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21-584: Kimwenza is on a plateau above the main city of Kinshasa. It is near to the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya . It is a station on the Matadi–Kinshasa Railway , built between 1890 and 1898 to connect Matadi with Kinshasa , bypassing the unnavigable Livingstone Falls . In June 1893, Jesuits settled on the Ndjili River in what is now Masina . They were the first Catholic missionaries in the area. Within

42-415: A garden peasantry to provide fruit and vegetables to the capital. This practice was revived after independence, trying to meet demand as the city's population expanded from 400,000 in 1969 to an estimated 3.2 million by 1990. The Union of Market Garden Cooperatives of Kinshasa was established on 27 November 1987. There were 32 member cooperatives in 2004, each supporting an agricultural center and managing all

63-548: A month they moved away from the unhealthy, swampy conditions that they found, to Kimwenza. The Saint Mary 's mission, founded in July 1893, included a school to train African boys destined for the army or the priesthood. The Jesuits felt it was essential for nuns to come and work with the local women and children, believing that Christianity would only take root if the women of the family were believers. The Sisters of Our Lady of Namur set up

84-603: A plain surrounded by hills drained by numerous local rivers, of which the Nsele and Ndjili are important tributaries of the Congo River . The climate is tropical , with a dry season and a rainy season. Kinshasa lies just downstream of the Malebo Pool , where the Congo River widens to 25 kilometres (16 mi) across for a length of about 35 kilometres (22 mi). The Malebo Pool has an area of 50,000 hectares (120,000 acres), with

105-607: A positive note, after a four-year 51 million euro project financed by the World Bank , in 2009 the Ndjili plant doubled its capacity to 330,000 cubic metres (12,000,000 cu ft) daily, providing nearly 65% of Kinshasa's water supply. In 1954 the Belgian colonial administration distributed land to women and the unemployed in the marshy region of the Ndijili River in an effort to create

126-501: A school there, in 1894. By 1900, the Jesuit priests were educating 100 boys, and the nuns had 169 girls. While the priests always saw one of their goals as being to educate trainee priests, the sisters were at first only concerned with teaching Christianity to future wives and mothers. In the early 1920s, local women also began to ask to join the sisters. The mission was the origin for numerous religious houses and schools. The Lycée de Kimwenza

147-468: A substitute human mother, but are usually quickly ready to be integrated into a peer group, and shortly afterwards into one of the large mixed-age social groups. Petites Chutes de la Lukaya 4°29′09″S 15°16′01″E  /  4.48571°S 15.267083°E  / -4.48571; 15.267083 The Petites Chutes de la Lukaya ( French ; "Small falls of the Lukaya") is a set of small waterfalls on

168-468: Is now one of the best regarded schools of the city. The Soeurs Clarisses had a convent at Kimwenza. During the troubles of 1996, it was ransacked by Rwandan soldiers. In October 1951 the Kisantu University was moved to Kimwenza. The new location had the advantage of being closer to Leopoldville. However, a site further north about 300 hectares (740 acres) in size on the crest called Mont Amba had

189-675: The Limete commune in two phases, one funded by Belgium in 1971 and the second by Germany in 1982. The French agreed to finance a second station on the Ndjili, but suspended aid to Mobutu in October 1991. A third Ndjili station funded by the Japanese was also cancelled due to the September 1991 lootings. The result was a failure to meet even minimum water supply needs. The river catchment has sandy soils and steep topography, as with other rivers that supply

210-685: The Lukaya River . They are just south of Kinshasa , the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo . They are about 1 metre (3.3 ft) high. During the colonial era, Jesuits who settled on the Ndjili River in June 1893 at Kimbangu, in what is now Masina , were the first Catholic missionaries in the area. Within a month of their arrival, they moved away from the unhealthy, swampy conditions that they found there to relocate to Kimwenza , near

231-558: The Mbamu island occupying the central part. It is almost 300 metres (980 ft) above sea level, surrounded at some distance by hills that rise to 718 metres (2,356 ft) above sea level. Along the southern shore of the Pool, the land is swampy between the mouths of the Nsele and Ndjili rivers, a distance of 30 kilometres (19 mi), with the swamps covering 10,800 hectares (27,000 acres). The swamps extend 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) inland along

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252-474: The Ndjili. During the colonial era, Jesuits who settled on the Ndjili River in June 1893 at Kimbangu, in what is now Masina , were the first Catholic missionaries in the area. However, within a month they moved away from the unhealthy, swampy conditions that they found to Kimwenza , near the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya These are small falls on the Lukaya River , a tributary of the Ndjili that enters from

273-616: The Petites Chutes de la Lukaya since 2002. Ndjili River The Ndjili River ( French : Rivière Ndjili ) is a river that flows from the south through the capital city of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo , where it joins the Congo River . It separates the districts of Tshangu and Mont Amba . The river gives its name to the Ndjili commune and to the Ndjili International Airport . Kinshasa lies in

294-493: The Petites Chutes de la Lukaya. The low waterfalls empty into a small lake with a sandy beach. They are an attraction to tourists who come to swim, or eat at the nearby restaurant. The Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary for endangered bonobos , which is adjacent to the falls, is also of interest to tourists. The sanctuary was founded by Claudine André of the NGO The Friends of Bonobos in Congo , in 1994, and has been located at

315-579: The advantage of being even closer to the city, and in April 1952 the governor general Eugène Jungers ceded ownership of the site to the university. In July 1954 the university was placed under the direction of the Jesuits of the Catholic University of Louvain , and named Lovanium University . While the Jesuits aimed to educate an African elite, the Belgian colonial administration was hostile to this goal, and it

336-402: The city. With clearing of the forests, there has been growing soil erosion, leading to sediment pollution. When turbidity levels rise above the 1,000 NTU limit, which has often been reported in the Ndjili and Lukaya rivers during the rainy season, water purification plants have to stop their operations. Imported chemical coagulants and imported lime are needed to keep the plants in operation. On

357-403: The main language of Kinshasa. In 2012, Lola ya Bonobo was home to 60 bonobos who live in 30 hectares of primary forest. Typically, bonobos arrive as young infants. The bushmeat trade in Congo sees hundreds of bonobos killed each year for meat and the infants are sold as pets. When confiscated, these infant bonobos are taken to Lola ya Bonobo. They begin life at the sanctuary with close care from

378-416: The market gardeners working on the site. A 2005 survey showed that most market gardeners were skilled farmers growing crops to make a living. They used manual techniques, the hoe being the main tool. The gardeners had little education and were extremely poor, living in unsanitary conditions. Problems included difficulty in obtaining seeds, fertilizers, farm tools and irrigation water, theft of vegetables during

399-609: The night, poor roads, infectious diseases, lack of electricity and flooding. Human African trypanosomiasis , or sleeping sickness, is a disease that usually only occurs in rural locations, since it is spread by tsetse flies that need a combination of forest and water to thrive. Between 1970 and 1995, about 39 cases per year were reported in Kinshasa. Numbers of documented cases (which may have been affected by improved screening) jumped to 254 cases in 1996, 226 in 1997, 433 in 1998 and 912 in 1999. Counts of tsetse flies from insect traps along

420-531: The west, after running along the southern boundary of present-day Kinshasa . The Ndjili provides the main supply of water to Kinshasa , but tends to be polluted with human waste. Kinshasa had two water treatment stations before independence, one on the Lukunga River and one at Ngaliema bay on the Congo River . By 1985, they were both extremely dilapidated. A new station was built on the Ndikili at Kingbabwe in

441-742: Was only in 1956 that they recognized the university. After independence it was to become the University of Kinshasa . Since 2002, the Lola ya Bonobo sanctuary, founded by Claudine André , has been located just south of Kimwenza at the Petites Chutes de la Lukaya . Bonobos are an endangered species which only exist in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the wild. They are the great ape most closely related to humans, and even more intelligent than chimpanzees. Lola ya Bonobo means 'paradise for bonobos' in Lingala ,

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