Malaika Presentation by Noella Coursaris
Noëlla Coursaris Musunka, a Cypriot-Congolese philanthropist and international model is the Founder of Malaika, a grassroots non-profit that works to educate and empower girls and communities in her home country of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Noëlla was discovered and began her modelling career just after graduating from school. As her career took off and she took her talents to the global stage, she discovered a platform from which to share her passion for human rights. Fiercely proud of her African heritage, her determination to help improve the lives of Africa’s youth has made her an international advocate for their welfare.
Fuelled by this commitment, Noëlla founded Malaika alongside a team of pro bono professionals from around the world. Today, Malaika’s education and health programs are impacting thousands of people’s lives in Congo and are all offered free of charge. Malaika’s work has three components: an accredited school that provides a quality education to 314 girls; a community centre that offers a range of programs to 7,000 youth and adults; and a clean water program that has built and refurbished 17 wells to supply fresh water to over 30,000 people each year.
Since 2017, Noëlla has served as an Ambassador for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria and, as of 2018, also serves as Ambassador for Black Opal makeup and one of the faces for Max Factor’s latest campaign. Noëlla’s work with Malaika and The Global Fund has made her one of the most sought-after speakers on the subjects of education and health in Sub-Saharan Africa. In 2017, Noella was honored as one of the BBC’s 100 Most Influential and Inspirational Women of the Year, and in fall of 2018she received an award from the House of Mandela at the Forever Young Ball for her work in educating and advocating for girls in the DRC.
The event is organised by the Cyprus High Commission under the auspices of His Excellency the High Commissioner of Cyprus, Mr Euripides L. Evriviades.
Please RSVP here.
Instagram, Facebook and Twitter: @malaikaDRC
