“To well-born souls, the value of man does not wait for the number of years” Pierre Corneil

Madame VERLAINE KAPINGA TSHILUMBA was born on December 29 in Lubumbashi in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Daughter of Mr. TSHILUMBA and Mrs. REGINE, VERLAINE is the third of eight children, including four boys and four girls, all growing up in a small, modest family.

While still a child, due to the work of Mr. TSHILUMBA, VERLAINE’s father, the family left Kinshasa and settled in Ruchuru in the North Kivu Province. Already from a young age, her parents noticed something special about little VERLAINE: she is a very welcoming little girl, sensitive to the needs of others. In the family, she is protective and always makes sure her brothers and sisters are satisfied before thinking about her. She was always accompanied by her colleagues every time she came home and shared her meal with them.

The little one found joy in sharing; a quality that her parents encouraged and supported to help her develop this common sense. As an adult, Young VERLAINE, always positive and courageous, launched into the agro-pastoral business. Her shop prospers and advances little by little. In her new job, through her income, she finds the opportunity to put into practice her great desire: she did not want to see someone who was suffering. Already without anything, she saw herself as a solution to other people’s problems.

It was a good time for her to make a move. It was then that VERLAINE, aged 20, began paying school fees for three of her friends who were forced to stop studying due to lack of means. In 2013, a climate of insecurity gripped the province. One evening, his father was speaking to young people in the neighborhood when he was kidnapped by unknown armed men. That same night his mother was tortured. VERLAINE and his brothers were forced to flee without knowing where they were going. Traumatized and affected by the events, she was admitted to Rutshuru general hospital. It was there that she realized that she was all alone without knowing where her brothers and sisters had gone through.

During this moment the young person experienced war and poverty, the suffering of orphans, hunger and diseases. Accompanied by a friend of her mother, they cross the Ugandan border and end up in Kampala where she will live alone as a refugee. In 2018, VERLAINE reunites with his brothers and sisters after years of separation. Together they live as a family and console each other. Despite the events, the experience of war and the family responsibilities, her vocation and her ardent desire to help those who suffer matured within her.

In June 2014, she married Mr. DAMIEN MBAMBI TUMONE, a Congolese pastor who had lived in Kampala as a refugee since 2012. Together they form a small family and have 3 children, 2 of whom are alive. In Kampala, VERLAINE continued her business work and together with her husband they earn their living. In 2021, she leaves for the KYAKA 2 refugee camp. There she sees the suffering in which orphaned children live and the mistreatment they suffer in their host families. Her heart broken, she returns to Kampala with one goal: Meet the needs of orphaned children by creating a world where they grow up free and full of opportunities. With her nothing work at all, she saved money for a good two years to finally create in 2023, The VK TSHIMS Foundation, a family for orphans of fathers and mothers.

Today, the mother of several orphans, Mrs. VERLAINE KAPINGA TSHILUMBA fights to give orphaned children the love they need by offering them a better future for a better world.