Coco Tembo and FiFi Likyana came from around the world to partner with Habitat on their new home. Both born and educated in the Congo, Coco was a driver/ chauffer and his wife FiFi a nurse. They were able to move to the states through the help of FiFi’s sister, Cardy Likyana who has lived here in Champaign for several years. Cardy helped them move and establish residency in Champaign County. CoCo says, “Without Cardy’s help, we would still be living in the Congo and struggling to make ends meet.”
Since moving to the states, CoCo has been employed at Guardian West/Flex-n-Gate for the past 8 years. FiFi works at Express Services in Champaign. The couple now have 5 children; including a set of 3-year old twins, and a 7, 4 and 18 month old. Their home is definitely becoming a bit crowded. Their oldest daughter Tshesi is 7 and attends Kenwood School. Three other children will be attending Head Start this year, and FiFi is looking forward to having “more room” in her new Habitat home to raise her busy children.
The Tembo-Likyana family will be building their new home in Urbana-a long way from their humble roots in the Congo. “We know that we will have a better life for our children here in Champaign-Urbana” says CoCo. “In the Congo, we never seemed to have enough money to buy food or clothing. Here I can work to buy these things and take care of our family. Now we will be building a home with Habitat and we can hardly believe this is true!”