A classroom is more than just a building.
It is a place where dreams are created, futures are shaped, and boys and girls grow into young men and women.
High school students in Kandale, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, have dreams like students everywhere. And they have hopes for a better future.
But they risk having their dreams deferred, and their futures are in jeopardy.
What these students lack are classrooms where they can learn in a safe, nurturing environment.
This is where they need your help.
Most of the students in Kandale’s two high schools — Institute Gufwa Gubila and Lycée Gin’a Gisanga — study either in buildings made of sticks and straw or classrooms built a half-century ago that partially collapsed in a violent rainstorm in 2019.
They spend far too much class time gathering wood and straw to rebuild when the wind and rain prove too much — a frequent occurrence during the nine-month rainy season.
Michel Gajama Lundeya, headmaster at Institue Gufwa Gubila who arrived in September, says the conditions under which his students study “are deplorable.”
The buildings, he says, “are in a state of decay. The decay is very advanced. The children really need to study, but they have a lot of difficulties.”
With your help, we have provided that safe and nurturing learning environment for Kandale’s primary school, with 13 new classrooms built for younger students over the past five years.
With your help, we have brought safe, clean drinking water to the residents of Kandale.
Now we are beginning a new journey with a new goal — to build both high schools. We have engaged an architect who has visited the site and is now developing detailed designs and budgets. This is an ambitious goal, and we expect it will take several years and several hundred thousand dollarsto complete. But we will build the schools…bit by bit.
With enough help, we can start building the foundation this year. The walls and roofs will follow.
As it was said so eloquently by Mwatha Gutumbuga Nvulaku, former headmaster at Lycée Gin’a Gisanga: “Education is the basis of humanity.”
Education starts with a place to learn.
Please make a donation today and continue your support for the strong and resilient community of Kandale.
Only you can help us provide safe classrooms for the children
Kind regards,
Julie Martel
President, Board of Directors
REVE Kandale Foundation
