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I am ecstatic to be going to Africa with Jewish World Watch as a representative of the Dillon Henry Foundation. My family is from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which provided me with a household to be raised under Congolese traditions and customs as a first-generation African in America. Our background originates from the Bakongo tribe in the city of Kinshasa where my mother lived with her nine brothers and sisters. She attended the International Network of Sacred Heart Schools in the city of Kimwenza. |
After a childhood of growing up in a village, my mother was only 18 years old when she emigrated from the city of Kinshasa in the DRC, formerly known as Zaire under the dictatorship of President Mobutu Sese Seko (in power from ’65-’97). Earning doctoral scholarships to a variety of medical schools throughout Europe and Asia, my mother ultimately decided to attend the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Bucharest, Romania. She lived in Romania as a doctor for 10 years before migrating to the United States.
This trip will be a cultural shock and an eye-opening experience for me because of this being my first time traveling to Africa let alone the DRC. I am very fortunate and grateful to be granted this opportunity to work with certified philanthropists that are dedicated to ending mass genocide. I cannot wait to step foot on African soil and be united with the homeland that has produced my relatives that are presently alive and also those who have passed away. From voyaging through the Congo visiting different hospital and medical sites to journeying through Rwanda where we will be able to meet with distinguished doctors and survivors of the Rwandan genocide, I am ready to embrace everything that lies ahead of us. I am so eager to go back home for the very first time, and I thank Jewish World Watch and the Dillon Henry Foundation for allowing me to be a part of this battle to end world violence and continue the journey to creating world peace.
On Sunday May 25, 2014, Irvin Kintaudi will be leaving for a 10 day trip to central Africa, led by JWW Co-Founder and President Janice Kamenir-Reznik and JWW Assistant Director Naama Haviv.
The Dillon Henry Foundation was founded in honor a remarkable teenager who wanted to make the world a better place and planned to do it through great leadership and compassion. The Foundation is proud to have partnered with organizations like JWW to help create positive changes and begin to heal the world. The Dillon Henry Foundation was instrumental in the construction of the Chambucha Rape and Crisis Center, and is now putting its considerable support behind Amani’s Home for Pregnant Teens and the BVES Center for Child Survivors and Former Child Soldiers.
This post also appears in The Jewish World Watch Blog: One Life at a Time, hosted on the Jewish Journal’s website.