Noëlla Coursaris Musunka was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo to a Cypriot father and a Congolese mother.

At five years old, her life will forever change after the sudden death of her father. Noëlla’s mother, who wasn’t very educated, wanted her daughter to have opportunities she never had herself. As difficult as it was, she had to send Noëlla abroad, to live with relatives in Europe.

While living with relatives, Noëlla was able to pursue her education. With her determination, she progressed in school, completing her higher education with a degree in Business Management. But this would only be the beginning of an amazing journey. Shortly after completing her degree, Noëlla’s friend registered her to participate in a modeling competition, from which Noëlla was chosen to appear in a campaign for Agent Provocateur.

This was the beginning of her journey as a changemaker. Through the first campaign, many more followed. Noëlla participated in campaigns in New York, Paris, London and with modeling, she appeared on pages of fashion magazines such as Vogue, Elle and Vanity Fair to a global stage.

Noëlla had lived away from home for thirteen years. She would occasionally have phone calls with her mother, and they exchanged few letters too during that time.

At eighteen years old, Noëlla returned home to see her mother. While there, she witnessed firsthand the poverty and lack of opportunity that existed for her mother and other women in her community. That was when Noëlla decided to do something about it.

“My message to every child, to every young girl, is this: take your opportunity, go to school. Educate yourself. Become pioneers of education and pioneers of Africa and the world.”

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka

In 2007, Noëlla founded Malaika, a nonprofit organization that empowers Congolese girls, women and their communities through education and health programs. It impacts thousands of lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo through its provided services.

Malaika, “Angel” in Swahili, has four programs:

1. School

A school, build in 2011, which provides a free, accredited primary and secondary education to 370 girls, ranging from STEM and coding to art, music, theater and sports. © Malaika Foundation

2. Community Center

A community Center where the Kalebuka Football for Hope Center, in partnership with FIFA, offers free literacy and vocational education, health classes, and sports programming to over 5,000 youth and adults in the wider community.

3. Nutrition

Nutrition through which organic food is grown locally on Malaika’s premises, providing students and staff with two healthy meals per day.

4. Clean Water

Clean Water which is provided by Malaika through the building and refurbishment of 20 wells. More than 30,000 people now have access to clean, safe drinking water each year.

Before Malaika, the village of Kalebuka in southeast DRCongo had no access to electricity, clean water, or educational facilities.

As a response to Covid-19, the government had ordered the closing of schools. Despite Malaika school and community center being closed, Malaika continued to positively impact the local community by supporting it during these uncertain times.

The price of food in the area has increased by 5 times as a result of the global crisis created by Covid-19.
To relieve the community of such a burden of limited access to food, for several months, Malaika distributed desperately needed food and necessities were given to people in surrounding villages. The organization is actively providing sanitation and prevention education by teaching local people about proper hand washing, safe hygiene practices and more.

During this pandemic, local medical staff is the last line of defense for Malaika. Covid19RDC, an initiative started by members of Malaika’s STEM program along with local experts, produced 1,200 protective face shields which were distributed to more than 60 nearby hospitals at no cost to them and students. Malaika was able to open for several weeks in August. Government regulations ordered the school and community center to close down again until October. Malaika can’t wait to see its students back in their classrooms once again.

Noëlla continues to use her platform to stress the importance of girls’ education which she believes is the key to unlocking the potential of future generations and society as a whole. Her approach with Malaika has inspired so many due to the success and impact of such an initiative.

Noëlla has appeared at numerous world-class forums such as the World Economic Forum in Davos and at universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Harvard, and MIT, where she shared her insights on the impact of education, especially among the students at Malaika.

Having worked with a number of global corporations, Noëlla is also a Concordia Advisor. Named one of the BBC’s 100 Most Influential & Inspirational Women of the Year, and more recently given an award from the House of Mandela at the Nelson Mandela centenary celebration, Noëlla is a true example of dedicated service and advocacy.
’Modeling with meaning’ has always been a value which Noëlla has maintained throughout her modeling career and thus she collaborates on projects with brands that help raise awareness of her philanthropic work.

”We are half of the world’s population, but on a global scale, our education is neglected compared to [that of] young men…Some of the most significant achievements have been made by women…Just think of how much more could have been achieved if we weren’t held back by society.”

Noëlla Coursaris Musunka in her 2017 Vogue interview

Volunteer and/or Donate to Malaika Foundation to support the organization with its mission to change lives in Kalebuka and the world. Visit www.malaika.org for more info.