Ngandu Area Program

The Ngandu community is located on a peri-urban area on the outskirts of Kinshasa; the largest and most populous city in the province. The community is very poor and suffers from a lack of basic social facilities and clean water. The majority of the population is illiterate and is mainly dependent on small business. The climate in the area is tropical, with two seasons: a dry season, and rainy season that lasts for 8 months from September to May.

The community is densely populated, as there is a massive influx of people moving from the town centre to quarters located on the outskirts, like Ngandu. This is causing a housing crisis, and as a result more people are building their homes using bushes that very poor families us to collecting resources, like firewood or wild fruits. Using these spaces for homes further increases the vulnerability of those who depend on these resources for their survival.

Livelihoods
Many children do not have enough to eat, as their families do not make enough to buy the necessary amount and quality of food. Some children have only one meal a day, while on some days they do not eat at all. For those who do have something to eat, their diet is not balanced.

Among children aged 0-6 months, the level of malnutrition is high. Mothers often do not practice exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months after the baby is born. Moreover, if mothers become pregnant soon after giving birth, they stop breastfeeding their baby, due to the belief that they should care for the development of the new baby instead.

Health
There are many problems affecting the population's health in Ngandu. Many people do not have enough income to pay regularly for proper health care, and resort to seeing traditional healers or trying to treat themselves. In some areas, 15% of children suffer from rickets, and the malnutrition rate stands at 14% for children aged 6 to 59 months.

The prevalence of HIV in Ngandu is significant, and many individuals engage in risky behaviours that leave them susceptible to the disease. For example, because of the lack of food in the area, older women engage in sexual activities in exchange for money and do not use protection. This often results in contracting sexually transmitted infections.

Education
Very few children in the Ngandu community go to school. Of the children that do attend schools, girls are more educated than boys, with 57% of girls attending school, compared to 43% of boys. Close to 20% of children drop out of school before they are finished, however, with the biggest reason being the inability to pay for school fees. As a result, there are only a few children who are able to read, write, and use numeracy skills when they complete their primary or secondary education.

In addition, there is a lack of schools in the area and children have to walk a very long distance to attend school. 60% of existing schools in the area need to be refurbished. There are also no vocational schools available to teach youth skills they can use to obtain employment. Many qualified teachers also do not want to teach in the area, lowering the quality of education and learning experiences children receive.