NEW YORK - Dikembe Mutombo will fulfill a lifelong dream soon, opening a
hospital in the Congo named for his late mother.
In this July 1, 2006,
file photo, Bishop T. D. Jakes is greeted by Rockets center Dikembe
Mutombo back stage at the Essence Music festival in Houston. Mutombo will
fulfill a lifelong dream soon, opening a $29 million hospital in the Congo
named for his late mother. [AP] |
The Houston Rockets center, who donated $15 million to the project, will open
the doors to the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center on Sept. 2.
The 300-bed hospital will provide health care to people in Kinshasa, capital of
the Democratic Republic of Congo, where Mutombo was born.
"We were very close," Mutombo said Monday in a telephone interview. "To do
something of this caliber in the name of your beloved mom, it will mean a lot
not just to me but to the people of Congo."
He created the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, the year his 64-year-old
mother died. She was unable to get to the hospital because streets were closed
due to civil unrest. His father, Samuel, was turned back from the hospital, just
10 minutes away.
"My mom played a big role, giving us all the tools to make us great human
beings," Mutombo said of his nine siblings. "She did what moms are supposed to
do ¡ª raise a child with a good understanding of life."
The $29 million hospital and research center will include a pediatric wing,
surgery suites and a women's center.
The health care crisis continues in the Congo, where one of five children
dies before age 5. Malaria, HIV/ AIDS, tuberculosis, measles and cholera have
reached epidemic proportions and continue to infect millions of adults and
children. The average life expectancy is 42 years for men and 47 for women.
"Malaria is taking more lives than any other disease, especially children
under age 5," he said.
Mutombo had a life-threatening bout of malaria after returning from the Congo
in 1999. He had a "huge headache" and passed out after an early season game. His
temperature rose to 104 degrees while at a suburban Boston hospital, but after
12 hours the doctors couldn't determine what was wrong until a Kenyan intern
entered his room.
