When I visited the school in Mabala, near Nioki, Congo, the oldest students were just taking their final exams. They have to pay for these exams, as well as for all previous schooling. Unfortunately, one of the girls was forced to leave the school shortly before, as she became pregnant and is not allowed to stay in the school according to the law. I asked our manager Jean what the children would do after the final exams. His simple answer: “Nothing!” – It hit me immensely.
There are few jobs in this area, about three quarters of the population remain without work. People here also need help in order to be able to manage their land properly. Ing. Jean, a very experienced agronomist, explored the local fields with cassava and noticed that the plants were infected with the disease. He would like to import better, healthy seed, which would bring greater yields of this crop, which is the main food component for the Congolese. The need to train local residents in agriculture is obvious here.
For these reasons, we want to establish a secondary school here with the teaching of agriculture and veterinary medicine, as there is no similar institution in the entire region. We want to provide pupils with sufficient education to become successful farmers and thus provide food for themselves and their families and to obtain a certain income.
After visiting the school, Jean and I met a boy named Patrick on the way who was selling bananas. We had fun with him and also asked him why he was not at school. He replied that he goes to school in the afternoon because he has to sell bananas in the morning to earn his school fees – $5 per trimester, a total of $15 a year. There are many children in the Congo who do not go to school because their parents do not have the money to do so.
I was extremely sad about the conversation. I am convinced that it is not right for children to have to earn money by selling bananas and to do ‘nothing’ after passing the final exams!
Whenever I meet such clever children in the bush with a taste for learning and great potential, who in reality do not have much hope for a dignified life, it breaks my heart. But at the same time, it also strengthens my determination to find people willing to help the poor. Also, thanks to this, I start working on my book with new vigor, which I am writing precisely in order to make available to as many people as possible the vision of how to change this world for the better through love.
During this visit to the Congo, I asked my friends from different walks of life and professions what solutions they would suggest for the problems described above. I liked Jean’s simple answer: ‘Most of all we need more of God’s love. Instead of taking care of ourselves, we must think about the needs of others. Second – we must work.’ – For most Congolese, this means engaged in agriculture, as the Congo has more than 80 million hectares of agricultural land.
So our goal is to help the rural population to a better and better life. We want people to be motivated to stay in villages and not go to cities that are crowded and where they cannot find work, and thus, among other things, prevent their migration to Europe.
Wolfgang Schmidt
