HISTORY OF MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Dikembe Mutombo Foundation - Timeline
December 1997: NBA All-Star Dikembe Mutombo creates the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in Atlanta, GA.
June 1998: The DMF hosts kick-off charity fundraiser in Washington, D.C.
June 1998: Congressman Louis Stokes (D-OH) recognizes the DMF on the House floor.
September 1998: "Dikembe Mutombo Foundation Day” proclaimed on September 26, 2025 by the City of Atlanta.
December 1998: Dikembe speaks at World Aids Day: Be a Force for Change at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia – co-sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control
January 1999: Dikembe Mutombo appointed first Youth Emissary for UNDP (United Nations Development Program).
July 1999: The DMF ships medical and pharmaceutical supplies to Kinshasa.
August 1999: Ed Bradley CBS Correspondent for "60 Minutes" accompanies Mutombo delegation to the Congo.
August 1999: Dikembe Mutombo records PSA's for National Immunization Days in the Congo. Polio eradication campaign reaches 8.2 million Congolese children under age five.
September 1999: Congolese government donates land for new hospital
September 1999: South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu gives Opening Remarks at DMF charity dinner.
September 1999: Dikembe receives USA Weekend's Most Caring Athlete Award.
October 1999: The DMF opens an office in Kinshasa, capital city in the DR Congo.
November 1999: The Foundation ships 140 hospital beds to the Congo.
February 2000: Dikembe Mutombo meets with William H. Gates, Sr. of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, WA.
April 2000: Dikembe Mutombo receives the Henry P. Iba Citizen Athlete Award
June 2000: Dikembe Mutombo awarded President's Service Award by President William J. Clinton.
July 2000: Dikembe Mutombo speaks at the 13th International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa
September 2000: The Foundation ships the only working ambulance to Kinshasa
September 2000: Dikembe Mutombo donates new computers to the Protestant University of the Congo and funds ten scholarships to the University.
September 2000: Dikembe speaks at Corporate Council for Africa event in New York.
May 2001: Dikembe receives the J. Walter Kennedy Citizenship Award from the NBA.
June 2001: U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan meets with Dikembe to enlist his support in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Africa.
July 2001: Dikembe tops annual list of pro athletes who care for The Sporting News.
August 2001: Dikembe Mutombo meets privately with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell to discuss health crisis in the Congo.
September 2001: groundbreaking ceremonies for new hospital held in the city of Kinshasa.
September 2001: Dikembe receives the 2001/2002 Trailblazer Award from the Constituency for Africa.
June 2002: Dikembe attends meeting of Goodwill Ambassadors and Messenger at the United Nations.
September 2002: Dikembe receives the first Samuel J. Halsey award from Georgetown University.
November 2002: Dikembe receives the American Public Health Association's International Health Section award in Philadelphia, PA.
January 2003: Dikembe Mutombo is appointed to the Advisory Board of the Fogarty International Center at the National Institutes of Health.
April 2003: Dikembe receives TIME magazine's European Hero award. Dikembe Mutombo appears on the cover issue.
July 2003: The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation and USAID open a computer lab with 20 new computers at the College John Mabuidi in Kinshasa. The school has 900 students.
September 2003: Dikembe Mutombo receives the Helen Hayes MacArthur Award from the Helen Hayes Hospital Foundation in New York. The gala, “Into the Heart of Africa” honored Dikembe Mutombo for his tremendous contributions to improving Africa’s medical care and quality of life. Helen Hayes hospital has been in operation for 103 years and is one of the nation’s leaders in physical rehabilitation medicine and research.
September 2003: The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation participates in a school-to-school program to promote cross-cultural understanding through a mutual exchange of ideas and information. Two educators from the DR Congo, Mr. Diwampangila Mambona and Mr. Don Lomingo Ntekwa travel to the U.S. for the exchange.
October 2003: Three educators from the Otwell Middle School in Cumming, Georgia travel to the DR Congo to visit the College John Mabuidi.
January 2004: The DMF purchases two additional ambulances for the capital city of Kinshasa.
February 2004: Dikembe Mutombo is invited to New York to speak at Africa Health Day organized by the World Health Organization. The Africa Health Day initiatives have focused on highlighting some of the partnerships between the private sector and civil society that are improving the health of women, men and children in Africa. These partnerships have led to the near elimination of river blindness and they are eradicating leprosy and polio.
February 2004: The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation sends 10,000 doses of albendazole to the Congo. Albendazole is a de-worming medication used to treat parasitic infections such as hookworm. Hookworm is a serious public health problem in Democratic Republic of Congo and is one of the most common parasitic infections of humans. Recent WHO estimates suggest that hookworm infects 740 million worldwide and 198 million in sub-Saharan Africa. Scientific studies have shown that hookworm and other intestinal parasites can contribute towards malnutrition and anemia. Heavy loads of these parasites are also associated with poor school attendance and poor educational performance. April 2004, Africa Malaria Day. Dikembe Mutombo records public service announcements for the Roll Back Malaria program to increase awareness, more protection and better treatment for malaria, which kills 3000 children every day. Malaria is the number-one disease in the DR Congo in terms of morbidity and mortality. These PSA’s were recorded in French, Swahili and Lingala encouraging Africans to use insecticide treated mosquito nets to prevent malaria.
May 2004: Dikembe Mutombo receives Honorary Degree (Doctor of Humane Letters) for his humanitarian work from SUNY/Cortland.
May 2004: Dikembe Mutombo joins Bono, lead singer of the rock band U-2 to launch the ONE CAMPAIGN; a new effort to rally Americans to help fight global AIDS and Poverty.
May 2004: Dikembe is invited to speak at a session, "Global Sports and Development at the European Foundation Center's 15th Annual General Assembly and Conference in Athens, Greece.
June 2004: Foundation ships two ambulances to Kinshasa.
September 2004: The Dikembe Mutombo Foundation opens new dormitories at the Ithuteng Trust School in Soweto, South Africa. The Ithuteng Trust is a Youth Educational Development and Empowerment Programme launched in 1999 by the former president, Nelson Mandela. Its objective is to create a platform where previously and currently disadvantaged youth in the townships can be developed as young people in order for them to be empowered adults and citizens of South Africa. The whole being - spiritually, intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally needs to be acknowledged for the young person to be a fully functional human being. The participants are between the ages of 10 and 24. Of the program participants, 70% come from homes where their parent/s have been killed violently, 25% have been sexually abused, and 95% have been criminally active. No staff is employed. The students take charge of the program themselves. Those who have completed secondary school studies, continue to 'give back'. The program is financially sustained through long-term partnerships and foreign donor support.
January 2005: Dikembe Mutombo selected by the World Economic Forum as one of the 237 Exceptional Leaders to Participate in new major global undertaking to shape the future. This new global undertaking, The Forum of Young Global Leaders, brings together outstanding leaders, aged 40 years or younger, who have committed to devote part of their knowledge and energy over the next five years to collectively work towards a better future.
September 2005: Dikembe Mutombo invited to Yale School of Medicine and delivers Keynote Address. He was awarded the first African-American Legacy Council Creed Medal on behalf of the Communities of Color Initiative of the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven. The award honors Courtlandt Van Rensselaer Creed, the first African-American graduate of the Yale School of Medicine.
January 2007: President George W. Bush in his State of the Union Address recognizes Dikembe Mutombo for his humanitarian work in Africa.
February 2007: Dikembe Mutombo receives the Jackie Robinson Humanitarian Award from the United States Sports Academy. At the presentation, Mutombo received the Academy's Order of the Eagle Exemplar.
July 2007: Dedication ceremony for the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center in Kinshasa, DR Congo.
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