Kipako, Central Congo region, DR Congo: Tuzayana Sacré Coeur high school & ITC/Kipako middle school
- This was the organization's first scholarship program in 2019. The village of Kipako in the Bas-Congo province is a few hours drive from the DRC capital Kinshasa. The school has boarding students, mostly from Kinshasa, and day students from local farmer families. Our scholarship program supports local students, whose families have difficulty affording the school tuition. One of our volunteers visits the school and families before each school year to identify needs.
- 2020-2023: This program was less affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Over a few years, we have expanded this project from 13 scholarships in 2020-2021 (11 regular scholarships + 2 special scholarships to allow 2 students to continue school after their father was burned by boiling palm oil and became unable to work) to 22 full-tuition scholarships in 2023-2024 (14 girls, 8 boys).
- Next academic year: Thanks to a generous donator, we will expand the scholarship program by 50% in the next academic year. We are also working on a project to supply the school with sanitary napkins for the girls and basic supplies and sheets for the school infirmary, which is dramatically understocked. The needs are high in this very poor region. We welcome donations for the scholarship program or for the sanitary napkins/infirmary project.
Kampala, Uganda: St Peter high school and Crested middle school
- This scholarship program in a suburb of the Ugandan capital Kampala started in 2020 and initially helped 3 day-students (all girls) become boarding students to avoid a long and dangerous daily commute on foot in the dark along unsafe roads.
- During the Covid-19 pandemic, ourscholarships were instrumental to keep these students in school, as the school was accepting only boarding students. When even the boarding school closed because of the pandemic, we supported private remedial classes for our scholarship recipients, so they could keep learning.
- 2020-2023: In 2021, we expanded the program to add 2 middle school day students (girls) from Congolese (DRC) refugee families. Unfortunately, one of the high school girls became pregnant and withdrew from the school (we have been unable to contact her or her family), so the program currently supports 4 girls.
- Next academic year: We are working at expanding the number of boarding school scholarships, as our funds permit. We have identified candidates in partnership with the school. We are looking for donors, with the goal of adding one or two girls to this boarding school program, either this year or next year.
Brazzaville, R. Congo: Les Elites 3D school, and professional schools
- Our organization has had a connection with Our Lady of Nazareth orphanage in Brazzaville since 2019. We have helped with school tuition for the children from time to time, as our funds - and the Covid-19 pandemic situation - permitted. Most of the orphanage children are enrolled in a neighborhood school. A few of the oldest ones attend professional schools.
- 2023-2024: We are very pleased to announce that, starting this school year, we are supporting full tuition for all 26 orphans (boys and girls) enrolled at the neighborhood school! This was a main goal of the project.
- Next academic year: We would like to grant scholarships to the students from the orphanage who are enrolled in the professional schools (currently: woodworking, tailoring, hairdressing). We are looking for donors willing to support one or more of these professional school students.
In progress: Entebbe, Uganda: Merryland High Schools
- This project started in 2023. Through a local contact, we are studying the possibility of opening a scholarship program for students from needy families enrolled in the local school system.
- Unfortunately, up to now it has been difficult to establish all the criteria required for initiation of a scholarship program: on one side, contacts with candidate students and their families, and on the other side, communications with the school systems they attend. Sometimes, things can take a long time, especially in Africa. We are working on this project. Hopefully there will be more news soon.