Phoenix Sun's center player, Bismack Biyombo, announced that he will donate the $1.3 million salary he will receive this year to the construction of a hospital in his homeland, the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Faithwire said the 29-year-old Bismack Biyombo intended to build the hospital in memory of his father, Francois, who died last August. Biyombo announced through a video released by his organization, the Bismack Biyombo Foundation.
Biyombo, who was reelected recently as one of the National Basketball Association Players Association's Executive Committee Vice Presidents, expressed to his agent his intent about the donation. He stressed that his agreement for playing this year should be devised in a way that would advance his cause for his country. This decision came after pausing from the game to re-evaluate his life after his father's death.
"While I was trying to figure out how to find something that would motivate me this year, I remember one day, I pick up the phone and called my agent. And said the only way I would do it this year was if we find a situation--one, that I fit in and two, that I would play for something," Biyombo said.
"I wanted to make this year about my dad because my dad spent most of his life making his life about me, my brothers and sisters, and servicing people. What I told my agent was my salary for this year would be going for the construction of a hospital back home to give hope to the hopeless," he added.
In the video posted by his foundation, Biyombo explained why he took a temporary leave from basketball and why he is giving his salary to build the hospital. Biyombo said he reflected on what happened in his life before his father died. His father had struggled with health problems before his demise.
Biyombo had to take his father to Europe using his own resources since there was inadequate medical care in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. This experience prompted him to create the hospital to give hope to the needy in his country and as a legacy of his father. He particularly wants those in his country to have better health care. It is his hope that the hospital would save lives.
"This is the best way I (think) that this year will be meaningful to me. It's not just the desire to go for a championship, but also the desire to save lives. And at the end of this season, I really want to be able to look back and say, 'I dedicated this season to my dad,'" he disclosed.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is so poor that 73% of the population or 60 million people lived on less than the international poverty rate of $1.90 per day based on 2018 data from the World Bank.
Yet Biyombo has been public not only of his Christian faith but of his pride in being Congolese. His bio for both Twitter and Instagram speaks of gratitude to God for the life he has. He even proclaims the greatness of God and desires a life of service.
Biyombo's passion for service is seen in previous years by working on projects that provide affordable health care access in his country even before his father's death. His foundation has refurbished a Kinshasa hospital, said to be the biggest in the country's capital, and in Lubumbashi, his own hometown. He also established a mobile clinic that serves pregnant women in giving birth. The basketball star is said to spend his basketball career in works of charity.
Accordingly, the Bismack Biyombo Foundation aims to help children achieve their full potential through athletics, education, and health. The foundation envisions creating opportunities for these three areas in the Democratic Republic of Congo. A vision that is founded on the belief that opportunities received are meant to benefit not only oneself but also others.
