DRC: Joyce and Jessy, twins learning to talk, laugh and play

A grandmother's love for her granddaughters

Joyce and Jessy are nine-year-old twin sisters. They live with their grandmother, Souzane Mendela Mukoyesi, a 64-year-old widow, in the Mbaki neighbourhood in the heart of the Bumbu district of Kinshasa. Since the girls' mother abandoned them, Souzane has been raising them on her own.

Providing for them is not always easy; with no stable income, she earns a little money by collecting and reselling empty bottles and cans on the streets of Kinshasa. Souzane walks for miles every day, but fatigue never gets the better of her determination, as she is driven by the desire to give her granddaughters the best possible future.

Joyce and Jessy were born healthy, but at six months old, Jessy began to suffer from high fevers and neck stiffness. Three months later, her sister Joyce began to show the same symptoms. Unfortunately, the family could not afford to have them examined to determine the exact causes of their illness. Prescribed treatments and traditional remedies failed to combat the symptoms, and today both twins have cerebral palsy.

Souzane has had a very difficult time, isolated and rejected by part of her family, she has had to cope with a lot of stress and health problems. Yet she has never stopped fighting for her granddaughters.

Hope cultivated every day

In April 2025, during an awareness session organised in her neighbourhood, Souzane heard about the rehabilitation services offered by HI. Full of hope, she took the twins for their first assessment. Since May 2025, Joyce and Jessy have been receiving regular physiotherapy sessions from the HI team. They will soon receive adapted wheelchairs, an important step towards improving their mobility and social inclusion. Souzane has also been trained to replicate some simple exercises at home.

Over the months, the twins' progress has been remarkable: they say a few words, eat with appetite, express their desires, move around more and even try to play. They have also gained weight and seem happier.

This progress fills Souzane with joy and rekindles her hope every day. Touched by the care they have received, she shares her experience with other families in her neighbourhood to raise awareness.

"I thank God and everyone behind this programme," says Souzane emotionally. "Seeing my granddaughters' health improve gives me the strength to carry on every day."

Promoting child development

The Nurturing Care project has been implemented by HI in Kinshasa since 2022. Its aim is to improve young children's access to health services and education, with a particular focus on children with disabilities or those at risk of developmental delays. HI teams also train cagivers so that they can provide attentive care and encourage the children's development. By supporting children and their families, HI promotes their independence and dignity.

Since 2022, 977 children have benefited from health services and 100% of their cagivers have been trained in simple techniques to best support their children's development and learning. 190 children have received orthopaedic devices (orthoses, prostheses) to help them move around more easily, and 743 children with functional difficulties (gross or fine motor skills, language, social, vision, hearing and learning) have been supported in their schooling.