Dikembe Mutombo, a renowned basketball player and former center for the Atlanta Hawks, is driven by a deep sense of responsibility to give back to his homeland, Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo. Mutombo is on a mission to build a fully equipped, 300-bed hospital in Kinshasa. Despite earning over $11 million annually, he's committed $3 million of his own funds and has set up a foundation to further this cause. His drive stems from a family tradition of charity and his own experiences witnessing the health challenges faced in Congo, including preventable diseases like measles and polio.

Mutombo’s journey showcases a transition from aspiring to be a doctor to becoming an influential sports figure, capable of greater impact through financial success in the NBA. His story reflects his belief in the responsibility of those who are successful to support their origins. Through personal anecdotes, like working in a Congolese market as a child and encountering immense challenges in the healthcare infrastructure during visits to Congo, Mutombo's narrative is both inspiring and a testament to his commitment to improving health conditions for children and families in his home country.

Main takeaways from the video:

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Key Vocabularies and Common Phrases:

1. philanthropy [fɪˈlænθrəpi] - (noun) - The desire to promote the welfare of others, expressed especially by the generous donation of money to good causes. - Synonyms: (charity, benevolence, generosity)

His drive stems from a family tradition of charity and his own experiences witnessing the health challenges faced in Congo.

2. crusade [kruːˈseɪd] - (noun) - A vigorous campaign for political, social, or religious change. - Synonyms: (campaign, movement, drive)

Dikembe Mutombo is on a personal crusade.

3. obligation [ˌɑːblɪˈɡeɪʃn] - (noun) - An act or course of action to which a person is morally or legally bound; a duty or commitment. - Synonyms: (duty, responsibility, commitment)

We have an obligation to give something back to the place we come from.

4. vaccination [ˌvæksɪˈneɪʃn] - (noun) - Treatment with a vaccine to produce immunity against a disease. - Synonyms: (immunization, inoculation, shot)

Most Congolese don't get a vaccination.

5. inherit [ɪnˈhɛrɪt] - (verb) - To receive or be left with a quality, characteristic, or possession from a predecessor or former owner. - Synonyms: (receive, succeed to, come into)

Giving back is a family tradition, a family tradition inherited from his deeply religious parents.

6. preventable [prɪˈvɛntəbl] - (adjective) - Capable of being stopped or avoided. - Synonyms: (avoidable, stoppable, avertible)

Diseases easily preventable or treatable elsewhere kill here.

7. rebellion [rɪˈbɛljən] - (noun) - An act of violent or open resistance to an established government or ruler. - Synonyms: (revolt, uprising, insurrection)

Made even worse by an armed rebellion that's ravaged the country.

8. crippling [ˈkrɪplɪŋ] - (adjective) - Causing a severe and damaging effect. - Synonyms: (debilitating, disabling, paralyzing)

Mutombo took his delegation, including his cousin, doctor Louis Khanda, a surgeon from Washington, DC, to a clinic where victims of this crippling disease are treated

9. infrastructure [ˈɪnfrəˌstrʌktʃər] - (noun) - The basic physical and organizational structures and facilities needed for the operation of a society or enterprise. - Synonyms: (facilities, framework, foundation)

Encountering immense challenges in the healthcare infrastructure during visits to Congo.

10. influential [ˌɪnfluˈɛnʃl] - (adjective) - Having great influence on someone or something. - Synonyms: (persuasive, powerful, dominant)

An influential sports figure, capable of greater impact through financial success in the NBA.

Dikembe Mutombo | 60 Minutes Archive

There are few things more satisfying than going back to the old neighborhood, especially when you've done well and want to give something back, which is exactly what Dikembe Mutombo wants to do. For Mutombo, this is the old neighborhood, Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo in central Africa. And what he plans to give back to these people is a hospital, fully equipped and operational. Mutombo can do that because of what he does in his new neighborhood, Atlanta, where he is the center for the Atlanta Hawks at a salary of more than $11 million a year.

Mutombo is on a personal crusade. I am in the process to build a new general hospital with 300 bed, which will cost between eleven to $14 million. And he's pledged $3 million of his own money and set up a foundation to work on the hospital. Mutombo lives just outside Atlanta with his wife, Rose, and their five children, four of them adopted nieces and nephews. When Mutombo's not on the court, he's in his office reviewing catalogs for medical equipment and supplies and going over the plans for the hospital.

Mutombo believes that as an athlete who makes millions, this is something he has to do. It's a message he's trying to spread to other athletes here on a sports radio talk show with John Thompson, who was his coach in college. We have an obligation to give something back to the place we come from. Giving back is a family tradition, a family tradition inherited from his deeply religious parents, his father, Samuel, and his mother, Biamba.

But building a hospital was his idea. You're tired seeing people dying. People dying in a young age. Dying at a young age is something Mutombo knows about firsthand. This is where I grew up, where he's from in the Congo. It happens all the time. When we went home with him to Kinshasa, the whole neighborhood turned out to welcome him back. He showed us the house where he grew up with 20 relatives.

And told us about his dream as a high school student who excelled in math and science to go to America, become a doctor and return home to practice medicine. Mutombo's father was a school superintendent who never earned more than $37 a month. So from the age of seven, Mutombo worked in this neighborhood market to help pay for his education. How much money did you make selling here? Two, $3 a day. A day? That's a lot of money. It was a long way. And how much would it cost you to buy the things you sold? What was your profit? Maybe $1 and a half.

Mutombo didn't learn to play basketball until he was a senior in high school. His first time on the court or on this court? He tripped over his own feet, fell and cut his chin. I know how to land like this. With your chin. I was like this blood army person. And I say, I'm not gonna play basketball no more. But he did. And when Georgetown University's legendary coach Thompson heard about this seven footer, he eventually gave Mutombo an athletic scholarship.

Three years into Georgetown, Mutombo abandoned a career in medicine, realizing he could do more for his people with a paycheck from the NBA than as a doctor in the Congo. There was a chance that I can go and make couple millions. Let me ask you what it was like when you got your first paycheck as a basketball player for the Denver Nuggets. When you looked at that check, I couldn't believe it. First, when I signed a contract, I hugged my lawyer. I hugged him so long, like he was my wife. I just called Bolevi. I was like, who? I'm a millionaire.

In his nine years in the NBA, Mutombo has emerged as one of the most dominating centers in professional basketball, with a reputation for rebounding, blocking shots, swinging elbows, occasionally causing injuries. You've been criticized for the way that you play, the injuries caused by your elbows. It's part of my game. I don't do it on purpose, but I just ask for my territory. And then when I don't get it, I like to get it.

I've seen you shaking your finger. That's my signature that let people know just. You can't fly in the house of Mutumbo without permission. You cannot fly in the house of Mutombo without permission. And you don't give permission to come into your house? No.

Mutombo took that same aggressive approach along with a team of health experts to the Congo last summer. At times, it looked like an official state visit with meetings to attend. And government ministers to meet. One of the places they visited was Kinshasa General Hospital. If patients can't afford to buy their medicine, they go without, and so does the hospital. It has almost none in stock. Take a look at its pharmacy. This is it.

What about the general health conditions of the people here? I think it's God's miracle for what I've seen. And to see that these people are still surviving, it's a miracle. It's a miracle. The public health situation in the Congo is grim, made even worse by an armed rebellion that's ravaged the country. One out of five children don't make it to their fifth birthday. And if you're a mother, there's a one in 14 chance you won't survive childbirth.

Diseases easily preventable or treatable elsewhere kill here, as we found out when we went with Mutombo to a local clinic. This is the most sophisticated piece of equipment you have here for this little health center. That's all. It's run by doctor Leon Quintaude, an American trained Congolese doctor. He told us about an incident in a village that shows just how deadly childhood diseases here can be. I actually witnessed 32 deaths in that village because of measles. Because of measles?

Measles. I mean, measles is virtually. I mean, you get measles and I was helpless. Measles still kill here because most Congolese don't get a vaccination. And if they get the disease, they can't afford medicine or treatment. Clinics like this make do with poor facilities, limited resources and limited personnel. You know what strikes me as we sit here? When you went to America, you went to become a doctor. Yes.

If you had followed that through, this is where you would be and what you would be doing. Yes. Just when you. You are raised in this type of environment, your heart stay here. That's right. Whatever you accomplish in your life, your heart stay here. The health conditions Mutombo encountered here were the worst he'd ever seen. Take polio, for example. Victims of the disease are a common sight.

Mutombo took his delegation, including his cousin, doctor Louis Khanda, a surgeon from Washington, DC, to a clinic where victims of this crippling disease are treated. These children are the fortunate ones. Only a small percentage of Congolese children who need treatment ever get it. This is preventable? Oh, totally preventable. This disease shouldn't be around, period. I mean, I'm stunned by what I see here. The number of children.

Right, right. This is probably just the tip of the iceberg. The story will continue after this. The Congo is one of the last places in the world where polio still persists. Helping wipe the disease out is one of Mutombo's priorities. The World Health Organization has launched an ambitious campaign to vaccinate all the children of the Congo, which is where Mutombo comes in. Dozens of women brought their children to a local pediatric clinic to see him.

With only a few drops, Mutombo gave these babies their first vaccinations. There are still millions of others who need to be immunized. Mutombo's return to the Congo also included some personal business. It was the first anniversary of his mother's death. Bianba Mutombo died when civil unrest in Kinshasa prevented her from receiving medical care and Mutombo from attending her funeral. She only lived ten minutes from a hospital, but that was ten minutes too far.

If she had received medical attention that was available, that because of your success, she could afford to pay for, she will be alive today. As we talk, you blame anyone for her death to come back? I do. People I do blame, but I don't talk about it. But you don't talk about it. How would you characterize your mother's influence on you and on your life, the kind of person you are? I think she did a lot.

She just. She was special to you. Very special. You sometimes think you do this project in her memory. I did love her so much. I did whatever I could have done to serve her, even though he couldn't. Mutombo says it hasn't discouraged him. She gave me a strong faith to believe that God would help you.

No matter what you're trying to do, God will give you a strong courage to keep going. For still, tell me, do whatever you can do as much as you can do, and God will give you more. And you believe that? I believe in that? I believe in that. Mutombo has convinced the Congolese government to donate land for his hospital. If it's completed, the 300 bed facility will be the largest hospital built in Kinshasa in more than 40 years.

Hospitals are usually built by big corporations or by governments. Yes. I mean, you're a big guy, but you're not a government. I'm a businessman. A businessman? But this isn't a business proposition to Kembe. No, it's a gift. How do you mean?

I understand how to generate my money, how to spend it and how to invest it. And I think what I'm doing, I'm investing on my people so they can have a better life. Because I have a better life already.

Philanthropy, Leadership, Inspiration, Dikembe Mutombo, Healthcare, Africa, 60 Minutes