Congo Project – Henriette Kutuka Memorial Fund.

She wasn’t supposed to die this young. Not 22-month-old Henriette Kutuka, of Kinshasa , Democratic Republic of Congo. Just shy of her second birthday, she lost her life to malaria, a continuing scourge of much of the developing world. For her parents, Baudouin and Masey, and older sister Sofia, Henriette’s death, in August 2001, has left a huge hole in the family and how they spent weekends together. Until she grew ill, Henriette and her family would visit three of Kinshasa ’s feeding centers–orphanages, sharing meals with the children, many malnourished and some abandoned. The Kutukas were moved by the joy that these visits brought—both to their children and those at the centers. It was a lesson and an inspiration the family took to heart.

In the fall of 2001, family friends of the Kutukas, Patty and David Hallam, of South Burlington , Vermont and members of College Street Congregational Church, searched for a way to honor the memory of young Henriette and her family’s devotion to Kinshasa ’s orphans. After consulting with Baudouin and Masey, the two families founded the Henriette Kutuka Memorial Fund (HKMF).

The HKMF is a Congolese non-governmental organization currently funded by the College Street Congregational Church, private individuals and Wood’s Tea Company—a Vermont-based, national touring band.

To learn more about this important ministry, talk to Patty or David Hallam, or call the church for a copy of the “Church Missions booklet, “Doing Good Together.”