Global benefits
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Why support higher education in the Democratic Republic of Congo? Because building a stronger and more politically stable Congo is vitally important not just to the Congolese—but to all of us on the planet.
“Pull a thread here and you’ll find it’s attached to the rest of the world.”
—Nadeem Aslam, author
We are all connected
Congo is environmentally important to the entire world. It contains most of the 2nd largest rainforest on Earth and most of the largest peatland.
70% of cobalt located in Congo, 60% of coltan
Democratic Republic of Congo’s minerals are essential to the technologies the world now depends on—from mobile phones to the capacitors used in electronic devices. Even more critically, our transition to renewable energy depends on the stability and the wellbeing of the country containing the world’s richest mineral deposits.
Building capacity for highly motivated students
“Education is so hard to come by for most Congolese—yet what they most need in order to manage the dynamics of international demand for their resources.”
—Phil Kliewer,
Education Congo Secretary
Studies show that higher education in economically developing countries has exponential benefits. These include increasing political stability, boosting the economy, advancing gender equality, reducing poverty, violence and child labor, and helping the environment.
Your donation goes farther in Congo
It is dramatically less expensive to educate Congolese students in their own country than abroad!
Tuition in Congo seems like a bargain…
But with 80% of Congolese people earning less than $600 per year, the cost of higher education is actually quite prohibitive. Yet higher education is what is most needed to produce more teachers, more engineers, more business people, more scientists, more doctors, more computer science professionals…
The key to retaining talent in Congo
When students stay in Congo for their education, chances are greater that graduates will stay to contribute to strengthening their own country—rather than exporting their expertise to other countries.
What our supporters are saying
Barbara Kingsolver,
author of The Poisonwood Bible and Demon Copperhead
“Young people in the Democratic Republic of Congo have the weight of history stacked against them as they look for a path to education, autonomy and the chance to serve their communities. And yet, no young people have impressed me more than the Congolese students I’ve met in my visits there. Given an inch of opportunity, they will take a mile and bring along their peers and families…”
John B. Franz, PhD,
author of Congo Shadows
“Supporting Education Congo is gifting individuals, families and a country with a brighter future. Why? Because education is transformative. Graduates have opportunities to earn, contribute and build a life that their peers lacking a degree simply have not. I have personally witnessed this truth over a lifetime of university teaching. Based on my experiences, including four years of living in the Congo, I believe this is doubly true for the Congolese.”
Faith Eidse,
author of Deeper than African Soil
“Growing up in a Congo village taught me that survival is hard work…. Yet the men would give up their guns and the women their field hoes to learn to read and write. Today my childhood playmates are leading literacy classes with standing room only. Many of their children and grandchildren have gone on to college and university, graduating and leading the nation in engineering, technology, medicine, administration, education and theology.”
