Building Phase 2 of 5 in Lemba, Kinshasa $80K to open the doors · Target 2027 Tax receipts issued instantly via CanadaHelps Backed by NBA Champion DJ Mbenga Building Phase 2 of 5 in Lemba, Kinshasa $80K to open the doors · Target 2027 Tax receipts issued instantly via CanadaHelps Backed by NBA Champion DJ Mbenga
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Our story

A family. A house.
One stubborn idea.

Fondation LoLa is a Canadian-registered charity building the first community library in Righini, Lemba — a quiet neighbourhood in Kinshasa, two kilometres from the University of Kinshasa.

The childhood home, Righini · Lemba

It started with a conversation.

Fondation LoLa began the way most family things do — over coffee, with one person saying out loud what everyone had been thinking. One of our founders had grown up in Edmonton, borrowing armfuls of books from the city's neighbourhood libraries. Another had grown up in Lemba, the Kinshasa commune where part of the family still lives. The contrast was the conversation.

In Lemba, public library access for children is sparse. Schools do what they can, but most students do not have a quiet, well-lit place to read or study after the school day ends. The University of Kinshasa is two kilometres away — close enough to walk, but the children of Lemba had nowhere on the way to stop and learn.

We did the most direct thing we could think of. We donated the family's childhood home and decided to turn it into a library.

From house to library

The property in Righini, Lemba had been in the family for decades — the house where one founder grew up, full of memories that did not need to be preserved in glass. The family donated it to the foundation so it could become something of larger purpose. In 2024 we registered Fondation LoLa as a Canadian charity (BN 758770812RR0001). Construction began the same year.

The Indiegogo lesson

We launched an Indiegogo campaign in late 2024 with a goal of $83,500. Generous backers brought us to $8,847 — about 10.6% of the goal. Demolition was completed. Foundation work began. Materials were purchased. Then the campaign closed, and we learned the hard truth that most small charities eventually learn: foundations and major donors prefer to fund programs, not bricks.

So the family made a quiet decision. Pause construction. Save what we can. Resume when the next phase is fully fundable. It is slower than we hoped. It is also more certain than relying on a fundraising campaign that the giving market is not built to support.

What's true today

The childhood home has been demolished. The structural foundation is partly poured. Sand, gravel, rebar, and rock are on-site. The next milestone is the structural columns. NBA Champion DJ (Didier) Mbenga has joined as ambassador. A local telecom partner has pre-committed internet and tablets for opening day. We have a plan, a target year of 2027, and we are honest about the journey getting there.

The team

A handful of relatives, pooling what they have.

Our founders include teachers, a medical doctor, and a business executive. Real people with day jobs, who happen to share a last name and a stubborn belief in libraries.

Patrick Ngoyi

Project Coordinator

Business executive based in Canada. Coordinates construction, fundraising, and partnerships. Author and operator across clean energy and international ventures.

Chris Wola

Founding Member · Educator

Teacher and program lead. Coordinates with Lemba-district educators and oversees the youth-engagement side of the foundation's work.

John Yango

Founding Member · Endocrinologist

Practicing endocrinologist. Brings a public health perspective to programming and ensures the library serves community wellbeing, not just literacy.

Delphin Tembwe

Founding Member · Educator

Teacher with decades of classroom experience. Drives our literacy programming, school partnerships, and curriculum vision.

Headshots will be added once professional photography is arranged. Initials shown in the meantime.

What we stand for

Mission · Vision · Values.

Mission

Make literacy infrastructure for the communities that don't have it.

Deliver accessible, high-quality educational resources and inspire literacy and growth in underserved neighbourhoods, beginning with Righini, Lemba.

Vision

A world where every child has the resources to chase a question to its answer.

Where geography does not decide who has access to books, quiet, and a path forward. Where libraries are ordinary, not exceptional.

01

Honesty

We say where we are, not where we wish we were. Every dollar accounted for, every delay explained.

02

Patience

Slow building beats fast collapsing. We'd rather open late than open broken.

03

Locally led

Lemba teachers, Lemba parents, Lemba students set the agenda. We listen and equip.

04

Donor first

100% of donations go to construction and books. The family covers operations.

05

Quiet ambition

One library, done well, beats five libraries half-finished. Then we'll do the next.

The place

Righini, Lemba — a walk to UNIKIN.

Lemba is one of Kinshasa's 24 communes — densely residential, predominantly young, home to over 400,000 people. Righini is a quartier within it.

Our property sits two kilometres from the University of Kinshasa, the country's flagship public university. Walking distance for a student between classes. Walking distance for a high-schooler with university dreams. Geography is one of the quieter reasons we chose this site.

Site
Righini · Lemba34Bis Bakole II, Kinshasa
Distance
2 kmTo University of Kinshasa
Commune
Lemba~400k residents
Country
DR CongoKinshasa province
Lemba · Kinshasa
📚 Library
🎓 UNIKIN
2 km walk
Approximate · not to scale
Watch the journey

The house in the 1990s. The library to come.

Old family footage of the property, current construction progress, and renderings of the finished library — in two minutes.

Get involved

Help us finish what the
family started.

Donate, pledge for opening day, or share the story. Every action moves us closer.

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