IMCK Volunteer Openings:
Currently, there are no openings for volunteers at IMCK in DR Congo. However, specialists in medicine, education, finances, and technical areas (maintenance, hydroelectric engineers) are needed periodically. Check back here regularly or contact us if you have a special interest in serving at IMCK on a short-term basis.
Other Ways to Volunteer:
For volunteering time and skills, there are several ways to get involved and oodles of things you can do:
1) At the simplest level, you can talk to people about IMCK and help raise awareness. To do this well, keep yourself up to date with knowledge about IMCK and the Congo by reading the links and bibliography on this website and others of a related nature. You can do this on your own or you can do it by becoming active on your church mission committee or in other organizations where another voice of advocacy always helps. If your interests run to broader issues, participating in letter-writing and other campaigns on matters such as Conflict Minerals may be your cup of tea.
2) At a somewhat more involved level, you can help raise funds. This can be most effectively done in concert with others, such as your church mission committee, the Friends of IMCK or some of the other IMCK partners. As part of a group or organizational effort, you can:
Help to arrange speaking engagements for people who are able to present the IMCK message.
You can participate in or help to organize fundraising events such as 5K or 10K runs (or climbs, or contests, etc.), spaghetti dinners, benefit concerts, auctions
You can organize alternative gift giving, in which people send gifts to IMCK in honor of the person who would otherwise receive the gift for Christmas, mothers day, fathers day, birthday, graduation, etc. and you send that person a card announcing the donation in their name. Click here for assistance and materials.
You can collect and sell or make and sell things (yard sales, bake sales, quilts and knitting, crafts, jewelry, antiques and collectables, artwork, carpentry, car washes, services – “a month of free lawn-mowing”, etc.) and donate the proceeds to IMCK.
If you are comfortable with such things, you can directly solicit donations from individuals or businesses, including challenge grants that will be made available if/when they are matched by other donors.
You can provide IMCK information for your church’s web site, facebook page, twitter, etc.
3) Also working through your church’s mission committee or with other charitable organizations in your community, you can organize or help with an effort to collect equipment, medicines or other items needed by IMCK. This can be a little tricky because you don’t want to spend the time expense of shipping things that are not needed (for example, outdated or nearly outdated drugs are a strict no-no). So it is very important to first contact IMCK (the Director — Dr. Serge Makolo or the Administrator — Kastin Katawa) or one of the partners involved with shipping things to IMCK (MBF, IMA), to get the guidelines, needs, cost information, etc. Some churches have packed and shipped their own containers but you still need to get the information about needs, etc. first.
4) Finally, if you have specific skills and can make the time available, there are a variety of services that you may be able to perform for IMCK on a volunteer basis. Some of these obviously involve traveling to the Congo but others do not:
IMCK is in the throes of a serious financial crisis and may benefit from consultation with a well qualified accountant for advice, including the possibility of changing its accounting system. If a change becomes the indicated action, there may also be opportunity to help install the new system. Inquiry and consultation can begin by email to the Director, Dr. Serge Makolo or the Administrator, Kastin Katawa with the possibility of on site work later as things evolve. Some consultation work may be possible without the need for travel.
From time to time there are construction, repair or maintenance projects that may require assistance from carpenters, plumbers, electricians, builders, electrical, civil and mechanical engineers, and others of that persuasion. As these projects are occasional rather than constant, it is, again, important to contact the Administrator, Kastin Katawa or the Director, Dr. Serge Makolo to find out whether and what types of projects may be planned or underway. Some consultation work may be possible without the need for travel.
The schools — A1 and A2 as well as the intern and residency programs — may be able to utilize volunteers who are qualified teachers and professors on a short or long term basis, depending on what gaps in expertise they currently have. While health professionals would obviously address the most fundamental areas of curriculum, there are others — English, Psychology, Math, Computers Hospital Administration, Statistics, Accounting, Sociology, Economics, etc, At the A1 level there may be some of these that can even be taught in English. There may also be a Congolese syllabus that must be followed. Obviously it would be necessary for anyone thinking they might have such knowledge qualifications and time availability to offer to consult with the school authorities (Mme.Marthe Kutekemenyi, the Headmistress or Dr. Serge Makolo, the Director) and with Jeff Boyd and/or MBF if you anticipate the possibility of going under their sponsorship.
Medical and other health professionals should contact the Director, Dr. Serge Makolo concerning the needs and opportunities for short term volunteer work at IMCK. Jeff Boyd and MBF should also be included in any contacts about long term volunteer opportunities. Facility in French may or may not be a requirement, depending on the specialty and the nature of the work to be done.
Because of the need to maintain an active and effective communication base with the donor community, IMCK has an ongoing need for skills in media, photography and other journalistic competence — both to help provide continuing current material for this website and the monthly newsletter as well as to assist with other forms of communication and to teach Congolese understudies in the esoterica of American culture and media practices. Fluency in French would almost certainly be a requirement for this work. Jeff Boyd at PC(USA) or MBFshould be contacted, as well as Administrator Kastin Katawa.
Friends of IMCK is looking for volunteer members with time availability and skills in:
• Brochure design
• Making presentations
• Running a speakers bureau
• Website development and maintenance
• Making videos
• Grant writing
Except for the last item, these activities may be done largely without the need for travel outside the U.S. If you are interested and would like to learn more, click here to contact Friends of IMCK.