10th August 2011

SoPPro launches a new project to foster links between Newport, Wales, and Bokoro, DRC. This includes the release of a new book in upcoming weeks and the creation of a steering group.

The South People’s Projects (SoPPro) is a small charity located in Newport that recently began work on the ‘Newport-Bokoro Links’ project. In many ways, the creation of this project fits into the ethos of the Millennium Development Goals. The MDGs encouraged ties between wealthy and less wealthy nations to make the realization of their aims possible, and SoPPro is working to foster lasting connections between Wales and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

As part of the ‘Newport-Bokoro Links’ initiative, in late August / early September 2011 a book called BAMONIMAMBO (The Witnesses): Rediscovering the Congo and the WALES Heritage. Migration, Integration and Inclusion in Multicultural and Tolerant Britain will be released. This will include interviews with historians specializing in Welsh and Congolese history, as well as research into lesser-known Welsh travellers who made a difference to the DRC, such as the explorer Sir Henry Morton Stanley. Also, the project is aiming to run a ‘Newport-Bokoro Cities Link Steering Group’ and to get organisations such as the British Council Wales involved.

SoPPro is currently appealing for donations. If you would like to help, or wish to be added to their mailing list, contact norbertmbu@yahoo.fr. Alternatively, if you represent a business and would like to advertise within the charity’s new book, get in touch with southpeopleprojects@yahoo.co.uk.