By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer | San Antonio Express-News (SAEN), 2025-04-02 05:15:11
由生成式人工智能翻译，译文内容可能不准确或不完整，以原文为准。
圣安东尼奥马刺队的俾斯麦·比永博 (Bismack Biyombo)（18号）与金州勇士队的乔纳森·库明加 (Jonathan Kuminga)（00号）交谈。图片拍摄于2025年3月30日星期日，金州勇士队对阵圣安东尼奥马刺队的比赛，地点在霜冻银行中心。
去年九月，名人堂成员迪肯贝·穆托姆博(Dikembe Mutombo)因脑癌去世，NBA总裁亚当·萧华(Adam Silver)盛赞他作为球员和人道主义者的卓越成就。
“在球场上，他是NBA历史上最伟大的盖帽手和防守球员之一，”萧华说道。“在球场下，他全心全意地帮助他人。”
俾斯麦·比永博(Bismack Biyombo)作为球员虽不及穆托姆博，但这位马刺中锋正成功地沿着他的同胞和导师开辟的道路，帮助刚果民主共和国（DRC）。
“他为我们制定了蓝图，”比永博谈到穆托姆博对当代非洲球员的影响时说。“他让我们相信我们可以达到这个水平，然后回馈并影响我们的社区。”
比永博本周末抵达波特兰，但他的心思远不止抢篮板、盖帽和挡拆。
毫无疑问：这位征战了14个赛季的职业球员已准备好参加周日对阵开拓者的比赛，尽其所能帮助马刺队获胜。
但由于他的祖国正面临一场人道主义危机，这场危机源于长达数十年的冲突，并且由于特朗普政府解散了美国国际开发署（USAID）及其许多援助刚果的项目而变得更加严重，比永博所关心的远不止篮球。
“我认为现在有超过两百万的难民，”32岁的比永博在谈到刚果民主共和国东部的危机时说。“我去看望过他们，也看到了他们的生活条件。情况非常危急。而这还是在他们接受到非常少的援助的情况下。现在想象一下，如果没有那一点点援助，情况会变成什么样。”
迪肯贝·穆托姆博 (Dikembe Mutombo) 在2008年与火箭队效力五个赛季后的退役新闻发布会上，无论场上场下都是一个伟岸的人物。
非洲持续时间最长的战争之一——自1996年以来，这场冲突已导致约六百万人死亡——在今年一月急剧升级，当时卢旺达支持的M23反叛分子占领了戈马，美联社称这座拥有78.2万人口的城市为“拥有数万亿美元矿产财富的地区的中心，这些财富在很大程度上尚未开发，对世界大部分地区的技术至关重要。”
然后在二月份，唐纳德·特朗普(Donald Trump)总统上任后迅速采取行动，结束了美国国际开发署（USAID），该机构拥有约400亿美元的年度预算，用于资助关键的对外援助项目，因为他的政府认为该机构存在严重的欺诈行为，但这一说法遭到了其支持者的反驳。
上周五，美国国务院正式宣布，在特朗普政府赢得了一起联邦法院案件，挑战由埃隆·马斯克(Elon Musk)领导的政府效率部的削减成本行动后，将关闭美国国际开发署。联合国表示，美国国际开发署的消亡正值刚果民主共和国有2800万人面临严重饥饿之际。
全球发展中心（Center for Global Development）是一家总部位于华盛顿和伦敦的非营利性智库，专注于国际发展，该中心估计，削减对美国国际开发署项目的资金将使刚果民主共和国损失3.87亿美元，其中超过80%用于健康和人道主义援助。
“这些美国国际开发署的削减将对数百万依赖人道主义援助生存的世界上最脆弱的人们产生直接而毁灭性的影响，” 反贫困组织乐施会美国分会(Oxfam America)的刚果民主共和国国家主任马南吉·曼贡杜(Manenji Mangundu)在一份新闻稿中说。
“对于刚果民主共和国东部已经因冲突加剧而急需食物、水和住所的50万人来说，这种影响将是直接且危及生命的。”
比永博不理解美国为什么要放弃帮助数百万刚果人民的政策，包括通过乔治·W·布什(George W. Bush)于2003年设立的美国总统防治艾滋病紧急救援计划（PEPFAR），为大约20万人提供救命的抗逆转录病毒治疗。
“我不喜欢参与政治，但我喜欢参与生活的人性方面，”比永博说。“人性在哪里？我们怎么能忽视这一点？”
特朗普政府还试图关闭美国非洲发展基金会（USADF）。2020年，比永博与他的非洲同胞，现任奥斯汀马刺队助理总经理的戈尔吉·迪昂(Gorgui Dieng)和塞尔吉·伊巴卡(Serge Ibaka)合作，协助美国非洲发展基金会和球员工会资助帮助非洲的倡议，包括帮助刚果民主共和国学生的项目。
“我一直在与我们的一些政治和政府人士讨论正在发生的事情，”比永博说。“（美国的援助）至关重要。这就像你开着车，红灯亮起，说‘嘿，你得加点油了’。美国所做的事情有助于人们避免进入那个红色区域，这就是为什么它是世界上最强大的国家之一。”
比永博希望美国人明白，他祖国的苦难不仅仅是“刚果问题”。
“这是一个人道主义问题，一个关系到所有人的问题，”他说。“如果我走在圣安东尼奥的街头，看到一个孩子需要帮助，我不会因为他来自圣安东尼奥而忽视他。如果上帝让我有能力帮助那个孩子，我会帮助他。因为归根结底，这是人性，而人性的问题涉及到我们所有人。”
比永博说，世界需要一个稳定的刚果民主共和国，因为“刚果正在造福整个世界”。
“我们拥有全球超过60%的钴储量，”他指出，手机和电动汽车的电池都是用这种有价值的金属制成的。
“你不能一直从这些人身上索取，甚至不给他们最低限度的东西，”他补充道。
2024年8月16日，一名卫生工作者在刚果东部穆尼吉的一家治疗中心从13岁的猴痘患者露西·哈比马纳(Lucie Habimana)身上采集唾液样本。
在回馈祖国方面，比永博效仿了穆托姆博，贡献远超最低限度。
2012年，他创立了俾斯麦·比永博基金会，该基金会专注于加强刚果民主共和国的教育、健康和体育事业。在2021-22赛季结束后，他还因捐赠他在菲尼克斯太阳队获得的130万美元，用于在刚果建造一座医院，以纪念他的父亲而成为新闻人物。
比永博的捐赠发生在穆托姆博捐赠1500万美元，在刚果民主共和国建造比安巴·玛丽·穆托姆博医院（Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital）的15年后，该医院以他的母亲的名字命名。
弗朗索瓦·比永博(Francois Biyombo)于2021年8月去世，享年61岁，死于一个月前感染新冠病毒后引发的健康问题。这场磨难说服了年轻的比永博更加关注刚果民主共和国的医疗保健。
“我认为（我祖国的）医疗保健是足够的，在某种程度上是可以接受的，”比永博说。“但是当我的父亲生病时，我意识到情况有多糟糕。我们不得不开始从外面运来设备来治疗他，但是后来设备不够用了，而且没有足够的支持。”
在咨询了几个国家的医生后，比永博和他的家人将他的父亲转移到伊斯坦布尔的一家医院，在那里他最终去世了。2022年4月，比永博宣布他将捐出他在太阳队的薪水来建造一座医院。
“我非常荣幸地说我可以为我的父亲做到这一点，他坚信回馈和给绝望的人带来希望，”比永博说。
2025年2月11日星期二，在刚果民主共和国戈马的营地里，一个因M23反叛分子和政府军之间的战斗而流离失所的儿童拿着一个损坏的头盔。
比永博正在建造的医院位于一个饱受医生严重短缺困扰的国家，在这个拥有1亿人口的国家中，大约每1万人只有一名医生。
“当你观察刚果时，它是自然资源最丰富的国家之一，但也是生活方面最贫穷的国家之一，”比永博说。“当人们因缺乏医疗保健等基本需求而死亡时，我们就遇到大麻烦了。”
比永博的队友们赞扬他的人道主义工作。
“比兹（Bizzy，比永博的昵称）非常无私，”克里斯·保罗(Chris Paul)说，他在菲尼克斯与比永博一起效力了两个赛季。“他总是关心别人。”
哈里森·巴恩斯(Harrison Barnes)说：“比兹一直有意识地回馈他的家乡。他在非洲大陆上所做的事情，在提高人们的意识和捐赠资源方面，是值得称赞的。他们现在需要这些。他在那方面做得非常出色。”
比永博说他只是在遵循穆托姆博树立的榜样，穆托姆博曾四次获得NBA年度最佳防守球员称号，并在1997年创立了迪肯贝·穆托姆博基金会，该基金会专注于改善刚果的健康、教育和生活质量。
“穆托姆博是我的一个哥哥，”比永博说。“我们建立了非凡的关系。他代表着比篮球比赛更伟大的东西。他影响了世界各地的人们，而不仅仅是非洲。他是一位真正的使者。”
2011年萨克拉门托国王队在选秀大会上以第七顺位选中比永博时，联盟安排了他和穆托姆博之间的电话。
比永博说他永远不会忘记这位传奇人物告诉他的话。
“他说，‘无论你走到哪里，当你离开那个地方时，人们必须对你有所好评，’”比永博说。“他不仅说了，而且还身体力行。他走进了那些鞋子。他对我们的祖国产生了巨大的影响。”
现在，比永博正试图做同样的事情。
“作为一名运动员，我们很幸运能处于我们所处的位置，”他说。“我所有的愿望是，我能否产生一种让我感觉良好的影响？”
San Antonio Spurs Jeremy Sochan listens to Bismack Biyombo (18)San Antonio Spurs v Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, March 21,2025 at the Frost Bank Center.
San Antonio Spurs guard Chris Paul (3) celebrates a three-point basket with Spurs center Bismack Biyombo during the first half of their NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Wednesday, March 19, 2025, in San Antonio. (AP Photo/Darren Abate)
Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris, center, drives to the basket between San Antonio Spurs center Bismack Biyombo, right, and guard Chris Paul (3) during the first half of an NBA basketball game Tuesday, March 25, 2025, in Detroit.
Spurs center Bismack Biyombo on the court before the game against Golden State on Sunday, March 30, 2025 at the Frost Bank Center. The 14-year veteran is following in the footsteps of Congolese legend Dikembe Mutombo in trying to aid his war-torn homeland as it suffers through a massive humanitarian crisis.
FILE - Former members of the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) and police officers who allegedly surrendered to M23 rebels arrive in Goma, Congo, Sunday, Feb. 23, 2025.
点击查看原文：Humanitarian crisis in Congo weighs on Spurs' Bismack Biyombo
Humanitarian crisis in Congo weighs on Spurs’ Bismack Biyombo
San Antonio Spurs Bismack Biyombo (18) talking with Golden State Warriors Jonathan Kuminga (00). Golden State Warriors v San Antonio Spurs on Sunday,March 30,2025 at the Frost Bank Center.
When Hall of Famer Dikembe Mutombo died from brain cancer last September, NBA commissioner Adam Silver lauded him for his excellence as a player and humanitarian.
“On the court, he was one of the greatest shot blockers and defensive players in the history of the NBA,” Silver said. "Off the floor, he poured his heart and soul into helping others.”
Bismack Biyombo isn’t in Mutombo’s class as a player, but the Spurs center is successfully following the path blazed by his countryman and mentor in aiding the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“He made the blueprint for us,” Biyombo said of the impact Mutombo has had on the current generation of African players. “He sold us on the idea we could reach this level and then give back and impact our communities.”
Biyombo arrived in Portland this weekend with a lot more on his mind than just grabbing rebounds, blocking shots and setting screens.
Make no mistake: The 14th-year pro was set to enter Sunday’s game against the Trail Blazers as ready as ever to help the Spurs win.
But with his homeland facing a humanitarian crisis due to a decades-long conflict that has been made worse by the Trump administration’s dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and its many assistance programs that help the Congo, Biyombo has concerns that go way beyond basketball.
“I think right now there is a little over two million refugees,” Biyombo, 32, said of the crisis in the eastern part of the DRC. “I have visited them and have seen the conditions they are living in. It’s very critical. And that’s with the very little aid they were receiving. Now imagine without that little aid what that is going to do.”
Dikembe Mutombo, at his retirement press conference in 2008 after five seasons with the Rockets, was a larger-than-life figure on and off the court.
One of Africa’s longest wars – the conflict has led to approximately six million deaths since 1996 – escalated sharply in January when Rwanda-backed M23 rebels captured Goma, a city of 782,000 the Associated Press called “the hub of a region containing trillions of dollars in mineral wealth that remains largely untapped and is critical for much of the world’s technology.”
Then in February, President Donald Trump moved swiftly after his inauguration to end USAID, which had an annual budget of roughly $40 billion to fund critical foreign aid programs, because his administration believed it was rife with fraud, a claim disputed by its supporters.
Last Friday, the State Department formally announced it is closing USAID after the Trump administration won a federal court case challenging the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency’s cost-cutting action. The demise of USAID comes at a time when 28 million people face acute hunger in the DRC, the United Nations said.
The Center for Global Development, a nonprofit think tank based in Washington and London focused on international development, estimates cuts to USAID programs will cost the DRC $387 million, with more than 80% devoted to health and humanitarian assistance.
“These USAID cuts will have an immediate and devastating impact on millions of the world’s most vulnerable people who depend on humanitarian aid for survival," Manenji Mangundu, DRC country director for the anti-poverty organization Oxfam America, said in a news release.
“For the half a million people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, already desperate for food, water and shelter due to the spiraling conflict, the impact will be immediate and life-threatening."
Biyombo is puzzled as to why the U.S. would abandon policies that helped millions of Congolese, including placing about 200,000 people on lifesaving antiretroviral treatment through the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) established by George W. Bush in 2003.
“I don’t like to get into politics, but I like to get into the human aspect of life,” Biyombo said. “Where is humanity? How can we not overlook this?”
The Trump administration has also attempted to shut down the U.S. African Development Foundation (USADF). In 2020, Biyombo teamed with fellow African players Gorgui Dieng, now assistant general manager of the Austin Spurs, and Serge Ibaka to assist USADF and the players union in financing initiatives to help Africa, including programs aiding students in the DRC.
“I’ve been talking to some of our political and government people about what is going on,” Biyombo said. “(U.S. assistance) is critical. It’s like when you’re driving a car and the red light comes on that says, ‘Hey, you got to put some gas in.’ What the U.S. does helps people avoid going into that red area, and that’s why it’s one of the most powerful countries in the world.”
Biyombo wants Americans to understand the suffering in his country isn’t strictly a “Congolese problem.”
“It’s a humanity problem, a problem concerning all humans,” he said. “If I am going into the streets of San Antonio and I see a kid that needs help, I’m not going to overlook them because he is from San Antonio. If God puts me in the position to help that kid, I’ll help them. Because, in the end, it’s humanity, and humanity’s problems involve all of us.”
Biyombo said the world needs a stable DRC because “Congo is benefiting the whole world.”
“We have over 60 percent of the world’s reserve of cobalt,” he said, pointing out that phone and electric car batteries are made with the valuable metal.
“You can’t keep taking from these people and not even give them the bare minimum,” he added.
A health worker takes a saliva sample from Lucie Habimana, 13, a mpox patient, at a treatment centre in Munigi, eastern Congo, Aug. 16, 2024.
When it comes to giving back to his country, Biyombo has emulated Mutombo in contributing far more than the bare minimum.
In 2012, he started the Bismack Biyombo Foundation, which is focusing on enhancing education, health and sports in the DRC. He also made headlines after the 2021-22 season for donating $1.3 million he earned with the Phoenix Suns to help build a hospital in the Congo in memory of his father.
Biyombo’s gift came 15 years after Mutombo donated $15 million to build the Biamba Marie Mutombo Hospital, named in honor of his mother, in the DRC.
Francois Biyombo died August 2021 at age 61 from health ailments created after he contracted COVID-19 a month earlier. The ordeal convinced the younger Biyombo to focus more on healthcare in the DRC.
“I thought it was adequate, somewhat acceptable,” Biyombo said of healthcare in his country. “But when my dad got sick, I realized how bad it was. We had to start bringing in equipment from outside to treat him, but then there was no more equipment and there wasn’t enough support.”
After consulting with doctors in several countries, Biyombo and his family moved his father to a hospital in Istanbul, where he eventually died. In April 2022, Biyombo announced he was donating his Suns salary to build a hospital.
“I’m extremely blessed to say I could do that for my dad, who was a big believer in giving back and giving hope to the hopeless,” Biyombo said.
A child displaced by the fighting between M23 rebels and government soldiers holds a damaged helmet at the camp in Goma, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025.
The hospital Biyombo is building is in a country plagued by a severe shortage of doctors, with just roughly one for every 10,000 people in a nation with a population of 100 million.
“When you look at Congo, it’s one of the richest countries as far as natural resources but one of the poorest as far as living,” Biyombo said. “When people are dying of lack of basic things like healthcare, we’re in big trouble.”
Biyombo’s teammates applaud his humanitarian work.
“Bizzy is unbelievably selfless,” said Chris Paul, who played two seasons with Biyombo in Phoenix. “He is always looking out for others.”
Said Harrison Barnes, “Biz has always been intentional about giving back to his home. It’s commendable what he’s doing on the continent in terms of bringing awareness and donating resources. They need it now. He’s been phenomenal in that regard.”
Biyombo said he’s simply following the example set by Mutombo, a four-time NBA defensive player of the year who founded the Dikembe Mutombo Foundation in 1997, which focuses on improving health, education and quality of life in the Congo.
“Mutombo was a big brother to me,” Biyombo said. “We built a remarkable relationship. He represented something that’s bigger than the game of basketball. He impacted people around the world, not just Africa. He was a true ambassador.”
When Sacramento drafted Biyombo seventh overall in 2011, the league arranged for a phone call between him and Mutombo.
Biyombo said he will never forget what the legend told him.
"He said, ‘Everywhere you go, when you leave that place, people must have something good to say about you,’ " Biyombo said. “And he didn’t speak it, he lived it. He walked in those shoes. He made such a great impact in our homeland.”
Now, Biyombo is trying to do the same.
“As an athlete, we are blessed to be in the position we are in,” he said. “My whole desire is, can I make an impact where I can feel good about myself?”
By Tom Orsborn, Staff writer, via San Antonio Express-News