The roads are full of processions of children at school time. Later, the school yard becomes a football pitch for young children who accost you, eager for a chance to meet the passing foreigner.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), as in many other developing countries, the age pyramid shows a population based on youth, the opposite of that in industrialised countries, whose active population will soon decline.

Behind this youthful and attractive image hides a less attractive reality. Congolese women often take responsibility for the education of the children as well as working in the fields, without considering their numerous pregnancies and all the inherent risks. The neo-natal mortality rate remains very high, principally because of lack of health-care during pregnancy and the lack of hygiene during birth.

A frightening statistic: an infant in DRC has a one in five chance of dying before the age of 5 following a respiratory infection! A moist, phlegmy cough is often heard from young children tied to the back of their mother or older sister. Due to lack of medicine but primarily due to a lack of basic care, lungs clog up and infections follow, requiring means of care which are much more expensive, often unavailable or out of the question because of cost. In Europe, parents of young children are aware of the benefits of respiratory physical therapy: through simple manipulation, one can loosen and unblock the lungs; it's the best prevention for pneumonia. A beneficial project would be to show young African mothers the use of these simple but life-saving exercises. Is physical therapy a luxury in developing countries? We are starting to consider this approach as a method of prevention.

As the end of the years beckons, a time that children the world over wait for eagerly, thank you for your long term support for this particularly deprived health zone.