ESIMBI Social Enterprise Launch

Nov. 3, 2015 - PRLog -- Tina Lobondi is a renowned Fashion Designer based in London, UK. Her eponymous label will be celebrating five successful years on the catwalk at Poland Fashion Week, this month. Tina has received accolades for her high-end creations including “Designer of the Year” at Women 4 Africa, and “Pride of Africa” at the Barcelona Fashion Week. Her elite clientele includes red carpet stars Angelique Kidjo, and Thandie Newton; Thandie is a proud supporter of the ESIMBI vision.

ESIMBI (meaning “it works” in Lingala, one of the languages spoken in the Democratic Republic of Congo) is a new social enterprise set-up primarily to provide vocational training with secured employment (via an Apprenticeship Project and an Apprenticeship Resource Hub) to young adults in the UK and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in collaboration with its alliance charities; Rejeer, Educate Congo and Malaika – Spokespeople from each gave presentations on the night, highlighting how much ESIMBI is needed… And it was Tina’s emotional speech of gratitude that brought it home to the attendees of what a difference her charity will make to so many young lives in the UK as well as in the Congo.

Tina believes “ESIMBI will provide a platform to assist young and talented adults in forging successful career paths armed with profession-specific vocational education. ESIMBI aims to assist a minimum of twenty young adults within its apprenticeship programme each year. Its guiding principles are embedded within our motto:

‘Inspire | Empower | Achieve’…”

The venue was an ideal setting for an arts and education social enterprise launch, with an exhibition of African art in the space during the event by Congolese artist Aimé Mpané. The Auction Room showcased Mpané’s first solo exhibition in the UK: “No More Candy”. The title refers to a tendency towards superficial gestures, such as giving sweets to children, rather than a long-term, holistic strategy in the Congo. The colours were vibrant, pieces striking and overall thought provoking… A perfect backdrop for the evening’s presentations, live music, display of stunning furniture, and a fabulous fashion show of Tina’s designs, ended by the X-Factor/Celebrity Big Brother beauty Chloe-Jasmine Whichello.

It is clear from the art exhibition and the fashion show that there is much talent to be nurtured in young people and ESIMBI aims to do just that.

http://www.esimbi.org