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Since 1er December 2019 and the end of the season in China, Cédric Bakambu, 28, did not return to his Chinese club, the Beijing Guoan. The Congolese striker, a former goalscorer for Sochaux and Villareal (Spain), is now confined to Ile-de-France. "I don't know when I'm going to be able to fly to Beijing. The season was set to resume on May 2, but this will not be possible. We'll start later, on a date I don't know ", he explains.
The Leopards attacker from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) took advantage of this imposed parenthesis to think about the best way to help his country of origin, also facing the epidemic. The player, who had formalized the launch of his foundation in December, decided to focus on food aid: "The foundation works mainly in the fields of literacy, education and technology. I wondered if it was necessary to move towards sanitary or food. I chose the second option, targeting poor families in Kinshasa. "
The Congolese government has taken several measures to limit the spread of the virus which, on Thursday, April 23, infected 359 people and caused 25 deaths. A state of health emergency has been declared, gatherings of more than twenty people are now prohibited, while schools, universities and places of worship are closed until further notice. "As residents are advised to go out as little as possible, life becomes difficult for people who live on small daily jobs, so we have targeted vulnerable populations in three districts of Kinshasa: the Cité des ex- combatants in Binza-Ngaliema, Kitambo Jamaica and finally Masina Kingasani. Places where widows, mothers, the elderly are to be found, ” he details.
Food parcels
Cédric Bakambu, in consultation with the members of his foundation and its partners (Vodacom and Equity Bank), has had several hundred food parcels prepared for these populations. "We favored non-perishable foodstuffs, with bags of rice, semolina, sugar, cans of tomatoes and sardines, bottles of oil. This is to allow these people to hold out for several weeks without going out too much. We decided to buy all these products in Kinshasa, so that they are more quickly available, " said the player, who also provided soap and decided to install 500-liter water tanks at the entrances to the three selected districts.
Cédric Bakambu's initiative is not an isolated case. The African football world has been particularly active since the start of the Covid-19 epidemic. The Egyptian Mohamed Salah thus offered 1.1 million euros to hospitals in his country, then several tons of food to the inhabitants of Nagrig, his hometown. Senegalese internationals Papiss Cissé and Sadio Mané have allocated 70,000 euros and 46,000 euros respectively to the fight against the pandemic. As another example, the Algerian Federation made the facilities of its technical center in Sidi Moussa available to quarantined people, then opened a special aid and solidarity account.
In the DRC, where corruption is a scourge and the very frequent diversion of humanitarian aid, Cédric Bakambu claims to have taken care to surround himself with trusted people to conduct his solidarity operations: "I have my relays on site, and I am sure that the food aid will go to those who need it. " In his approach, the striker was joined by his national teammate Chris Mavinga, who plays at Toronto FC. "There are people who offer to help, some are known, others are not. But there is a common desire to support the poorest. ", he salutes.
