DC Metro Sports - Mutumbo to Open Hospital in Congo

Washington, D.C. – Former Georgetown University men’s basketball player Dikembe Mutombo has been recognized as one of the most charitable athletes in professional sports. Earlier this year, Mutombo was tabbed as the most generous athlete by FoxSports.com and he was once the recipient of the “Most Caring Athlete Award” from USA Today Magazine.

Early next month, Mutombo will add to his legacy, as the former Hoya All-American will open the doors to the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital and Research Center in his native Congo on September 2

The 300-bed facility in his hometown of Kinshasa hopes to receive patients a few weeks later, pending the shipment of equipment and the arrival of a sterilizer. The hospital and research center – named in honor of his late mother – will include a pediatric wing, surgery suites and a women's center. Mutombo donated $15 million of the $29 million cost for the facility. “We were very close," Mutombo said Monday in a telephone interview. "To do something of this caliber in the name of your beloved mom, it will mean a lot not just to me but to the people of Congo." “Dikembe could have enjoyed all the luxuries and creature comforts of (the USA) and not been concerned,” former Georgetown men’s basketball coach John Thompson, Jr. said. “I’m proud that he’s applying his education, applying the values his parents taught him and helping people.” The project was started in 1997 through the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation, which the is attempting to eradicate many childhood diseases that have virtually disappeared in developed countries while those diseases are still life threatening to children in the Congo everyday. Having played basketball in the NBA for the better part of a decade, Mutombo spends the off-season traveling throughout Africa on behalf of the NBA, performing at free basketball clinics for as many as 2,000 children per day. Giving back has always been a trademark of Mutombo ever since he entered the NBA in 1991. As spokesman for CARE, the international relief agency, Mutombo visited the Somali refugee camps in Northern Kenya in 1993 and traveled with NBA Commissioner David Stern and Georgetown colleagues Patrick Ewing and Alonzo Mourning to Cape Town and Johannesburg.

In 1996, Mutombo paid for the Zairian women’s basketball team’s trip to Atlanta for the Olympics and also picked up the tab for the track team’s uniforms and expenses.

Recently, Mutombo and Hall of Famer Bob Lanier led a contingent of current and former players who served as coaches for the Basketball Without Borders Africa initiative, which took place in Johannesburg, South Africa. It was second year of the program and the 100 participants were selected from more than 20 countries in Africa, based on their basketball skills, leadership abilities and dedication to the sport. In addition to the on-court instruction, the program featured extensive community outreach and incorporates educational seminars addressing important social issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention and education.

Mutombo played at Georgetown from 1988-91, averaging 9.8 points and 8.6 rebounds in 96 career games. He ranks seventh all-time in rebounding at Georgetown, pulling down 823 boards, and is third all-time with 354 blocked shots.

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