New Internship Opening!
Congo Initiative is seeking qualified candidates to fill the position of Website Intern. This is an exciting opportunity to enhance our web presence. No web design expertise is required, although helpful.
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Digging Deeper
So what does all this talk of transformation actually look like in the everyday lives of UCBC students? Is UCBC just preparing students to be leaders and for the future, or are students living differently right now?
Meet the UYDC ("University Youth Devoted to Christ"; see photo bottom right). This self-initiated group of students decided to dream of ways they could bless their neighbors and community. This is above and beyond their regular university classes and activities. Last year, the UYDC members (about 8 students) saved enough money to purchase a pig. They raised that pig, and earlier this year they sold it. With the proceeds they bought three more piglets. With what they earn from their work, they plan to pay the school fees for a very poor boy, whose family lives right at the edge of the UCBC campus property, to attend local primary school.
It is remarkable how much can be accomplished with so little! These are the future leaders of DRC--men and women who are putting the needs of others before their own. |
Noteworthy
"The city of Beni will be an example to our nation. It will be an example because of UCBC."
- Mayor of Beni
"I've only been here at UCBC two days. But I can see that this university is different from all other Congolese universities. Our universities in Kinshasa and Kisangani are dead. They are like government offices. Here there is life and spirit. In Kinshasa we have ceased to live, to move."
- Visiting Communications Professor
"There IS hope for Congo, and we want to be part of the solution, setting an example of hope." - UCBC student Regis Mathe Henry
"UCBC has helped me to think big." - UCBC student Rebekah Kabageni
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A World of Difference
On a cool, overcast and breezy morning on July 28, students, faculty, staff, distinguished guests, family members and people from the wider community gathered to celebrate UCBC's second Commencement. Graduates were robed in their garments with stoles draped around their necks--down one side was printed "U.C.B.C." and down the other was the name of their academic discipline. The Commencement address was given b
 | | Graduate Annie Kahindo embraces father and UCBC Administrator Mbusa Manassé |
y Daystar University's Vice-Chancellor Dr. Timothy Wachira. Special awards were presented by UCBC President ("Rector") Dr. David Kasali. The UCBC Welcome Center was dedicated to the late Lyn Lusi, a courageous woman who dedicated her entire adult life to Congo, founded HEAL Africa with her husband, and served on the Board of CI-UCBC in Congo.
So what's one more graduation? Honestly, we have them every year. Many of us have gone through them ourselves and sat through those of family and friends. Aside from the distinctly Congolese flair, in many ways this graduation looked a lot like other graduations. So what's the big deal?
The big deal is that the young men and women graduating from UCBC one month ago are not simply cogs in the machine. They did not graduate merely by satisfactory completion of assignments and rote memorization, which is the standard for Congolese universities. These graduates have not simply completed their studies, but they have been formed. They have been transformed. And now they will go out to transform. It will not happen overnight. It will not be easy. It will take years. Decades. Generations. But a new thing has begun and is flourishing at UCBC--the intentional, deliberate formation of leaders who are choosing peace, justice and hope for Congo--who take seriously the call to serve others.
The big deal is that each graduate from UCBC represents another rupture in the cycle of poverty. Poverty that is not only physical, but mental. Circumstances may not change, but mindsets do. Value systems are formed that give new meaning to being fully human. Life, in all of its beauty and terror, is suddenly very different when seen through the lens of hope rather than despair. This is why a UCBC graduation makes all the difference in the world.
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Become Part of Making the Difference
Students like Annie Kahindo (pictured above) and the UYDC group (pictured below, see article left) represent simply the tip of the iceberg in terms of what CI-UCBC is doing and how these incredible men and women are making a difference in their communities. As many of them affirm, UCBC is like their family. They are learning to lean on one another in support of each other.
Did you know that when a student becomes ill, often his/her family does not have the money to pay for medical treatment? On several occasions, other UCBC students have pooled their resources to pay for the treatment of just one student. That is community!
 | | Members of the UYDC |
UCBC students are required to pay $350 for their annual tuition, which is more than 150% of the average annual family income in Congo. And yet, that only represents 25% of the total operating costs of UCBC to meet all the educational needs of that one student. Education that equips a new generation of leaders does not come cheaply.
You can join this community of difference-makers today by committing yourself to making a difference in their education. Kipepeo Partners is our invitation to become a monthly, sustaining donor and in so doing, invest in the lives of these men and women. You can start with $20, $30, $50 a month--whatever fits your budget. And it's easy to sign up. Just click on the link below and indicate that you want to make a recurring donation. You will then be directed to our PayPal page, which is where you can make your secure, online donation.
We are launching a fresh campaign to reach a new goal. Join with us! We currently have 55 Kipepeo Partners. Our goal is to reach 65 Partners by October 15. Join Kipepeo today and become a difference-maker alongside, and on behalf of, our students.
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