Action Kivu's Amani Matabaro: Co-Author on Paper About Intimate Partner Violence in Conflict-Affected Settings

Founding Director Amani Matabaro is a co-author on this critical paper researching the “drivers of men’s use of intimate partner violence in conflict-affected settings: learnings from the Democratic Republic of Congo.”

Currently a fellow at Harvard University, Amani’s peace work in Congo has always implemented what this research shows to be key: engaging men in dialogue about equality, women’s rights, family planning, nonviolence and trauma. Our highlights in the screenshot of the paper: “three have shown a statistically significant reduction in any type of IPVAW when compared to a control group: community-based dialogue groups, gender dialogue groups added to group savings, and trauma-informed psychotherapy.”

Read the full paper here. We’ve screenshot some of it below - highlights ours.

Revolutionary Education! How the Peace School / Congo Nest Preschool is Creating Fundamental Change

“You say you want a revolution… we all want to change the world.” – Paul McCartney and John Lennon

Does it sound hyperbolic to talk about peace education as revolutionary? We don’t think so, especially not when it comes to creating a safe and happy place for children to learn and practice nonviolence in the context of eastern Congo and its decades of armed violence and the world’s exploitation of DRC’s people.

Revolutionary: constituting or bringing about a major or fundamental change.

(Merriam-Webster)

As our partners who support this community of agents of peace, you are part of this revolution! We are seeing major and fundamental changes in the students attending the Congo Peace School, and an exciting part of that is our unique preschool program founded and supported by Nest Global (formerly PILAGlobal in our outreach and posts).

In a region embedded in centuries of colonization, those roots of oppression have resulted in overcrowded classrooms in which children learn by recitation and are punished for asking questions. In stark contrast, our pedagogy that is rooted in curiosity  and equality between teachers and students, male and female, make the Congo Peace School and the Nest Preschool truly revolutionary. Now that we’re in year six of the Peace School and year five of the preschool, we have the experiences and observations from teachers and students about the impact attending such a preschool makes for the Peace School students as they integrate into classes with students who did not have the opportunity to attend preschool.

From the Nest Global site: In partnership with Action Kivu and the Dillon Henry Foundation, Nest Global created Nest Congo, a preschool at the Congo Peace School serving 84 children ages 4 to 6 daily. Nest Congo provides foundational early education and a nutritious daily meal to local children who would otherwise not have access to education.

Nest Congo is comprised of three classrooms, each filled with engaged children and teachers, enticing materials, plants, books and light. Cozy corners and nooks invite children to gather and think, create and learn together. The inquiry-based program is driven by students’ natural curiosity – the banana trees, cassava plants, and paw paw trees that make up the school’s surrounding environment spark endless exploration, theories and discovery.

At Nest Congo, nurturing teachers prioritize play, storytelling, and artistic expression, helping each child to develop their own voice and positive sense of self. By creating an environment where children have choice, voice and agency, the Nest Congo empowers its students to become change-makers in their lives and in their community.

The students, teachers and staff just returned from their winter holiday to share these hope-giving reports of fundamental change in the lives of children in Congo. We also asked the former preschool students to share a memory from preschool, and what they like about their current grade.

CIKURU BIGABWA PHILÉMON - 2nd grade teacher: “The difference between the two categories of my students is like day and night. Those who came from the Congo Nest preschool program are positively free students who always want to speak their minds, they always want to share their opinions, they are not shy and speak fluently, they have an advanced stock of vocabulary, they think critically before answering. Those who did not get the chance to go to preschool are very shy, they think their answers must always be correct, their integration and adaptation to the learning norms are difficult as opposed to those who went through preschool. And when you look at the performance and learning outcomes, those from the preschool are more advanced. The number of words that those who went through the preschool program read per minute is higher than those who did not. … The self confidence among students who went through the preschool program is higher.” 

Agisha

AGISHA SADIKI - 9 years old and in 5th grade: “When I was at the Congo Nest Preschool, I remember the math activities and especially learning how to count from 0 to 10 for the first time in my life. The day I will never forget at preschool is when our school had visitors and they gave me a present, a toy car because I answered one of their questions very well. Now that I am in elementary school, I like history and our teacher teaches it very well. I live with my dad, mom, my two sisters and a younger brother.” 

FITINA MASHEKA SALOME - 4th grade teacher: “I have 20 students who went through the preschool program out of a total of 40. Having several years’ experience as both a teacher and a mother, I know that fear is enemy number one of appropriate learning processes. Students who went through the Congo Nest preschool program quickly heal from fear and learn very quickly.” 

Nouria

NOURIA BUHERHWA 8 years old, in 4th grade: “From all the subjects [we learned] in the preschool program, I always remember one lesson about the main parts of the human body.  My unforgettable experience during preschool was the day I recited a poem in the auditorium in front of all the parents and other community members, during publication of the [test] results at the end of the school year. Currently, I really like drama class. I like our teacher because she does not blame you if you don't know the answer to a question, she always asks you what you think.  At home I live with my dad, mom, and younger sisters.”

BAHATI USHOSHERE - 5th grade teacher: “Every day I come in the classroom, I can easily tell the difference between those students who attended the Congo Peace School Nest preschool and those who did not. Those who did are very open to discussions, they ask questions. They will not let you move on if something remains unclear to them, their level of curiosity is very high, they are very used to group activities. During reading for better comprehension, those students who went through the preschool program do not struggle as much to learn, they actually read to learn, as opposed to those who did not go through the preschool program who struggle a lot: instead of reading to learn, they learn to read.”

Bulonza

BULONZA BARHALIBIRHU, 11 years old and in 4th grade: “My most unforgettable moment from preschool was the first day I came and one of our teachers gave me a hug in the morning. I also liked working in different places/zones in the preschool classes, I miss that so much and wonder if that's not possible in elementary and secondary school. At the moment, I like drama class.”

PASCALINE AGANZE BANYWESIZE - 3rd grade teacher: “Students who were part of the Congo Nest Preschool express themselves more freely without inferiority complexes. Their school outcomes and scores are always higher. They are very active and interact constantly, they are very good at problem solving, they ask open questions to their teachers, their level of imagination is higher... all these together show how the preschool program is so important and a very strong foundation being laid for a bright future of our children.”

Ampire

AMPIRE TRIOPHE, 8 years old, in 3rd grade: “The language lessons were amazing in preschool. I made good friends at preschool and I am happy to have been in that program. As a 3rd grade student, I like math and computer classes. I live with my grandparents.” 

CIRIMWAMI MABIKANE LYDIE - Preschool and Elementary School Principal: After speaking to both teachers and students, it is very clear that there is a big difference between the two groups of students. Critical thinking, public leadership, and performance in cross-cutting learning zones such math, science, reading, and taking initiative... are indications that show the marked difference between students who went through the Congo Peace School Nest preschool program and those who did not. 

Ciza

CIZA NTAKOKURHORHWA: 9 years old, in 3rd grade: “Learning about the family structure, immediate family and extended family, is a great memory from the Congo Nest Preschool. At the moment, I’m so happy being an elementary school student and I like the writing classes. I hate to fail exams, and I am always determined to work hard to get an education. I live with my aunt and uncle.”

We are so grateful to be in partnership with you on this journey of hope for our future through the power of healing and peace for children, and ourselves.

Preschool class at the Congo Peace School, photo credit: Tomaso Lisca

Congo Peace School Students' Hopes, Lives, and Interpretations of MLK's Principle Four

This past month at the Congo Peace School, the students and staff focused on Martin Luther King Jr.'s fourth principle of nonviolence. As our Founding Director Amani Matabaro shared the students’ responses, he noted that Principle Four of Martin Luther King Jr.’s philosophy of nonviolence is more difficult than the others for the students to discuss any real-life applications they’ve made with it in their lives. It’s difficult for adults, Amani noted. Number four may spark the most discussion of the six principles in King’s ideology.

Principle Four: Nonviolence Holds That Unearned, Voluntary Suffering for a Just Cause Can Educate and Transform People and Societies.

• Nonviolence is a willingness to accept suffering without retaliation; to accept blows without striking back.

• Nonviolence is a willingness to accept violence if necessary but never inflict it.

• Nonviolence holds that unearned suffering for a cause is redemptive and has tremendous educational and transforming possibilities.

Thinking of King’s time in history and this principle invokes imagery of Black Americans sitting peacefully at a counter while white people torment and torture them, casting a clear light on the inhumanity and sickness of violence and white supremacy in the context of systemic racism in the U.S.

In Congo, in the midst of armed conflict and sexual violence as a weapon of war, we asked several students at the Congo Peace School what Principle Four means to them.

Bahati Masumbuko lives with her grandmother (many of the students have been orphaned due to the conflict, dangerous mining conditions, or the AIDS epidemic). She shared that, “no one can achieve a larger goal without sacrifice. There is no need to respond to violence with violence, if someone insults you, no need to respond with another insult but keep moving to achieve your goal.”  Bahati hopes to become a lawyer to fight different types of injustice in the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo).

Charle Murhula shared that “nonviolence is never easy, you need to be courageous and take risks and avoid retaliation any way you can.” When further asked, what happens when you DON’T retaliate in response to violence, Charle said, “When you do not retaliate, you open a dialogue which can lead to mutual forgiveness.”

Charle hopes to become a nurse to take care of the many people, especially children who are sick every day but have nobody to take good care of them. Charle hopes one day Congo becomes a country where children have access to quality medical care.

Asifiwe Bahati said, “If the other party in front of you does not understand what you want to achieve, explain more to them, and if still they do not understand and react violently, there is no need to fight back. Keep moving and nonviolence will allow you to win them over to your cause and they will join you. But if you fight back, you will lose direction and you will not achieve the goal.”

Asifiwe lives with her uncle, and hopes to become a teacher one day to contribute to giving education to children. She hopes Congo can become a country where teachers get good payment from the government.

Ampire Anicet shared that “at our school and at home, when someone behaves violently against you, there is no need to retaliate because it can become a distraction, a deviation and you will not reach the goal.'' Ampire lives with his parents. His mom is a teacher in a different elementary school, purportedly funded by the government, but she is rarely paid her salary.

Ampire wants to become a lawyer to stand up against injustice and human right violations. He dreams one day Congo will become a country where human rights are respected.

Mugisho Mwembo shared that he learned “retaliation exacerbates hatred among people and no one wins, no one achieves their goal.” Mugisho lives with his aunt, he wants to become a computer engineer so he can teach computer skills to as many Congolese children as possible. Mugisho hopes one day Congolese people can profit from the wealth of their country.

In other news for this year, we’re thrilled to announce that our Founding Director, Amani Matabaro, has been granted a fellowship at Harvard! He and his wife Amini and their youngest son have moved to Cambridge for a short stint in the U.S. and are settling in for a cold winter life with the help of many of you, our Action Kivu family!

Over the last six years of operation, Amani has helped create a community of empowered leaders at the Congo Peace School who continue in his absence to teach and inhabit the principles of peace and nonviolence as they provide a quality education rooted in healing-informed practices. Amani is also still involved weekly with the school through WhatsApp and email, so our updates will continue as normal.

More about the fellowship from Amani:

“It was such an honor when I was informed about being awarded the fellowship by the Harvard Kennedy School of Government through the CARR Center for Human Rights Policy. I’ve been assigned a faculty supervisor with whom I need to discuss the structure of my research topic during my tenure here at the Harvard Kennedy School. While I am here, I will have opportunities to engage with other human rights centers at the university and particularly the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative (HHI).

"The center embraces a dual mission: to educate students and the next generation of leaders from around the world in human rights policies and practices and to convene and provide policy-relevant knowledge to international organizations, governments, policymakers, and businesses.

“While I am here, I am expected to produce a paper, report or a comparable written product for publication by the center. I am also required to participate in the center's convenings and engage with other fellows and faculty at the center.  I have proposed that I focus on: Safeguarding of Children's Right to Education in Conflict Settings, Lessons from the DRC, but I still need to have discussions with my faculty supervisor to come up with a final structure of this topic.There is no peace if human rights are not respected. The knowledge and experience I will get from here will be used to improve the quality of the work we have been doing over the years at the Congo Peace School, our community initiatives, and in the greater region of eastern Congo.”

Thank you for you commitment to peace and equality through your support of the communities of Congo! Please join us in celebrating the practice and embodiment of peace with a year-end gift to invest in the children and communities of Congo!
Click here to donate online or to find our address for your gift via check.

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.

Welcome to Graduation Day at the Congo Peace School (the first ever!)

Welcome to the first-ever Congo Peace School graduation! (Please be sure to follow us on Instagram & Facebook for even more videos and photos - @actionkivu)

On a hot, humid July day in South Kivu, Congo, Amani Matabaro saw a portion of his dream for peace realized at the first-ever high school graduation for the Congo Peace School students. Amani’s vision for the Congo Peace School was conceived over a decade ago, when he was traveling around eastern Congo working as a translator of stories of trauma and paying witness to deep psychic and physical wounds from years of war and extreme poverty in his country.
 
On this day, he was greeted not with tears of pain, but with cheers and ululating.

Please watch this video in which Congo Peace School's and Action Kivu's Founding Director Amani Matabaro is greeted with cheers by the community members celebrating the first CPS graduation, and I (Rebecca, the U.S. ED), while filming it, am overwhelmed with emotion and forget that I'm going to post said video and say:  "I'm already crying, Amani, how am I going to speak?" Listen to his response. (I did.)

There weren’t enough seats in the Peace School auditorium for the community members who didn’t have a direct tie to a specific graduating student, but feeling a deep connection with the school, they crowded around the doors and windows during the ceremony, mobile phones angled through open windows to capture the historic moment. There were four of us U.S. guests accompanying Amani to the first-ever Congo Peace School graduation, an emotionally overwhelming experience as we observed from the side the joy and anticipation of the crowd, the fidgeting selection of younger students who were honored, five per class, as the top of their respective grades.

Amani asked us each to speak to represent all of you, our family of supporters who made this dream a reality. Ariel Handelman, on the board of the Dillon Henry Foundation, the Congo Peace School’s founding partner and reason the campus was able to be built, invoked the legacy of one of the continent’s many inspiring leaders, Nelson Mandela, reminding the students of the power of education to change the world.  

Another of the continent’s visionary leaders is our own Amani Matabaro, who stood before the graduating class in their dark blue gowns and mortar board caps, and said:

“I am talking to you this morning because despite your frustrations, despite your fears and despite your difficult and traumatic experiences due to living amidst an armed conflict, you have remained standing up fighting and believing in the power and beauty of your dream! The eldest among you is 20 years old but the armed conflict which tears and rips the eastern part of the DRC is almost 3 decades old, 27 years. Despite all of that, you have not accepted to be swallowed up by fear and anxiety – you have continued dreaming and believing in yourselves.

I know you, I know your dreams, I know where you are coming from, I know the long journey you have taken to be here today, and it’s because of the power of dreaming and remaining resilient. Martin Luther King is our role model and inspiration, he had a dream. Always remember [his words]:

‘If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.’

Dear graduates, keep dreaming and believe in the power and the beauty of your dream!
”

— Amani Matabaro

After each graduate’s name was called, and we wrangled them into tossing their caps in the air, a special celebratory lunch was served.

The following Monday, many of the students were back at the school for summer computer class, and I spoke with Rosalie, now a high school graduate, about what graduation day was like for her. “The graduation day was an unforgettable day for me. It was a day not like the other days,” she shared, talking about how amazing it was to be surrounded by the community and her fellow students, everyone celebrating this accomplishment.

Rosalie is a student whose story we’ve been amplifying since we met her and her brother in July 2018, just over a month before they started as two of the first cohort of Congo Peace School students. When we met that July, Rosalie’s parents had died only a few days before from AIDS, and she was in deep grief.  Speaking with her over the years is an inspiration in the power of healing-focused pedagogy (click the link below to look back at part of her ever-unfolding story). Now, Rosalie’s drive to make a better world is strengthened with a bedrock of education rooted in peace for nonviolent conflict resolution.

Each secondary student in the Congolese curriculum chooses a major offered by the school, and Rosalie chose Social Techniques, which translates for us in the U.S. as a social worker. While she wants to go to university, she is equipped with the skills she needs to start work now in service to her community. The Congo Peace School adds an extra layer of expertise for these students, as a major problem is malnutrition, and Rosalie and her fellow students have learned regenerative farming at the Peace School’s two farms!

Even before graduation, Rosalie was acting as a social worker, addressing an issue she is most concerned about – girls marrying too young. She shared that she had met with a group of 10 teens who had married for various reasons, often to escape extreme poverty, got pregnant almost immediately, and their young husbands left them, many saying they were traveling to find work in a mine, and never returning. She wants these girls, most of whom were kicked out of their husbands’ families and returned to their own as single mothers, never to give up on their future, and share their stories with younger girls to encourage them to find a way to get an education (not easily available) or training for work to avoid a teen marriage.

“I am here to encourage younger girls because education can change everything, it can change your future,” she said. “I know that at the beginning of something it is difficult. I will use myself as an example, because as I was growing up the fear I had, thinking it is difficult to get an education, go to school, work hard young girls, have self-confidence, and God will give you what you need.”

Your support of this school is changing lives, lives like Rosalie’s, and creating the ripple effect of positive peace as she and her fellow students, and the staff at the Congo Peace School, continue to educate others on what they’re learning. We couldn’t do it without you, and as we aren’t fully funded, we also ask that you spread the word! A commitment to giving monthly or annually makes a lasting impact. Click here to learn more! 

From Samantha & Kevin Poe, two of Action Kivu’s family of supporters who traveled to Congo for the graduation: “Witnessing the first Congo Peace School graduation was an incredibly moving and hopeful experience. In a region struggling with poverty and political instability, the graduation showed the power of visionary leadership, dedicated staff, energized students, and a committed community of support locally and across the globe.” 

From Ariel Handelman, who joined us representing the Dillon Henry Foundation: “Words can't really express the emotions and overall experience of attending the first graduation of the Congo Peace School, especially as the representative for the Dillon Henry Foundation. Beyond the physical representations of success, the beautiful campus, the regenerative farm teaching lifelong skills - there was this graduation. So many of us may take for granted a high school graduation, but in this context, it is impossible to do so. I celebrated their success with them, I felt a sense of gratitude to be allowed to witness this moment, to be let into this special space during this momentous time, and to share this celebration with these students and family.” 

In our next newsletter: The stories and amazing images from the sculpting art class Ariel taught at the Peace School, more student stories from the up & coming senior class, and more on the computer training.

As we see all of you as family, part of what Martin Luther King Jr. described as being “caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny,” we ask for your prayers for the family behind the Dillon Henry Foundation.

Steve Henry has been in the hospital for almost three weeks with multiple health problems after an infection, and we ask that you hold him, his wife Harriet and his daughter Taylor and son-in-law Jace in your prayers, whatever form those take. Steve’s beautiful heart and subsequent actions have influenced so much good in the world, and we want them all to feel surrounded by our network of love and peace as they, and all who know and love Steve, move through this.

 LINK: Rosalie’s story prior to graduation - https://www.actionkivu.org/blog/rosalies-story-amp-charlenes-studies-march-2022

Congo Peace School Class of 2023 Processional

Amani and the Congo Peace School Class of 2023

Photos by Joan Baptista Ndenzako

In gratitude for your partnership that helped get us to this amazing milestone,

Rebecca Snavely
Action Kivu, Executive Director

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.

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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!

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