The first week of construction of the Mugunga Primary School has begun.

GSF and HEAL Africa have partnered to develop a peice of land that will eventually house a primary and secondary school, clinic, home for women victims of sexual violence, and an early childhood development center.

The community has embraced this project and every day there are at least 40 men, women and children at the site, moving stones, mixing cement, creating the cement blocks, building the building, and helping to feed and support the workers.’

Construction began the June 22 and will be finished the first week of August, with the help of such a strong community effort. Most exciting is to meet the children who will be the first class of students in the 1st through 4th grades offered for the 2006-2007 school year.

More exciting photos after the jump: (more…)

GSF made contact with Mbezi and her mother while her mother was in convalescence after surgery at the HEAL Africa Hospital.

Mbezi was one of the first students in an informal education class in the hospital that was the birth of the GSF’s plans to expand educational opportunities in Goma.

“I’ve been sick for 2 years and at my age, what can I do? I can’t walk or work anymore and I need to take medicines”, says Jean-Pierre, a father in his fifties. “I have 12 children and they all went to school … except for the youngest four. I haven’t been able to put them in school since I got sick.” The fact that Jean-Pierre’s house is the first one adjacent to the Kinzuana school playground where the children line up in long rows before every class makes it especially hard on the 2 daughters and 2 sons that he now can’t afford to send to school. “It’s very sad for me to watch”, he continues. “My youngest daughters and sons used to get their backpacks when they saw all the children lining up for class. They would run over and stand in a line, but the teacher would always find them and send them back home. They sometimes came back crying. I try to save money but I just can’t afford to pay for all my children after I’m finished feeding them. I feel ashamed. It’s my responsibility to take care of all my children and be sure that they are fed and educated. But I’m failing.” – A father in the DRC

This quote reminds me of how much the education system is really the one “failing” children and families and how far we have to go. At the GSF, we are working with a system in decline. Primary school enrollment has dropped steadily from the 1980s, when the DRC boasted 95% primary school enrollment free of charge. Now, public financing for education has long stopped, schools have not been rebuilt since the 1950s, and regional instability has left communities without the resources to support even minimal schooling on their own.

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While construction was underway, the GSF Scholarship Director (shown below) worked to identify children for the scholarship program. Mapendo, age 6, was our first identified student. She was a rape victim currently receiving treatment at the local hospital, DOCS. Her scholarship will provide her with ten years of free schooling, materials, uniforms, and access to the Fund’s numerous programs.

The GSF works with local orphanages, churches, women’s groups, and hospitals to identify students who have been orphaned or severely impoverished by war or disease but who are also in a form of foster care that can provide stability throughout the years of schooling.