A child hood marked through resilience

Orphaned nine months after her birth, Denise Nyakeru was taken in in Kinshasa, along with her siblings, by their maternal uncle, Father Sylvestre Ngami Mudahwa, a Catholic chaplain for the Zairian Armed Forces. He adopted them and oversaw their upbringing. The tragic death of this guardian in a traffic accident in 1985 was a second blow. But far from weakening her, the ordeal forged a personality resolutely focused on others. "Pain can either shut you away or prepare you to serve others," she would later say. After obtaining her state diploma, she continued her studies in Belgium, where she chose a profoundly human path: nursing.

A caregiver before being First lady

For several years, Denise Nyakeru worked as a caregiver at Les Jardins d’Ariane, a retirement home in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert, Brussels. It was a discreet and demanding job, involving daily contact with vulnerability, dependency, and the end of life. “Caring, listening, respecting the patient’s dignity: these are lessons I have never forgotten,” she explains. She left this position shortly before her husband’s election to the presidency. But the ethics of care, listening, and human dignity would remain the guiding principles of her future endeavors.

The Denise Nyakeru Foundation : health as a foundation

Established in May 2019 as the Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi Foundation (FDNT), the initiative spearheaded by the First Lady has gradually become a leading player in the socio-health and educational sectors in the Democratic Republic of Congo. It now bears a new name: the LONA Foundation. In Lingala, Lona means "to sow." This highly symbolic choice encapsulates the organization's philosophy: to sow excellence, education, and hope in order to contribute to building a more just, stronger, and more united Congo. For the past five years, the Foundation has focused its efforts on long-term sustainability, with a vision centered on human dignity and social equity.

The LONA Foundation structures its interventions around four strategic areas, closely linked to women's overall health:

·         Women's health, considered as the basis of all sustainable development;

·         The education of young girls, particularly those from vulnerable backgrounds;

·         The fight against gender-based violence, with its serious medical, psychological and social consequences;

·         Economic empowerment, an essential condition for breaking the cycle of dependency and violence.

"A healthy, educated and protected woman is a force for her family and for the nation," the First Lady regularly reminds us.

Through scholarship programs, awareness campaigns, as well as prevention and care actions, the LONA Foundation is part of an integrated public health approach, attentive to the social determinants of the disease and the realities of Congolese women, especially the most vulnerable.

Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi, crowned Rose the Godmother 2025-2026

The fight against women's cancers in the DRC has reached a major symbolic milestone. At the First National Roundtable on Women's Cancers, the First Lady was officially named Rose Patron for 2025-2026. This distinction recognizes her ongoing commitment to the health of women and children, particularly through the actions undertaken by the LONA Foundation, which focus on prevention, awareness, and solidarity.

A powerful symbol for the fight against women's cancers

The title of Rose Godmother goes beyond the scope of a formal tribute. It recognizes an ambassador for the women's cause, a face of resilience, and a voice of hope.

“Being a Pink Godmother means encouraging every woman to no longer be afraid to seek medical advice, to speak out, to get screened, and to believe in life,” emphasized a participant at the National Round Table on Women’s Cancers held in Kinshasa in October 2025. This meeting brought together government authorities, healthcare professionals, civil society organizations, and international partners, all mobilized around a common goal: to strengthen the fight against women’s cancers in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Health Minister Roger Kamba emphasized the collective importance of this fight: “The fight against cancer goes beyond the medical field. It is a collective battle that requires everyone’s responsibility.” Discussions highlighted the need to strengthen prevention efforts, promote early detection, and improve patient care, particularly in rural areas where access to healthcare remains limited. 

Female leadership sustainable action

Under the leadership of the First Lady, the LONA Foundation has expanded its awareness campaigns across the provinces, supported the training of medical personnel, and facilitated access to free screening for thousands of women. “This award recognizes female leadership that transforms awareness into sustainable action,” commented a member of the organizing committee. By becoming the 2025–2026 Pink Ribbon Sponsor, Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi embodies hope, strength, and national solidarity in the fight against women’s cancers. Her message is clear: to mobilize every citizen, every community, and every institution around women's health, to transform fear into courage, silence into speech, and awareness into concrete action.

Excellence, the key word of the First Lady

For Mrs. Denise Nyakeru Tshisekedi, First Lady of the Democratic Republic of Congo, excellence is neither a slogan nor a pose: it is the foundation of her social and educational vision. Discreet yet influential, she has established herself as a key player in the presidential entourage, whose commitment to Congolese human capital is gaining visibility and impact.

A healthy, educated, and protected woman is a force for her family and for the nation.

Fostering and maintaining a culture of excellence led the First Lady to structure her thinking around the creation of the Academic Excellence Award, part of an ambitious ten-year program. This program includes, over the next five years, the awarding of 100 local university scholarships and 1,000 international university scholarships, aimed at training a new generation of competent and committed leaders.

But this vision extends beyond the purely academic sphere. In a context marked by recurring health crises and the structural challenges facing the Congolese healthcare system, the First Lady advocates for strategic planning based on training qualified human resources and developing modern infrastructure. To guarantee equitable access to quality care, training highly skilled healthcare professionals is an essential priority. With this in mind, discussions are underway regarding extending the Excellentia Prize to medical and healthcare fields, in order to promote excellence not only in schools but also within healthcare facilities.

Promoting excellence in schools and hospitals: this is the major challenge set by the First Lady. It is a long-term ambition that could, in the long run, permanently transform the foundations of the Congolese education and healthcare systems.