Mission of Mercy
by Noluthando Crockett-Ntonga

Dikembe Mutombo is a man on a mission. As a Houston Rockets’ NBA All-Star, he is often surrounded by admiring eyes. And Mutombo incites the same response off the court for the compassion he shows to others and for his determination to help people in his native land, Congo.

As a child growing up with his parents, nine siblings, and ten other relatives under one roof, Mutombo dreamed of becoming a medical doctor as a means of helping his country.

In pursuit of his dream, Mutombo came to the United States in 1987 on a USAID scholarship to Georgetown University, where he began pre-med studies. Then legendary coach John Thompson spotted the 7’2” Mutombo and recruited him to the basketball team. Mutombo switched his major from premed and later graduated with dual degrees in linguistics and diplomacy. Mutombo’s talent on the court was obvious, and he was soon an NBA pick.

“When I signed my first multimillion dollar contract with the Denver Nuggets, I realized I could do more to help my people as a professional basketball player than as a doctor,” says Mutombo, “and the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, needs a lot of help.”

Mutombo learned early the importance of giving. Mutombo’s father worked as a school administrator, and while earning a salary of only $37 per month, he emphasized the importance of taking care of others as well as his own large family. Although blessed with untold mineral wealth, including diamonds and gold, Congo falls behind in its ability to care for its people; hospitals in Congo are known as places to die, rather than places to heal.

Mutombo wants to change that and the other plights that challenge his people. His first objective is to complete a $29 million dollar state-of-the-art hospital in the capital city, Kinshasa.

As well as embracing his father’s teachings through this initiative, he will honor his beloved mother, Biamba Marie Mutombo, by naming the facility after her. She died of a stroke in 1998 when she did not receive proper medical attention.

Mutombo’s efforts extend beyond his native borders. Born Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean Jacques Wamutombo, he has a history of giving longer than his name.

Shortly after he entered the NBA, he became a spokesperson for CARE, the worldwide organization helping to wipe out poverty. He has given to refugee camps in Africa, paid the expenses of the Zaire women’s basketball team for a trip to the Atlanta Olympics in 1996, led an American high-profile group to South Africa for the Basketball Without Borders Africa initiative, and refurbished dormitories at a South African school for troubled youth. And these are just a few of his efforts. He and his wife, Rose, have also adopted four of his nieces and nephews, including the children of two of his brothers who died before they were forty.

“Because of the NBA, a lot of doors are open to me,” says Mutombo. “I have to make sure that a lot of people, not just myself and my family, walk through those doors. It is the African way. I am happy that America has given me the opportunity to help my people.”

Congo is the largest country in Central Africa. Home to more than fifty million people, Congo is about one-fourth the size of the U.S. Its health problems are catastrophic. The average life expectancy is 47 years. One of fourteen women dies in childbirth, and nearly twenty percent of children die before their fifth birthday. Malaria kills more people than HIV/AIDS, and preventable diseases such as measles and polio—long eradicated in developed countries—ravage the people, especially the children. Health facilities are poor, resources limited, and medicines and vaccines are rarely available.

The Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center will make a significant difference in the treatment and prevention of disease and be a beacon of hope for the
Congolese people. The hospital will also serve as a teaching facility for Congolese health care professionals. Mutombo has donated over $15 million to the 300-bed project in Kinshasa, which is expected to open late this year. Private donations and corporate partnerships have helped to offset the cost of construction, equipment, and supplies.
Having been blessed with so much, Dikembe Mutombo quotes an African proverb to explain why it is so important to him to help others: "When you take the elevator up to reach the top, don't forget to send it back down so someone else can take it to the top. This is my way of sending the elevator back down.”

For more information, please visit www.dmf.org.