Steungroep
Mpokolo Congo vzw

Alloo with Ivo
April 18, 2022

In VTM’s “Alloo in the foreign prison” reporting series, Luk Alloo also went to the “Prison Centrale” in Kananga. There, of course, Père Ivo was the perfect person to guide and inform Luk Alloo. It became a gripping report, broadcast on March 16, 2017. [⇒ The reportage can be re-watched on VTM GO via this link, or via VTM GO on your smart TV (season 2, episode 2)].

We thought Ivo’s planned leave of absence in the spring of 2020 was an appropriate time to get Ivo and Luk Alloo back together for an info-moment. However, the corona pandemic put sticks in the wheels: Fr. Ivo was forced to postpone his leave. But postponed is not lost…

On Easter Monday, April 18, 2022, we organized “Alloo with Ivo” at the Don Bosco Parish in Buizingen.

We welcomed more than a hundred attendees.

The more than one hundred people present – Ivo was visibly pleased – also heard during that talk how Ivo remains committed to his people, investigating all possibilities for improvement, either to persuade the Congolese authorities to make more efforts, or to encourage cooperation with other local aid organizations, or to convince donor agencies in Belgium and the Netherlands.

Flower arrangement making workshop

It was also possible to register in advance to attend, before the interview, a floral arrangement making workshop. About eleven creative people then set to work, with the results below: some beautiful pieces of work.

Varied cold buffet

Meanwhile, a crew of diligent people is working to serve the varied cold buffet in a timely manner.

The total proceeds of this day (Buffet, drinks, raffle, flower arranging and donations) amounted to 2890.50 euros! Many thanks on behalf of the children of Mpokolo wa Muoyo.

Tombola

In advance, we had appealed via Facebook and the neighborhood network Hoplr to bring in tombola prizes. There was a very enthusiastic response to this request, so we were able to raffle off more than 100 prizes for our tombola. This gave us a nice yield of 585 euros!