Our amazing local teaching staff provides a holistic primary and secondary curriculum, covering everything from mathematics and language, to IT and sports, and our facilities run on solar energy! The school’s farm allows us to provide two nutritious meals per day to our students and staff, and we provide regular health check-ups to our students. We repaired and built 20 wells throughout the village of Kalebuka, which means that more than 30,000 people have access to clean water (we’re really proud of that!). We also run a community center, which provides education and vocational programs for other youth and adults in the community. It has a great football field!

We want to show that empowering girls also means empowering their support systems. We think our model - quality schooling, good nutrition and health, clean water, and community engagement - can be replicated in other villages and other countries. I can’t wait to see this happen in the future!

What was the state of the NGO work/Industry in DRC and in Africa pre covid 19? How has Covid19 impacted NGO's in DRC and Africa?  

For Malaika, while we are always fundraising and looking for additional streams of support, we were able to sustain our school and programs before the pandemic. We rely heavily upon grants and donations, whether that be through student sponsorships, recurring gifts, or events that people hold in their communities to fundraise for our students. COVID-19 hit us hard. We had to shut down our school following government guidelines. I think nonprofits across the board are seeing dramatic losses in funding support. We’re definitely seeing less coming in than ever before.

For the community that we work in it has been incredibly hard. Even before COVID-19, life in Kalebuka wasn’t easy. No electricity or running water and making enough to support a family were always issues the Congolese people faced. But COVID-19 has made everything so much worse and more dangerous for our girls. Everything is closed down, so even the little income that families used to bring in has been cut-off. 

When the lockdown happened we immediately began to plan out how we would provide emergency support. We needed to make sure that Kalebuka knew we weren’t leaving them behind. Now, we regularly distribute the produce from our farm, in addition to other food staples and have fed 4200 people. We have distributed cooking oil and soap, and have set-up handwashing stations in the village. Several of the women who were trained through our community center in sewing have been creating masks to distribute. We also have a 3-D printer that is being used by our students with the support of our STEM team to create face shields! We have made 900 of these face shields and fabric masks. Our dedicated staff have also been delivering homework to the girls.

What lessons has covid19 taught NGO's and NGO advocates who work in Africa?

I think there are three big lessons that we are learning. 

1. Communities are resilient and that their strength is immeasurable. Nobody should underestimate this. Yes, we are still in the middle of this horrible situation. But I have been moved by how quickly the people in Kalebuka mobilized to not only help one another but to help us serve others. We are so thankful that we have an amazing home in Kalebuka out of which we have been able to help a lot of other villages.

2. Any NGO or community program has to be constructed with sustainability in mind. The only way we were able to mobilize our emergency support successfully once COVID-19 hit was because we invested early on in creating a sustainable model. That ecosystem of support, which invested in improving the environment and involving people in the community, is how we are still making it today. From Day 1, you have to plan for how your work will survive in the worst case scenario.

3. We need to see public-private partnerships to ensure that the world’s underprivileged children have access to education and opportunity. This will be even more important in the coming years where we will experience some economic challenges in the wake of this pandemic.

How does this space move forward? 

There is so much strength in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. I have no doubt that Malaika will be able to rebuild and continue our mission to support the next generation of female leaders in the country. Many aspire to take on roles that they wouldn’t have believed would be possible before they started their education at Malaika. Anna wants to be a pilot. Ilunga wants to be a business woman. Louise, a computer network engineer. Ester wants to become a doctor. 

During this pandemic we have been able to take opportunities to share our girls’ stories and their talents and aspirations with the world. We hosted three ‘Malaika Speaks!’ webinars, each hosted by an incredible woman and supporter of Malaika (June Sarpong, Eve Cooper, and Thandie Newton). The students and staff shared about their experiences during the pandemic. They also displayed their vivid personalities and creative talents by performing music and spoken-word poetry. We’re sure we will keep going forward

In your opinion, how will global Covid 19 lessons where affect Africa? Do you foresee global lessons being forced on the continent?

Well, we’re still in the middle of everything, so it’s hard to say. But I would argue that there are lessons to be learned in the other direction. I think what we’re seeing on a global level is that a successful defense against the spread of COVID-19 relies on being able to care about your community and the impact that your decisions can have on them. I think we are seeing the world come together and Kalebuka is a great example of a community coming together to fight for one cause and protect one another. Maybe the world can look at Malaika, at Kalebuka, and at the DRC as an example of the power of community and empathy. 

www.malaika.org

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