Education Sponsorship
Shalina’s dedication to educational opportunities in Katanga province began in 2008 with a US$100,000 donation to the University of Lubumbashi. The relationship has matured further and in March 2010 Shalina Resources donated US$48,500 to fund the University.
Opening Kapamba School
SRL erected a school in the Kapamba region. In addition to the school the company also built a medical clinic and a bridge. The bridge will permit the farmers on the opposite side of the river to bring their produce to the main road and reach the markets of Kolwezi.
The Provincial Minister of Mines Mr Juvenile Kitugua attended the opening ceremony on 20th November 2009. It took 6 months to construct the school, medical dispensary and a house for the chief of the village. The school accommodates 110 boys and 92 girls, children from age 5 to 12 years old. The cost was $118,500.
Healthcare
Through the group’s Shalina Foundation, Shalina Resources has directly invested in healthcare services in the DRC, particularly in Lubumbashi and the Katanga province in general.
In December 2007 the Shalina Eye Clinic was inaugurated to support the free treatment of common eye infections and diseases which would otherwise have been left untreated. The clinic has a specially trained and dedicated Congolese staff count of 70. It strives to provide quality, subsidised and free eye-care to all members of society. Outreach camp visits are conducted free of charge and these reach people who simply have no means to get to the clinic.
Results from eye clinic:
- 2008 outpatient department saw 41,271 patients and conducted 1,083 surgeries
- 2009 outpatient department saw 35,032 patients and conducted 1,284 surgeries
The Shalina Polyclinic was established a year earlier in 2006 to provide free healthcare treatment to over 2500 local staff and their families. Given the size of families the number of people eligible for treatment at this clinic totally free of charge is up to 8,000. Blood tests, treatment for malaria and many more treatments are carried out and financed by the Shalina Foundation.
The polyclinic has an in house technical laboratory that can provide quality analytical tests in the fields of biochemistry, microbiology, haematology, among others. This laboratory also aims to become established as the premier blood bank service in Lubumbashi.
In 2010 on the 50th Anniversary of the Independence of D.R. Congo from their Belgian colonizer the chairman of Shalina Foundation Mr Shiraz Virji participated in the program of “5’Chanties” promoted by President Joseph Kabila.Shalina Polyclinic conducted free surgeries for cleft lip defects. 106 free surgeries were performed at the clinic.