FIBA - FIBA and FFBB donate to Dikembe Mutombo Foundation

GENEVA (FIBA) - On the occasion of their 75th anniversary the International Basketball Federation FIBA and the French Basketball Federation FFBB donated on Saturday 100’000,-- US$ to the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation. The check was presented during half-time of the 75th anniversary celebration game between Switzerland and France.

The donation will help funding the most important project of the foundation - the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center in Kinshasa, DR of - a new 10-acre, 300–bed facility, that will provide special care to the nation's poorest residents and train its health professionals with the latest innovations in health care. The hospital was inaugurated last week in the presence of Mr. Mutombo, who has personally contributed over $15 million toward the $29 million project.

FIBA is pleased to offer Dikembe Mutombo a cheque for his hospital in Kinshasa on the occasion of its 75th anniversary. “Dikembe Mutombo is one of the most outstanding personalities in basketball and a role model for all basketball players in the world – both off and on the court,” said FIBA Secretary General Patrick Baumann. “We are pleased to support his initiative in Kinshasa with a small contribution and hope that his projects will be a great example for others.”

His list of honors for achievements off the court is as long as his honors received for his achievements as one of the best basketball players in the world. The eight-time NBA All-star and four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year recently concluded his 15th NBA season. But it is his social engagements for over a dozen humanitarian organizations around the world that made him a national hero not only in the USA and in his native DR Congo but the whole African continent.

Dikembe Mutombo was born in the capital city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the seventh of ten children born to Samuel and the late Biamba Marie Mutombo. He arrived in the United States in 1987 on an academic scholarship to attend Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. and his dream was to become a medical doctor and return to the Congo to practice medicine.

But after Coach John Thompson invited the 2,20m (7'2") Mutombo to try out for the university's renowned basketball team, his career took a different direction. After joining the team, Mutombo re-directed his academic ambitions and graduated from Georgetown with dual degrees in Linguistics and Diplomacy. And he became one of the best big men of the game with a splendid career in the NBA.

But his dream to help his home country and improve the medical care conditions never disappeared: “Back in ‘97 I have realized that my dream to become a medical doctor has been taken away from basketball,” Mutombo reflects on this unforeseen change in life. “And I thought by myself – what can I do? And I just said to myself - let’s start a foundation and let’s build a 300 bed hospital in my hometown Kinshasa.” Mutombo created the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997 with the goal to raise funds for this ambitious project.

In September 1999 the Congolese government donated land for new hospital and on September 15, 2001, his dream became a reality as he witnessed the historic groundbreaking of the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center, a new 10-acre, 300–bed facility, dedicated to the memory of his beloved mother.

The hospital is one of the very few well-equipped and modern hospitals in the DR Congo. Mutombo believes the addition of this new facility will be effective in diminishing some of the major health gaps within his country: "The construction of this new hospital will benefit future generations by allowing them to lead healthy, productive lives."

The General Hospital will include state-of-the-art facilities and equipment, with inpatient beds, an outpatient clinic, emergency services, and a pharmacy. Researchers and clinicians will have access to the hospital's laboratories for biochemistry, hematology, bacterial, and parasitic sampling. Other specialized departments will offer services in surgery, obstetrical care, radiology, and nuclear medicine. The hospital's clinics will treat all conditions, offering expertise in heart and lungs, urology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology. In addition, the General Hospital will also treat specific health conditions, offering tests in gastroenterology, respiratory, allergies, echo- cardiology, electro cardiology, echo obstetrics, and dermatology.

The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation also cooperates with the health initiatives of other agencies such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). In 1999 he was appointed the first Youth Emissary for the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Donations can be submitted online on www.dmf.org where you can also find additional information on the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation and its activities.


Game Switzerland – France a great success

The game between Switzerland and France was a huge success. In front of a sell-out crowd the French team, which has high ambitions to qualify this summer at EuroBasket for the Beijing Olympic Games, was able to overcome Switzerland with 74-56 despite the efforts of the young Swiss superstar Thabo Sefolosha. The French team was forced to play without their key players Tony Parker and Boris Diaw.