UN Report on Children in Congo & MLK’s Nonviolence Principle Three - Oct 2023 at the Congo Peace School

"There are few worse places, if any, to be a child."

While we love to share the amazing impact your giving makes in the lives of the children and adults we partner with in eastern Congo, we also know it is important to share the horrific context in which these children we serve are not only surviving, but thriving.

As noted in the September 2023 press briefing from the UN’s children’s agency UNICEF on Congo (DRC) and specifically the eastern part of the country where we are located, “the war-torn country had the world's highest number of UN-verified violations against children in armed conflict.”

The violence "has reached unprecedented levels," said Grant Leaity, UNICEF's representative in the country. "There are few worse places, if any, to be a child."

“The east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is facing one of the world’s most complex and forgotten crises. Around 2.8 million children are bearing the brunt of violent conflict, being recruited by armed groups, losing their families and homes, and being exposed to ever-growing levels of sexual- and gender-based violence.” (ReliefWeb infographic here)

It’s a harrowing and difficult report to read, a content warning for sexual assault and violence against young children.

In this space where so many use violence to control innocent civilians, our Founding Director Amani Matabaro’s vision for active peace is revolutionary. Each week at the Congo Peace School, the students and staff focus on a principle of peace and nonviolence as taught by Martin Luther King, Jr.

This last week the focus was the development and interpretation of Principle Three of Kingian Nonviolence: Nonviolence Seeks to Defeat Injustice, or Evil, Not People.

Training the teachers, Amani helped them put the concept into vocabulary that is easier for the students to understand – to attack the forces of evil, not the persons doing evil, so the students and staff could focus on how to practice the principle in the context of eastern DRC.

Amani spoke to some of the Peace School students to ask how they understood the principle, and how they are putting it into practice in their own lives.

Amani’s respect for the students and treating them as equals has created so much joy in their interactions.

Anouarite Zirhumana joined the Peace School when it opened in 2018. An orphan, she had no one to send her to school, a common story of out-of-school children in Congo (in DRC public school *should* be free, but the teachers are typically not paid, so families must pay monthly school fees in addition to the cost of uniforms and books). Determined to learn, she had joined the Adult Literacy Program provided through Action Kivu’s funding, and when she learned about the Congo Peace School, she bravely asked Amani if she could attend. Six years later, in the 6th grade, she shares what Principle Three means to her in practice:

“If someone makes a part of the school dirty, we do not beat, bully or attack that person, we quickly clean that place and ask the person not to do it anymore.”

Justin Mushamuka: First grade secondary school (7th grade in U.S. system):

“Understanding Principle Three, it is clear that people can defeat injustice, and let justice prevail in our families, communities, and societies. For example, if there are people who do not respect equality between women and men, we do not need to attack them, but simply put equality in action. The representative of the entire Congo Peace School student body is a girl, it should not always be a boy.”

Ajuwa Masumbukao: Second grade in secondary school (8th grade in U.S. system)

“My favorite example of the use and practice of Principle Three in recent history is what former President Mandela did in South Africa fighting apartheid, not the people doing it and the result is that reconciliation was possible to build the South African nation.”

Kabika Bacirheba: Second grade in secondary school (8th grade in U.S. system) 

“Principle Three means that people need to attack the root causes of the problems and not individuals doing the problems, otherwise injustice will continue on and on.” 

Kabika’s statement truly sums up what happens if we don’t embrace Principle Three – if we only attack those people committing evil, the roots of the problems remain, and the cycle of violence continues. The people doing evil acts are part of a system of evil and injustice. How can we attack the root causes? In DRC, they are myriad, but many stem from a history of colonization and corruption and the theft of DRC’s minerals, mined by Congo’s people, women, men, and children who are often enslaved or paid a dollar a day, people who don’t reap any of the wealth that leaves their nation, and then powers the world’s electronics. Deep food insecurity and resulting malnutrition is exacerbated by militias fighting to control mineral-rich areas. Children die before they have a chance to change their world from preventable diseases such as cholera.

As it is not located in a mining area, The Congo Peace School is in a place of relative peace, but the students and staff and community are surrounded by the violence of militias and war, the threat of being recruited as a child soldier, and the extreme poverty that leads to malnutrition, child marriages, and gender-based violence.

From the UNICEF summary of remarks: “In the first three months of 2023, in North Kivu alone, more than 38,000 cases of sexual- and gender-based violence were reported. That’s a 37 per cent increase compared to the same time period in 2022. Said another way: in just one year, there have been 10,000 additional reports of sexual- and gender-based violence. Those are the ones reported. And in North Kivu alone.”

“As well as unprecedented levels of violence, the lives of children in eastern Congo are threatened by epidemics and malnutrition. Around 1.2 million children under five in the east are facing the risk of acute malnutrition.

UNICEF’s Leaity warned about the risk of "acceptance of something which is unacceptable."

"As the world looks away, we are failing the children of DRC," he said.

As partners in the Congo Peace School and Action Kivu’s other community-based projects, you are some of those who are not looking away. Together we are attacking the root causes of injustice through investing in education rooted in peace and nonviolence, providing practical resources for a different way to live in harmony with the planet and with one another. The students eat well and learn not only about nutrition, but how to grow healthy food with regenerative farming. An educated population will better understand their rights in elections, like the presidential one this December.

We’re also thrilled to share the news that Books for Congo just sent over 3,000 books for the Congo Peace School library – sourced in French and many from African authors – according to the list the school gave the organization for the needs of the library, from literature to the sciences to mathematics to social studies and languages from pre-K to adult level. The school’s wide selection of books opens the world to the children, staff, and their families.

Amani sees a direct impact of this unique access to books in the success of the students in their national exams as compared to other schools in the region. We look forward to sharing this access with the community and other schools in the region as the school begins a community access plan for the library, previously unseen in the area.

Take more action and share this post! We are actively fundraising to meet the school's budget this year and next and continue to fund our adult education, community health, and regenerative farming projects - help us grow our community of partners by sharing about this revolutionary and transformational work.

If you're not a monthly or annual donor, please consider a gift to support the children of Congo today.

Thank you for caring for the children of DRC and stang alongside them in imagining a different and peaceful future. 

100% Success! Congo Peace School National Exam Results

We have exciting news that couldn’t wait until the next monthly update: 100% of the Congo Peace School seniors passed the national exam! And it is the ONLY school in the area (six other secondary schools) with a 100% success rate.

We measure success in many ways at the Peace School [CPS] – monitoring through conversations that students are ingesting the principles of peace and nonviolence and living them out day to day in relationship with each other, their teachers, and their families. This nationalized scholastic achievement proves the importance of the Congo Peace School’s different approach to education from the typical pedagogy in the country. Instead of classrooms packed with 70 to 80 students per teacher, we limit class size to around 40, and employ assistant teachers to provide more one-on-one attention. Instead of rote learning and repetition of what the teacher says, our teachers are trained to foster curiosity and questioning, everyone learning equality – between male and female students and students and teachers. Other schools use corporal punishment, but the CPS teachers are taught healing-informed techniques, looking for signs a student might be experiencing mental health issues or illness or problems at home, and our school counselors are available for psychological support and interventions.

We had celebrated graduation with these students on July 1, 2023, honoring that they completed the CPS curriculum, but had to wait until now to learn the results of the national exam that informs the seniors they are officially high school graduates. (The Democratic Republic of Congo publishes these results typically in mid-late August, but had various setbacks at the national level. The late-summer results explains the reason universities and colleges in DRC begin enrollment and start classes in November each year.)

Our Founding Director Amani Matabaro reports the students arrived at the Congo Peace School to learn the results and danced in celebration. It’s a huge morale boost for the whole community, who feel this school is a part of them, many of them investing their time, labor, and the small amounts of money they can to build it and help with upkeep and community clean-up.

These students were selected to start when the doors of the Congo Peace School first opened in 2018 as they were most in need: either orphaned or from families experiencing extreme poverty, most had missed school, had been kicked out for not paying school fees, and were experiencing food insecurity. Five years of education rooted in healing, peace and nonviolence, and equality, they are the top students in the region, celebrating their success with all of you, who have made this school possible. Thank you for partnering with them!

Celebrating the national exam results at the Congo Peace School

Amani with the graduates in July 2023

Back to School! Class of 2024 Goals, Summer Sculptures, & Computer Class

Shortly after the first-ever graduation of the Congo Peace School Class of 2023, we spoke to four of the students who will be in the second graduating class, Class of 2024. They shared why they chose to major in Social Techniques, what we in the U.S. call social work, and how their passion for equality and peace will influence their work in their community. We asked what changes they want to see in five or ten years, and how they’ll play a part in that, what they’ve learned at the school that will help them do that work, and what they wanted to say to you, their current partners (and potential supporters as our need is great) who are making their dreams a reality.

Back in July 2018, just before the Congo Peace School first opened, we'd heard the story of one of these students. At the time, Shadrack was excited to start Secondary School in grade 1 (7th grade here in the U.S. system).

With our Founding Director Amani Matabaro translating for him, Shadrack had told us the word peace means stability. "Congo needs that," he told us in July, as he thought about what a school based on the principles of peace and nonviolence will mean for him, his country, and the world. Shadrack lives with his grandparents, after his father, a soldier, died when Shadrack was just six years old, and his mother recently passed away from HIV/AIDS. 13-year-old Shadrack will enter his first class at the Congo Peace School as a secondary student in grade 1. He's excited to learn who his French teacher will be, and continue to study his favorite subject at this new school. "I've heard the term nonviolence," he said, "but I don't really know what it means." "My only dream is to be admitted to this school," said Shadrack."Oh!" Amani paused in translating for Shadrack. "He says, 'I want to be like Amani, to do the work you are doing, to help others.'"

Shadrack in 2018

Cut to 2023, when Shadrack shares in the video: I chose social work because it’s very important to support and speak to the community to help alleviate and reduce their problems.

Shadrack's classmates shared their dreams and goals for putting their social work major to use:

Watch the video here, as the students thank you for listening to them and supporting their dreams.

The first day of school was a happy one this September – students anticipating all that they’ll experience and learn in a new year, greeting friends, seeing new students matriculate from the pre-school (supported by our partner PILA Global) to first grade!

Many of the students were able to come to the campus over the summer for computer class or the sculpture class, led by Ariel Handelman. Ariel was visiting as part of the Dillon Henry Foundation, and offered to guide a class in sculpture, using the clay from the marsh farm that Amani has grown from a simple farm to an irrigated, regenerative farm that includes fish ponds, pigs, goats, and more. (But that is for a separate post.)

The staff helped bring clay to the school, and with the running water there, the students followed the instructions to mix the clay into pliable putty, and from there, create whatever their hearts and minds wanted to make.

It was amazing. There was a sandal, a boat, a flower pot (filled with flowers), a mortar & pestle, a helicopter, a coffin. All objects they see around them every day, and some, as the teacher who crafted the coffin explained, ones they wish they’d see less often.

There were faces that speak for themselves in terms of their advanced artistry. These students have talent that needs to be fostered. (See the previous summer’s art class led by local university professors here.)

Other students came for an introduction to computer skills in the solar-powered computer lab. 

The Congo Peace School campus continues to be a haven for learning and play rooted in curiosity, questioning, safe spaces, equality, and peace.

Thank you for partnering with us, and please share these stories and photos with others who might join with us! The need is great, and we need more folks in the Peace School family.

–In our last update, we asked for prayers for Steve Henry and his family as he fought for his life in the hospital. Tragically, he passed on the following day, and we continue to ask for your thoughts as his wife Harriet, daughter Taylor, and son-in-law Jace grieve this great loss. Steve was the father figure behind the Dillon Henry Foundation, and friend to so many, as we learned through stories at his service. He will be dearly missed, and the Congo Peace School lives on as part of his legacy of working for greater access to quality education and peace in the world.

Menstrual Hygiene Day w/ Sanitary Kits & Sex Ed

Menstrual Hygiene Day (MHD) is celebrated annually on May 28th, and at the Congo Peace School (CPS) this year, it was an extra special day: 100 sanitary kits were distributed to the female students who were in need! Recently, a few girls at Pali High in California heard about the need for sanitary kits in Congo, and partnering with the Dillon Henry Foundation, raised money to purchase locally made kits that are sustainable and washable. (See photos below.) 

Our Founding Director Amani Matabaro spoke to the girls after they received the kits, as well as instructions and a health assembly led by Cito Therese, an expert in sexual and reproductive health, that focused on female health and hygiene. Part of removing the stigma around periods is inherent in Amani’s approach to equality and equity at the school: he is frank and direct when speaking about bodily functions that are normal, thus helping to break the taboos that exist in culture, and it shows – girls and women speak openly to and in front of Amani, sharing their stories, their concerns, and their challenges. The Congo Peace School also employs female nurses and counselors who are able to provide not only that safe space of open discussion, but the lived experience of menstruation.

MHD was begun in 2013 by the German nonprofit WASH United, with the 2030 goal of creating a world where no one is held back because they menstruate. This means a world in which menstruation can be managed safely, hygienically, with confidence, and without shame. The reasoning behind choosing the 28th of May? “The day is observed on the 28th day of the fifth month of the year because menstrual cycles average 28 days in length and people menstruate an average of five days each month.” 

In Congo, as in many places around the world, girls miss school days simply because they don’t have the means to attend while menstruating. Unlike other schools in the area, the Congo Peace School has clean running water that, along with the kits, makes it easy for the girls to stay in school during their periods. 

This month, 100 girls received sanitary kits (with more kits being made for more students coming), and several of them shared about what these kits, and the school, mean for them:

Barhashishwa Mashimango: I am a Congo Peace School student in 5th grade of secondary school (what is called a junior in high school in the U.S. system). I am 20 years old, because earlier, I had to drop out of school as I couldn’t afford the local schools here. I heard about the opening of Congo Peace School and was accepted as a student (for no cost). Being a student here is changing my life. This May, we are celebrating the International Day of Women’s Health with a focus on menstrual hygiene. I had never heard about this before, nobody talks about it, but we are breaking the taboos and myths around women’s periods. If nobody tells you about it, how can you know about it? Cito Therese is amazing, telling us everything about how to behave when you have your monthly period, she gave us practical advice, it became clear to me how to avoid infections due to bad practices about handling my period. I am so happy to be educated about my body.

Mwangaza Kininga: I am 17 years old, in the 4th grade of secondary school (a sophomore in high school). Today I got a kit to handle my periods. This is the first time anyone told me about my period, and I feel very happy and blessed. My parents never told me about my period. The Congo Peace School is a unique place.

Asifiwe Namegabe:  I am 15 years old, and I am in the 3rd grade of secondary school (a freshman in high school). Getting the sanitary kit makes me very happy when I look at what it is made up of: a bucket, absorbent napkins, underwear, soap. There is no school like the Congo Peace School, the different services make me so happy. This month, the celebration of women's health with a focus on menstrual hygiene is simply amazing, and I will talk to my sisters at home and share with them what the conference was about: our period, what to do and how to do it.

Musimwa Matata: I am 14 years old, in the 2nd grade in the secondary school (8th grade in the U.S. system). I was having issues handling my periods, but now I know what to do, and I have what is necessary. I will no longer be absent from school because of my period. It was very challenging before this, every time I had my period, I either stayed home or I had to leave before the end of the school day. The Congo Peace School is the only school that takes care of our period and health in addition to providing us with quality education! I am happy. 

Your investment in the Congo Peace School is not only changing lives, but making a ripple effect of change in the community, and thus the world, as these girls share their knowledge and live their lives with a new boldness to go out into the world with a greater understanding of their equality and right to be at the metaphorical tables of decision-making. Thank you!

While we celebrate all that is a success because of your support, we continue to be in need of funding to fully invest in these students and the communities of Congo. Please share the need and the exciting impact being made by partnering with the Congo Peace School with others in your world!

What makes these students smile, and how it's part of the practice of nonviolence

What comes to mind when you think of the word smile? For me, a number of songs, including "You're never fully dressed without a smile." (Thanks, Little Orphan Annie.) Lately, with so much trauma in our news, "Smile, though your heart is breaking" rings more true, but how can one smile when there is so much heartbreak?

Our founding director Amani has thoughts on the benefits of nonviolence (see video below), and offers that smiling is one of the practices we can do daily. Amani shares with us that it's an ingredient to inner peace, as taught by the Buddhist teacher Thich Nhat Hanh, who wrote:

“If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.”

Here is what a few of the students had to say when asked what brought a smile to their face this last month at the Congo Peace School:

MWAMINI KALEMBU: “I am 17 years old, a student at the Peace School in 3rd Grade of secondary school (9th grade). I am from a family of 9 children, 7 sisters and 2 brothers and I am the 7th born.  After my mother died, our dad went to a gold mining site, and we’re not sure if he’s alive or not because he has not been in communication with us for years. Without parents, we were not able to stay in school, and we all dropped out until we heard of the Congo Peace School. Along with two of my sisters and one brother, I was enrolled at the Congo Peace School. I started smiling that day, and will not stop smiling: the day I got a pair of school uniforms kept my smile alive and this month of April, I smiled again when I heard we are getting some sanitary kits to take care of ourselves during our monthly period. The Congo Peace School is the source of my smile.  In school I very much like Institution to Social Services as a subject, every time we have that class, it makes me smile too.” 

ZAWADI BAFAKULERA: “I am a 1st grade student in secondary school (7th grade). I am 14 years old and from a family of seven. I am the youngest, and I live with my mother, my father died. My mother is not well, and we have nobody to take care of her with health assistance, and getting food is always difficult for us. But every day that I remember that the Peace School is providing for my education and food, I smile. Coming to school every day makes me smile. I like the subject of history because I get to learn about the past in our country, in the region, and in the rest of the world.” 

MATENDO CIZA: “I am 15 years old, a student in 3rd grade of secondary school at the Congo Peace School (9th grade). I am from a family of six, but unfortunately two of my brothers died of malaria. I live with my sister as we have no parents. This month I smiled when we went to plant trees. In the past, I’d never had the chance to plant a tree in my life, the first time I planted a tree was at the Peace School. It makes me feel happy to be in harmony with nature by protecting the environment in a country with many natural disasters. Computer science is my favorite subject and I like being in front of a computer learning. Becoming a computer engineer will make me smile again and again.”

At the Congo Peace School, the principles of nonviolence are the bedrock of the curriculum. Watch this brief video to be inspired to pursue nonviolence as a daily, hourly, minute-by-minute practice in your own life.

Your partnership brings smiles to so many faces - thank you for your gifts to support this work! If you want to join the movement, click that donate button to partner with us.

Please share this post and our website with others, we need to grow our family of supporters to fully fund the school this year, and years to come!

March at the Congo Peace School: Women's History *and present, and future* Month: Female students and staff share how their lives have changed

“If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
― Toni Morrison

How many of us think about the sliding door versions of our lives, what stories we’d be living if we’d taken different paths? Morrison’s words ring deeper than writing one’s own book – they encourage us to write our own story.

But for many people in the world, the barriers to create their own story are insurmountable unless we all come together to break down the blockades of oppression: poverty, access to education and job training, and equal rights in the eyes of society and the law.

Because of your support of the Congo Peace School and its Founding Director Amani Matabaro’s vision of equality and efforts in laying the groundwork with over a decade of job training and sending girls to school through his local Congolese nonprofit, ABFEC, the girls and women at the Congo Peace School are writing their own stories, and they’re inspiring.

As we say goodbye to March and Women’s History Month, we asked Amani to speak to several of the female students and staff at the Peace School to learn more about their history, and the new story they are writing together and the impact of the unfolding story in their community and ours.

LYDIE - Elementary School Principal

Working at the Congo Peace School has completely changed my life and all my perspectives in many ways. The Congo Peace School has made me the person I am today; I feel very proud to be the leader I am today. Some people only hear about women’s leadership, but the Congo Peace School has transformed me and made me the leader I am.

I’m a former participant of the ABFEC Educational Assistance Program. When I was in the third grade of high school (9th grade in our U.S. system), I was going to drop out of school as I had no way to pay school fees, and was lucky to be enrolled in that program which gave me a new hope. I graduated from secondary school because of that support and was lucky enough that my uncle paid my college fees.

A few years after graduating college, I saw the job announcement that the Congo Peace School was opening and hiring a French teacher. I applied and among many applicants, mostly men, I was selected. From that time my self-confidence as a woman started growing.

A year after I started teaching French, there was a need to hire an elementary school principal. I was hesitant about applying but remembering the first experience, and how I was hired as a teacher, I decided to apply, and was hired as the elementary school principal.

In our region, it is not an easy experience to have men under your leadership as a woman. You have to be self-confident, do your work professionally and ensure everything is done correctly, you have male staff from families and communities in which they grew up being told women and men are not equal, and suddenly you work in an environment where you are told the total opposite and you need to teach that to men, students, and the community around the school.

The position I hold is a decision-making one and I have men under my leadership. Working at the Peace School is a practical experience for me to really understand that Equality between men and women is a fundamental right. There is a huge need in terms of social and collective responsibility to educate the community about the changes that need to happen. The Peace School is a great living role model about promoting equality between men and women because it starts with younger children, and they grow up knowing and understanding equality.

My husband is a medical doctor, he respects me and from him I understand how education is key in promoting gender equality at a larger scale. My children will be given the same chance growing up understanding that men and women are all equal. Every day I talk to our female students, encouraging them to stand strong, to focus on education, spread the word, and raise the awareness of the rest of the community. I encourage our female students to believe in themselves and keep standing up to make sure their rights are respected and ensure gender equality is not theory but a reality and a right that we fully enjoy and live every single day. All the girls at the Peace School are so lucky to be in such an environment promoting their rights!

When I see the children here at the Peace School and compare them to those in other schools, I realize there is a big difference and imagine this generation which is going to change our world. Out of 16 schools in the area of Mumosho, only two are led by women and nobody could imagine the leadership of the Congo Peace School elementary level would be given to a woman. The Peace School is a real model of equality in leadership having a female school principal at the elementary level and a man at the secondary level, with a great deal of female staff.

We know that girls in extreme poverty are four times more likely to be exposed to gender-based violence but education is the antidote. I am no longer the person I was before joining the Peace School. Women, girls, we are stronger, we need to be given a chance.

---

Amani spoke to several of the girls in 5th grade secondary class, known in the U.S. as 11th grade of high school.

DIVINE  

Attending the Congo Peace School has been a great experience for me because I imagine it is the best way to live out equality between boys and girls. Every time we need to vote for a spokesperson for students at the Peace School, we must have a good balance, it is a requirement: if the chairperson is a boy, the deputy MUST be a girl and vice versa. This is equality in practice. Each grade has a committee and there is always a girl in the committee.  And with my experience here at the Peace School, I have personally understood, I have been convinced that what men can do, women can as well.

And I have been wondering, why not becoming the first woman President of the DRC? It’s not impossible, men have never been able to ensure there is peace in our country, I think it will be a woman who will fix the issues in our country.  As a student here at the Peace School, understanding and seeing that we are equal, my resolve is to engage in politics in my country.

You know what!  I am always among the top five of my classes while some boys are far behind me. I feel very proud of myself and attending the Peace School is an unforgettable experience in my life, it enables me to redefine my future.  

CYNTHIA HAMULI

Attending this school has changed my life. In a society where the perceptions of so many are that men are always superior to women, I know the opposite is true, and I have many examples to prove people wrong. We are all equal when and if we are given a chance. Attending the Peace School increased my self-confidence and it changed my life, I could not play soccer before but now I am part of our Peace School female team. Before coming to the Peace School, I was underestimating the power of women. I am happy to be a student at the Peace School—I am the spokesperson of the Peace School student population.

In the future, I am planning to create my own organization, hire the same number of women and men, our mission will be to fight against gender inequality and advance mental health and well-being. The lack of gender equality is one of the factors that trigger extreme poverty in our region. When I see the number of women and girls who have never been to school for no other reason than their gender, I feel very sad. All children in all families, boys and girls, should be given the same chance to get an education. I was reading and learned that several million girls will never go to school at all! That has to change and my organization will work so hard to change that.

DENISE BORAUZIMA

I was enrolled in the ABFEC Educational Assistance Program when I was 10 years old. I was desperate after my dad passed away in a gold mine. Me and my brother Arsene were able to continue our education through ABFEC’s support until the Peace School was built and we transferred here. My experience attending the Peace School has changed my life. It gives me new hope, and I am working hard every day to do well and graduate. I am dreaming of becoming a nurse, and with my experience attending the Peace School, I know that everything is possible.

I must thank everyone supporting us and the Congo Peace School, a space where the rights of girls are respected. What can I say, I am lucky to be here. I will never accept that children would be discriminated against for no other reason than their gender, I will fight against this. We are all equal and together we can make a big difference impacting our world. Gender based discrimination has to stop in our societies.

I will never forget a speech that was delivered by the Peace School founder, Papa Amani,  four years ago at the beginning of a new school year, when he talked about the importance of education for girls. He said, “Girls who receive an education are less likely to marry young and more likely to lead healthy, productive lives. They earn higher incomes, participate in the decisions that most affect them, and build better futures for themselves and their families. Girls' education strengthens economies and reduces inequality.”

That speech that day made me like the Peace School because there was such a focus on girls and their right to education and its benefits. The Peace School is the best!

NZIGIRE PASCALINE 

Attending the Congo Peace School is the most remarkable experience I have ever had in my life. Since I was born, I had never heard someone tell me that women and men are equal; the first time was when I started attending the Peace School. When I see how the elementary school principal leads, I feel happy and proud to be in a school where gender equality is at the center. Attending the Peace School has changed my mind and my whole life because I see a big difference between our school and other schools around.

I am dreaming of becoming a lawyer, to be able to support all the many women and girls who are not free to enjoy their rights simply because of they who they are. I want to create a service to carry the voices of women and girls who are facing gender-based discrimination issues every day.   

JEANINE RUTAGAYA (4th Grade Elementary School Teacher)

Working at the Peace School for the past four years has been the most interesting time of my life ever; it has changed how I look at myself, at other women around me, and in the world. Before coming to the Peace School, I was working as an elementary school teacher in other schools where I had never been given the opportunity to discover the potential I have as a woman. Our working environment here at the Peace School protects the rights of women. I very much like the water, sanitation and hygiene environment here, it protects women’s privacy as opposed to the situation in other schools.

Working here has changed my life, we are respected and given equal chances. I had never been exposed to information about the issue of gender-based violence before. As a mother of four children, two daughters and two sons, based on our approach here promoting gender equality, my daughters will be given the same chance as my sons, no discrimination will be tolerated. I am proud of myself in my teaching career development. The Peace School is my first experience having a woman as school principal, it means a lot for me, it encourages me, it means, one day I can hold that decision-making position as well.

Before, I had never had any training or education sessions on gender equality and women’s empowerment, but those happen regularly at the Peace School and that has changed my perception about women and their rights. I am committed to stand up and promote gender equality in my family, at school, and in my community.   

I know that as teachers we have an important role to play as we are raising and educating a new generation of girls and boys who will change our world.

I am very optimistic about our future as women and when I look at how the Peace School is engaged in promoting gender equality, I feel very encouraged. One question remains which I ask myself constantly: about how to change the paradigm and erase the scars that a negative generational culture has left on our society since we still have people at community levels who look at women as inferior human beings. The huge need is to instill the culture of gender equality as a right. 

(All four high school juniors who shared how they're writing their own stories.)

Your commitment to equality through giving to the Congo Peace School is making a tangible, visible impact. THANK YOU!

Please share to help us grow our family of supporters!

The Key to being Unstoppable: Amani on the Power of Education and an Update from the Congo Peace School

Have you ever felt unstoppable? That hour (or maybe even a day, a week?) in which it felt that you were solving problems, answering questions, finding real solutions, helping someone? That soaring feeling somewhere in your chest that you had found your niche, your people, your place, a sense of purpose?

Speaking to Amani about the power of education, I realized that in partnering with him and through his leadership and the community of the Congo Peace School, we can all tap into that feeling, the knowledge that together, we can be unstoppable agents for peace and equality through education. This is what we want for the students, for ourselves, and for you, our community of partners!

Please take two minutes to watch this inspiring video, in which Amani shares why he believes (and sees the evidence of): “Education keeps people free!... So education is the answer against slavery, against lack of freedom, against the lack of democracy. So education is the key.”

While students continue to thrive at the Congo Peace School, they struggle in the midst of persistent trauma: M23 and other militias continue their attacks on civilians in surrounding areas (Mumosho, where the Peace School is located remains relatively safe), food insecurity is a chronic, life-threatening issue that we’re working to provide solutions locally to address, as well as the extreme poverty of the region that leaves people in a constant state of fear.  

Yet in this, as Amani notes in the video, students and staff at the Congo Peace School are learning to believe in themselves, to act with agency for peace in their homes and communities and country, to become unstoppable. They are fortified with the education that you are investing in, the daily healthy meals that you are investing in, and the hope you are investing in for a better, safer future.

Olame Rwizobuka is looking forward to reading new books in the school library, but notes that we need books about women’s leadership. She also plans to learn more computer skills this school year.  (16 years old, 4th grade Congo Peace School Secondary School)

Mulume Mufungizi shares: “The past four years were full of fears and despair because of strange things that have been happening: COVID-19, lack of peace which continues in our country. For 2023, I hope for peace, it’s needed. I wish the COVID-19 pandemic is completely over in the world. One of the goals I want to achieve is to become a 6th grader and be able to graduate from secondary school. I dream, wish, and hope to go to University. For me, this year is new hope, new dreams, and new determination.”  (16 years old, 5th grade Congo Peace School Secondary School)

Another recent highlight from the Congo Peace School:

On Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Amani gathered the student body in the auditorium to honor the civil rights leader whose principles of nonviolence are the bedrock of the school’s curriculum.

Amani shares: I spoke about some of his key achievements such as: The Montgomery Bus Boycott, The Great March on Washington, Civil Right Act of 1964, The Voting Rights Act.

I spoke about how courage and determination can change lives, and save lives. I highlighted these events as the interpretations of King's six principles of nonviolence for direct actions.

Our teachers, especially Daniel and Deo, the school principals, said that the approach by King is the only antidote for the ongoing situation of violence, the bad governance in the African Great Lakes Region countries, especially the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The school principal was inspired to continue to lead the school with the inspiration and model of King. 

Thank you for your commitment to partner with the people of Congo in this way, and continuing to see the urgency to do so, as well as the impact it makes.

Messages from Congo of gratitude and hope in action

Though the holiday season can sometimes feel hectic and filled with to-do lists and events, it is also a time to reflect on the year, and as we celebrate various holidays, to reflect on gratitude and gifts. 

From Congo, Amani shares his gratitude for the connection you have made with him and the community at the Congo Peace School.

Amani also asked several students what comes to mind when they ponder what they’re thankful for.

(Photo text reads: I am so thankful for having a school with a teaching approach based on respect and equality. Our teachers are patient with us. I am most thankful that we have a computer lab in our school. - Ananyunve, 7th grade at the Congo Peace School.)

(Photo text reads: I am very thankful to be in a school with sanitation and hygiene practices. We have running, clean water on a regular basis! - Amina Basabanya, 7th grade at the Congo Peace School.)

(Photo text reads: I am so thankful to be in a school with a cafeteria. - Vainqueur Bahati, 2nd grade at the Congo Peace School.)

(Photo text reads: I am so thankful to be a Congo Peace School student, our school is green and beautiful. - Nuria Buherwa, 3rd grade at the Congo Peace School.)

(Photo text reads: Both Kanyenyeri and Nuria are so thankful to have each other as friends and classmates. - Kanyenyeri and Nuria, 3rd grade at the Congo Peace School.)

As I’m writing this in Los Angeles, my holiday playlist is on low volume in the background. John Lennon & Yoko Ono’s “Happy Xmas (War is Over)” is currently playing.

Maddeningly, war is not over. Around the world and specifically right now in Congo, where outbreaks of violence are chasing people from their homes, leaving them with little in terms of food or the sense of peace and safety.  In Eastern Congo, violence between militia groups and military forces has spiked once again.

The Congo Peace School remains in a quiet region, but the threat of violence surrounds them. The vision of the Congo Peace School, to raise up a new generation of peace ambassadors who have the sense of agency to stand for what is just has never been more critical.

I asked Amani why he thinks it is that we use the English word “outbreak” for both war and violence and infectious diseases. He shared the following, and why he is still hopeful.

As we move through this holiday season, please consider a year end gift to Action Kivu to invest in this critical peace-building work.

War is over if you want it. – John Lennon

Violence is … a man-made disaster. It can be stopped. – Amani Matabaro

In deep gratitude for your partnership, connection, and investment in peace,

 Rebecca

New Videos: Congo Peace School 6th Grade Graduation, Preschool Student, and Students Reflect on Art

This past summer the Congo Peace School offered an art course, taught by volunteers from a university in nearby Bukavu. Before this unique course – a rarity in a region where many of the children’s families can’t afford a pencil and paper, let alone paints – we asked four of the students to define what art means to them. And now we follow-up with them, after they have completed the course.

Before: 6th grader Ambika had said, “Drawing, painting, and that’s it.” Ambika signed up for the art class to learn more, to discover new things.

After: “I had no idea children of our ages could learn and achieve what we achieved during the art class. When we started learning how to draw using a pencil, I had no idea we were to do more. When we started shredding the papers I was a little bit disappointed but when we started making dough from waste paper, it gave me hope, but I could not have imagined we would be able to achieve making a flamingo. The day we made it, I loved art more and more and can't wait to be in another summer class and learn how to achieve more. Now I know that art is everything, it's more than drawing and painting: art is an expression and can be used in many ways.” – Ambika

Before: Fellow 6th grader Mushagalusa had said, “I think art is just drawing and I very much like to draw. I signed up for the art class because I am curious and want to learn. This is exceptional, no other school has a formal art class, I am lucky and happy to be a student at the Congo Peace School. There is no other way I make art apart from drawing at school but nobody teaches you, you have to do it on your own.”

After: “After our summer art class, now I know that art is not only about drawing at school, but also more than that. It's a very complex area, it's many things at a time, someone can communicate and speak through art, and it can be used to express or demand peace. I am very proud to have achieved this dove as a symbol of peace that our country is hungry for.” – Mushagalusa

Before: 4th grader Nsimire had simply said, “I had never heard about art before. I want to learn and discover. I like colors.”

After: ''I discovered art and I like it, now I know that it's a combination of many things coming together to achieve one thing like the fish we were able to achieve as a group. I am very curious to learn more next summer.'' – Nsimire

Before: Agisha had defined art as “using pencil and color crayons to draw or paint or write like on the walls of our school.* But I didn’t know children like us can do art. I signed up for this class to learn art.” (*The school has murals and quotes around the campus.)

After: ''It is very amazing, it makes me happy to see children like us being a part of this process. From simple pencil drawing to cutting paper, then putting them together and making the ‘dough,’ mixing it with paint and then come up with a lamp! I had only been seeing these things in books here at our school. I am very excited about achieving more during the next summer art program. Why is there no art class in the school curriculum?'' – Agisha

You are part of this joy-inducing, life-giving community! A big thank you to everyone who gives monthly or annually to support this unique school that is creating equality and peace from the inside out.

Currently the Congo Peace School’s powerful curriculum rooted in peace and nonviolence is funded by our community of donors and foundation grants to the level that we often employ art as therapy, but we want to change the answer to Agisha’s last question and sustainably expand the offerings, including art and other vocational trainings. Please share these stories with friends and family to help us grow our community of support.  

⚪ As the new school year kicked off in September, the Congo Peace School celebrated the graduation of Grade 6 students into Grade 7 (or 1st grade secondary, as it is known in DRC). This ceremony was the first of its kind in Mumosho, and rare in South Kivu and Eastern Congo. The gowns were made by many of the graduates of Action Kivu’s Sewing Workshop – just one illustration of how our programs build upon and support each other.

Family and community members gathered to celebrate the special day. Please watch the video with the volume up to celebrate with these students who all passed the nationwide standardized test to graduate into secondary school!

The sense of self-worth this helps provide is priceless. Thank you for investing in the lives of so many in this way.

⚪ The Nest is the preschool at the Congo Peace School – three classrooms supported by our partner PILA Global in fostering curiosity and a sense of agency in the students ages 4 to 6 years old, preparing them for elementary school where they are encouraged to question and think critically, unlike so many schools in the region.

Amani shared the following video with the notes: Marcelin Murhula is a 5-year-old Congo Nest student who demonstrates remarkable oral communication skills, initiative-taking, sharing his thoughts, and thinking critically.

In the video, Marcelin is speaking correct French (the official language of education in DRC, and the third language citizens learn, after a local dialect and Swahili). Here he is talking about his school, saying: ''our school is called Congo Peace School. It’s beautiful, it has three levels: preschool, elementary, and secondary. We have amazing caregivers and teachers, they teach us reading, writing, and numeracy. May Congo Peace School live long!” 

⚪ Lastly, we just finished a new video that highlights so much of what is special about the Congo Peace School – please watch and share!

With gratitude for your continued partnership and drive to create a more equitable, just, and peace-filled world.

Transforming Ourselves to Transform the World

As I sat down to share the Congo Peace School update from Amani, a theme arose: Transforming ourselves to transform the world. Oftentimes it seems the universe is trying to teach us critical lessons by showing us different versions of them, how the same theme is playing out in various ways around the world, in different people.

As Amani posed questions to some of the Congo Peace School teachers, their answers echoed what I’d just read via writer and activist adrienne maree brown. On Instagram, brown shared some of the lessons she’s learned (and is learning) from Grace Lee Boggs, writing: 

“Grace also said, 'We must transform ourselves to transform the world,’ which is taking me years to understand and embody. The way I think of it now is in the framework of the imagination battle: there is a war going on for the future—it is cultural, ideological, economic, and spiritual. And as in any war, there is a front line, a place where the action is urgent, where the battle will be won or lost. The world, the values of the world, are shaped by the choices each of us make. Which means my thinking, my actions, my relationships, and my life create a front line for the possibilities of the entire species. Each one of us is an individual practice ground for what the whole can or cannot do, will or will not do."

— adrienne maree brown

Your support gives the foundation for the teachers and support staff of the Congo Peace School to transform themselves, and teach in a way that allows the students to transform themselves, inside out, to be true ambassadors of peace and social justice.  

Read what some of the teachers shared as the differences between the Congo Peace School’s approach to education from the local Congolese schools they attended or taught at before joining the Congo Peace School. The impact of your giving is already being seen in lives transformed, which will transform the world.

Daniel teaches Geography, and has been at the Congo Peace School (CPS) since the first year, in September 2018. He shared: “I am 33 and started teaching at CPS when it started. Prior to that I had been a teacher of geography for six years in different local schools. The difference between how I teach at CPS and how I was taught is like night and day as far as many aspects are concerned.  At the CPS, I never use corporal punishment to correct children’s mistakes during my teaching sessions, while as a student, I was often caned any time I failed to answer any question by the teacher.  

“The way I ask questions to my students at the CPS is totally different from how our teachers were asking us questions. Most of our questions from our teachers were closed questions, yes or no questions, whereas at the CPS our question approach is mostly divergent questions, allowing students to speak their minds and to promote critical thinking. I like how we teach students at CPS because of notions like respect, equality, peace, justice, and nonviolence, and I have realized that these ideas help children grow up with self confidence with no fear. When I was in secondary school, we feared our teachers and we were not allowed to ask any questions.”

Photo Credit: Tomaso Lisca

When asked, how do you think this method of teaching students will make an impact in their lives? In your community? In your country? Daniel replied: “This method of teaching is helping the students transform their trauma and suffering. They are growing up without fear and learning to respect each other and every human being at a community level. Knowing the rights of others is key in the stability of every human society. Promoting the culture of positive values helps countries to stabilize and thrive. So, the Congo Peace School is not a school for only the students who attend it but us teachers also because we keep learning day by day.”

Lydie first started at the Congo Peace School as a secondary school teacher before transitioning to be the elementary school principal. In response to what is different about the CPS from her previous educational experience, she shared that when she first started working, she was “attracted by the different writings on the walls, quotes summarizing the philosophy of the CPS teaching approach. I was mostly attracted by the saying: Fighting hatred, learning tolerance and seeking justice and equality. These are things I was never exposed to in the school I went to. We teach students in promoting positive leadership as opposed to exercising our authority and power over our students.”

The impact of this method of teaching, she says, comes from the understanding of their freedom. “Free leaders will lead their countrymen with freedom and this is where I see our teaching approach will have an impact on the students as future leaders, and on the community they will lead, and that will spread freedom over the entire country. It’s amazing to see how the students are being transformed at the individual level, being open, free in thinking and the community is directly impacted by having their members bring about change. I can’t wait to see how the country is going to be changed by these students.”

Clovis teaches 6th grade elementary, and is realizing the difference having access to a library and computer lab make at the Congo Peace School. “I went to a school with no books for the students but here at the CPS we have the unique chance to have books for students and teachers all the  time. With more than 10 years experience in the elementary school teaching system, I never taught students using a real computer, but here at the CPS, right after I was hired, I took a training in computer skills. The whole time I was a student in both elementary and secondary schools, I never saw a computer.”

CPS computer lab and part of library. Photo Credit: Tomaso Lisca

“Teaching respect, peace, spreading love, and especially the psychosocial component [of the Congo Peace School] makes it more and more beautiful, because children have someone who will listen to them and help them heal. The different trauma healing activities the teachers are involved in is unique, I never experienced that as a student.”

Reflecting on the impact of the school’s curriculum, Clovis said, “Our CPS teaching approach will and is already impacting the lives of our students as individuals, healing to be part of their school beloved community, and their healing is spreading to the community and the country will benefit having healed citizens.”

Fitina, who has over 16 years experience teaching elementary school, shared, “As teachers at the Congo Peace School, we don't only teach maths, languages, and history, we go beyond, we promote human rights. I deeply like the CPS teaching approach as long as it is centered on peace.”

Echoing Grace Lee Boggs, Fitina noted, “Everyone needs peace as a right, having children who understand that peace begins within themselves, they are giving peace to others at a community level and then the entire country. Our teaching approach helps students transform themselves, then transform the community and the country. Otherwise, untransformed suffering will be transferred.”   

Amani also shared photos of the students relaxing and playing at the Congo Peace School’s campus. In a country mired in conflict, with recent bouts of armed conflict in neighboring areas (Mumosho remains a peaceful region), these kids and young adults feel safe at the school. 

Your partnership allows these students the healing space and practices, the loving teachers and staff necessary to transform their trauma, pain, and fear and then transfer peace into their community, country, transforming our world.