'He was a leader': Victim of COVID-19 honoured by family Congo Independence Day
The family of a man who died from COVID-19 in Manitoba last November is remembering his impact on the Congolese community in the province on the day the country celebrates its independence.
Jean Claude Dianzenza Bahati passed away at the age of 60 on Nov. 6, 2020, just days after testing positive for COVID-19. He was working at Victoria General Hospital at the time of his death as a health-care aide.
Paolla Mangiri, Bahati’s daughter, said her father was a man who liked to help people.
“If someone needed help, he worked to get that help if he could, and if he couldn’t, he would make sure that he was able to get someone to help them,” she said.
Outside of work, Bahati also was well respected in Winnipeg’s Congolese community, where he served as president of the Congolese Association of Manitoba for nearly three years. “It was something that was natural in him. He was a leader,” Mangiri said. “I think it was just something that was natural in him. It wasn’t trying to be a leader, but it was already in him, and he wanted to be the president so he could offer help for people to change their community, and make sure people could come into one agreement.”
Mangiri said it was important for her father to instill cultural pride in the community, and representing the community positively.
“I don’t recall him missing any event that was going on in Winnipeg that he was invited to,” she said. “He would take it so personally. If there was a funeral for someone who died in the community, he would make sure that he can attend.”
On June 30, the Democratic Republic of the Congo celebrates its independence from Belgium in 1960, an important day for Bahati and his family.
Mangiri said she wanted to pay respect to her father on that day.
“I just wanted everybody to know he was someone important, someone the community was always counted on,” she said.
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