In the Democratic Republic of Congo, land ownership isn’t as simple as elsewhere. When you buy or are given a block of land you are required to develop it for it’s intended purpose within three years, with limited extensions available. Only then are you given full title to the land, and there is a risk of losing the land if no development takes place.
HCLS has full title for half of our 10 hectare plot, but was recently challenged by a corrupt individual seeking to take the other half from us. The village elders that donated the land stood by us, and the battle in court was won, but we do need to show continued development of classrooms, boarding facilities and more infrastructure to support our vocational training program.
We had to seek building approvals and all hands were on deck including our construction students to start digging and building foundations to show we are making progress, but much more resource and work is needed to ensure we retain this precious commodity that allows us to achieve our vision of bringing real hope for a future to the children of DRC.
Please consider a donation to our development fund to allow these important projects to continue!