Aktive Direkt Hilfe e.V.

The terrifying approach in the armed conflict resembles the one in the East of Congo, with the aim of dispersing the population in order to exploit the resources more easily. Kasai is known for its many diamonds. In view of this situation, we can only hope and pray that more international attention will move the government towards finding a peaceful solution. Until then, not only are our and the other schools and health centers in the region brought to a halt, but innocent people will continue to die and are driven away. Instead of letting ourselves be discouraged from helping other needy people, we are thankful for what has been achieved so far: • Since the beginning of our project in 2011, nearly 2000 pupils have attended our school. They will not forget how someone from abroad built them a school, set it up and made it possible for them to receive free schooling, while now their own country men drove them out. • The children will be able to continue to receive further schooling in their new places of refuge. • Our teachers keep receiving salaries from the government in spite of the fighting. • Through this project, our team has gained important experience on how to build development work in the rural areas of Congo, where the need is the biggest. These experiences can help us and others with similar projects.

A representative of the Ministry of Education from Kamonia visited our school and said we should add one more class to the 5th and 6th grade as the amount of children per class is too high (over 50). Since there are only 10 class rooms, we will have to see how to rearrange things to create two new classes. The Ministry is ready to support two more teachers which will be a big help for the school.

This school year the number of students in our Primary School increased to 275 boys and 202 girls, together 477. Our Secondary School population also grew, now 53 boys and 37 girls, together 90. That brings our total amount of students up to 567! It is very encouraging to see that the parents appreciate the schooling of their children so much, which will give them a better chance in their future.

All our 32 students from the 6th grade passed the final exams at the end of the last school year. This is a big success for the school and proves that our teachers and director are doing a good job. The official name of our school is „E.P. A.D.H. MUSHAPO”. It stands for „Ecole Primaire (Primary School) ADH Mushapo”. Our school director Pierre went to a meeting of the sub-division from the Ministry of Education in Kamonia for all school directors of this area. Two days before school starts we have a preparatory meeting with all the pupils at our school to prepare them for a good school year ahead.

The school books we sent from Kinshasa finally arrived. In the meanwhile, 32 students from our 6th grade are on their way to their final exams in Mungamba.

One of our sponsors in Germany sent us a lot of jerseys, footballs and pumps, so we could give our school a set for two teams and some more for the schools in the neighboring villages. It is difficult to explain the many steps it took to get these materials all the way to Mushapo, but it was also a special wish of the neighboring schools which will create more joy and unity between all of the schools.

Our school now teaches 440 children in the primary school free of charge, something almost unheard of in Congo. Besides that we teach 60 students in the secondary school which is paid for by the parents. It was their own initiative as it makes it easier for their older children to go to school right where they live instead of having to walk to another school far away. Altogether our school teaches now exactly 500 students. The teachers and school director received several training courses throughout the year to improve their teaching skills.

During our meeting with the Minister of Education, Mr. Maker, a year ago in Kinshasa, we asked him if he could help us to get the teachers of our school paid since it is registered as a governmental school. He agreed to take care of this and now it happened: all our 10 teachers and the school director received their first salaries from the government! Until now, we paid their salaries. If somebody does not know all the local complications involved in reaching this goal it is difficult to understand what a huge miracle that is! Basically all of our contacts in Congo had their doubts and told us that this will never happen. Jean wrote us recently that nobody in the area understands how this is possible as none of the other schools in the villages around are receiving salaries for their teachers. In order for the teachers to receive their first salary the local school board in Kamonia ordered our school to close for 2 days and asked all teachers and the director to personally come to Tshikapa. They walked 60km from Mushapo and the next day they walked back. Hopefully soon they will be able to receive their salaries in Kamonia, which is only 40 km away. We are very thankful for this great victory as it is an important step towards the independence of our school. Another step in the direction of independence is the new school committee. They made an effort to inspire the parents to contribute something towards the school, in the interest of their children. All parents agreed to give 500 FC per child per month, which is about 50 Euro Cents. This is a big commitment of the parents and will help with the upkeep and running of the school.