Powering Potential: Maïté Muamba

Meet, Maïté Muamba, Albemarle’s EMEA Events Manager

Maïté Powers Potential by teaching those in need the valuable skill of growing and harvesting their own vegetables.

There are many ways to spend a vacation. Some travel to new countries, others visit family or get some much-needed rest at home, but, Maïté Muamba, Albemarle’s Belgium-based EMEA Events Manager, recently devoted her annual vacation to a transformative volunteer experience in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Maïté, a member of the small nonprofit, humanitarian association called SAMPUKA asbl, launched a project that would help reduce hunger in Kasaï, the smallest, and one of the poorest, provinces in the Democratic Republic of Congo with neither water nor electricity.

“Even though the climate in Kasaï is good and the soil is fertile enough to produce two crops a year, people are still going hungry," said Maïté. “Vegetable growing is one of my hobbies so it became obvious to me that I needed to share my knowledge."

It took about a year for Maïté to finalize her project and decide to go to the DRC to teach the residents of Kasaï how to grow their own vegetables. She spent four weeks in the area and spoke to over 2,500 people to remind them how good their soil is and how easy it is to grow vegetables at home. As a result, Maïté trained 120 people, identified as “key users," that could help educate others on permaculture and waste management.

“The gardening project was proposed as a fun family activity, with fathers digging the permaculture holes, children gathering things to fill the holes and mothers planting the seeds," said Maïté. “Then after several weeks or months, the entire family can enjoy the fruits of their collective labor."

By spending her vacation helping a community that desperately needed it, Maïté truly exemplified the meaning of Powering Potential and our Core Value of Care.