Perle Noire is a Norwegian foundation that was founded on August 1, 2009. The founder, the artist Jessica Kiil, comes from the city of Bukavu in Congo. Humanitarian work has always been one of her passions.

 

Since her teens, she was worried about the other teenage street children who had no place to live or anyone who asked for them. That children sleep in the market was painful to watch. Under the Mobutu regime (Zaire) the situation worsened, a famine catastrophe and great poverty made it difficult for most people.

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Jessica's brothers and other volunteers started a foundation. CRER (Center de recuperation des enfants de la rue - Center for help for street children.) Here Jessica got the role of mother. She was 15 years old when, after school, she started visiting the market and caring for the orphans. The children called her mother - Mama.

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In 1993, war broke out in eastern Congo. Hundreds of new street children came to the streets of Bukavu, both Congolese children and children from Rwanda. The foundation's work got completely out of control. She lost many people, including her parents and two brothers. Fate eventually took Jessica to Norway, but she never stopped thinking about the children. She kept dreaming about them and how she could continue to help.

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Perle Noire also fights against the prostitution of teenagers and mothers in Bukavu. Over the course of three years, Perle Noire has saved more than 75 teenagers from prostitution through our sewing project. In 2006, Jessica started her artist career, focusing on her passion for music. The fate of Congo and Bukavu was always on her mind, and she was constantly working on plans to start a foundation again.

 

In 2009, she founded Perle Noire. The black pearls, as her father called the street children in Congo. (Black pearls are valuable and difficult to obtain.) She started by giving schooling to 10 girls and 10 boys. Today, Perle Noire has 120 children. One of the children has started at the University.

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