THE REAL COST OF AN EDUCATION
Everyone always asks how they can help the refugees I work with, and it shows the compassion of the people I am surrounded by. Refugees come from some of the most dangerous places on earth -- with trauma and stories most of us could not imagine living through. They are survivors, they are strong, they are brave. To help them is a reward in itself -- but only one percent of refugees are actually resettled. With more than 16 million people classified as refugees in the world, it is a global issue that we all need to take steps to address. Not to mention, what happens to the people left behind? The ones left to pick up the pieces and who are trying desperately to fix their country.
I first met Makorobondo "Dee" Salukombo when I started my position of Refugee Clinic Coordinator at Neighborhood Family Practice. At the time, he was a case manager for resettled refugees through Catholic Charities Migration and Refugee Services. As a case manager he was the first person his refugee clients met at the airport, he welcomed them into their new homes, provided intensive support surrounding jobs, english class, health, school -- and so much more that even I probably don't know. Little did I know that he was a former refugee -- In 2004 while I was graduating high school and packing for college, he was arriving in Cleveland after fleeing the Democratic Republic of the Congo with his family and living in a refugee camp in Uganda. He fought hard to continue his education, graduate high school and attend Denision University. Prior to graduating, he started "Project Kirotshe" in 2012, receiving the Davis Projects for Peace Grant of $10,000 to start the first ever library in Kirotshe (his hometown). He is one of the kindest, most genuine human beings I have met -- and the fact that he returned home and is trying to better the lives of the Congolese children would not surprise anyone who's met him.
I'll let Dee explain his project and ambitions for the children of his hometown, but first let's go through a few facts about the DRC itself.
The Congolese have endured over two decades of armed conflict leaving more than 5.4 million people dead -- making it the second deadliest conflict since World War II. It is one of the most resource-rich countries on the planet, yet close to 75 percent of its population lives in poverty. It ranks second to last on the Human Development Index, has a per capita income less than $450, and hosts the United Nations' largest peacekeeping mission in the world. The 1994 Rwandan genocide followed by a second war in 1998 have placed the DRC in the deadliest conflict in African History.
More about the DRC
Human Rights Watch lists the Democratic Republic of the Congo as the most dangerous country in the world to be a woman.
The number of children who have lost one/both parents: 5.1 million (UNICEF,2012)
The median age of the population is 17.9 years!
That means half the population is older, half the population is younger. To put it into perspective, the median age of the USA is close to 38...
School "life expectancy" is around 8 years for girls, 11 years for boys.
In the United States, we KNOW the importance of education. Imagine not being able to afford 35 to 70 dollars a YEAR so your child could attend.
I saw Dee explaining the lack of education due to the cost of the children in his community on a photo on facebook..and that is why I contacted him to help. I'll let you read what is going on his side of the world.
I know its alot of info, I know it doesn't seem like helping a child go to school for one year in a country you will probaby never visit in your lifetime may not be on your priority list. But as Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."
Let's help refugees by keeping people from becoming them.
Will you help by paying $50/ one year of tuition?
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Jamie,
I hope all is well with you. Below is a brief summary of what we have been doing and hopefully will give you all the information you need. If you still need more information, please don’t hesitate to let me know.
As you might know, I started ProjectKirotshe in 2012 just before graduating from Denison when I received the Davis Projects for Peace grant of $10,000 to start the first ever library in Kirotshe. In January 2013, we opened up the doors to the library and it has been a great resource for the students, teachers and the community in general. Along with the library as I was planning to train for the 2016 Olympics, I also started a running team with over 300 kids. The goal with the running team was to give these kids a chance over 4 years and see may be one or two out of them might be talented and have a chance at representing Congo at the 2016 Olympics. Currently, in our team, we have some of the best runners in the country as this August we were in the capital city Kinshasa where one of my young runners, Esperance Bandu, 15 years old, an orphan and currently one of the two athletes living with me at my grandmother’s house due to lack of a place to stay, was a 2 times national champion in the 1500m and 3000m races for the women. We only went 4 runners from our village to represent our State and our State came 2nd overall after the 50 runners from the capital city! Obviously, we have runners capable of doing great things, but the condition of life here is limiting so much potential!
Congo has been through ongoing conflicts since the genocide of Rwanda in 1994. Our State, the north Kivu province has been at the center of all the violence. The results of over 16 years of war is orphans, single mothers, very poor people, no employment, over 6 million lives lost and many more displaced (our refugees, my family among the fortunate ones). So When I started the running team and the library, most of these kids thought that this might be their ticket to ESPECIALLY AN EDUCATION as I promised to pay for the top runners for tuition for the next 4 years! So far, we have been able to pay for our top 12 runners the last 3 years. But what is very sad is to see the other over 80 kids, coming to practice, being part of the team, but not having that chance for a free education or an education at all.
Now that 2016 is coming very fast, I have to make a decision. Do I just turnaround and leave all these lives that has been given hope? It’s not sitting well with me. With the limited funds we have through the little savings I did while working and the kindness of so many great friends, it’s still not enough as we have only been able to help a little fraction of the team. Currently, we are working on changing ProjectKirotshe into Kirotshe Foundation, a recognized nonprofit, hoping for finance to better help these vulnerable kids. I believe it is great to create the best runners in the world, which I know we are in the process, but it is greater to transform an illiterate village into educated minds. The more educated people in Congo, especially in our area, the better a chance for a lasting peace and development. With Kirotshe Foundation, and probably the next many years of my life, I want to use the opportunity I had of an education and seeing the other side of the world, to help the people, especially students of my village.
Summary:
About the Team:
We currently have over 100 participating members on the team. The ones we sponsor are required to attend all our practices, workshops, field trips and all other team events. The ones we don’t sponsor are free to come and go as they please. We have about 50 out of the initial 300 who have stuck with us the last 3 years and have been coming consistently despite not being sponsored. About another 50 have been inconsistent but have been showing up. For the first time, we have 2 university students ($500 per year each and we used the Jovial Concepts to pay for one of them), and in total we have paid the first trimester for 20 members of the team, leaving 30 members in desperate need. As much as I would want to cover all 100 members, I am hoping we can be able to pay for at least 50 students. These students go to different schools and are in different levels. The most expensive being the university, but we only have to worry about 1 there ($500), then secondary where we have the majority, paying $70/yr and finally the primary level paying the least amount at $35/year. (Without the university, we have been averaging around $50 per student).
On our website, we have same pictures of the runners and the library. On youtube if you search for ProjectKirotshe or Makorobondo Salukombo, you will find some videos and pictures of the runners and the library. I will also send you some pictures that I have and hopefully that will be enough.
I don’t know how to thank you, but it means so much to these kids when they hear that we will put them through school. Currently, almost all the people that we were born around the same year and many more who were born many years after I was born are married with at least 3 kids each. What happened to them was once they lacked some one to pay for their education, especially after primary levels due to the increased amount of tuition, for girls, their either become farmers in their family small farms or just get married and start their own lives. At 16, it is common for these girls to start their family, but what kind of live are they living? Terrible! I will send some pictures. For men, they either become farmers or join armed groups that has been the source of all the conflicts in the area. The more young people we can keep in school, the better their future and the peace of this area. I initially came here to become an Olympian, but as much as I want to achieve my goal, I also want to use this chance to promote and hopefully be a part of the solution in this part of Congo. Again, I don’t know how to thank you but whatever you can be able to do for my people here, will be very much appreciated.
If you need anything, don’t hesitate to let me know!
Makorobondo “Dee” Salukombo
Founder of Kirotshe Foundation
Project Kirotshe 
