Thursday November 8^th, the visiting USAID delegation (American cooperation) laid the first cornerstone of Sambwankoy’s future health center in the presence of the territorial administrator (AT), local representatives and traditional leaders, the National Park’s Management and its Rural Development team.

The health center was initially planned to be built by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and has been transferred to WWF following the decision for WCS to leave Salonga National Park. The village  is inhabited by Batwa people, an indigenous community of DRC, and faces great development challenges. Antoine Eyebe, program manager at USAID highlighted that “inhabitants have to understand that this health center is made possible through Salonga National Parks’s conservation program which integrates broader rural development activities. In turn, local communities take on responsibility to contribute to Salonga’s conservation”. The construction of Sambwankoy’s health center will be carried out throughout the first half of 2019.