Searching for a quote or interesting fact about the month of August for this update, I looked up the special days of the month: National Potato Day (August 19th, in case you want to add it to your 2022 calendar), Bad Poetry Day (Aug 18th), and what? “World Mosquito Day.”
August 20th is indeed World Mosquito Day, the day that commemorates doctor Sir Ronald Ross's discovery in 1897 that female anopheline mosquitoes transmit malaria between humans.
Oddly enough, this bit of trivia pairs with part of the update from the month of photos and videos and stories our Founding Director Amani Matabaro sent to share with you, our family of supporters, connected to Congo through your giving, your sharing of these stories, your recognition of our interconnectedness.
Amani shared this video of the guava trees planted at the Congo Peace School, and when you listen, it is a peaceful moment filled with bird-song. “That is part of the reason we plant the trees,” Amani says. “To bring back more birds.” In addition to providing fruit and shade, the trees attract more birds to the area, helping to balance the ecosystem, and to combat the spread of malaria, as the birds eat mosquitos.
Understanding the balance of the natural world and learning how to live nonviolently within it is part of the Congo Peace School’s curriculum.
It is inspiring to witness the future leaders of our world gaining a deep understanding of how best to live in that world.
Nshobole is a 4th grade elementary school student, starting 5th grade in October. After she finished reading this book, “Our Planet in Danger,” she told Amani: “Cutting down trees and throwing away plastic waste are big threats to our planet.”
The students who attend the Congo Peace School experience many different forms of trauma, from extreme poverty to violence to the fear of the pandemic and the unknown, and at school, they receive support in many different ways: from meals that provide the security of not going hungry, to psychological support from the staff and Amani, who has trained in several different modalities of therapy and healing.
Part of that practice is play, and this past month, the students played what we in the U.S. call cornhole for the first time. Amani says it was wonderful to see them having fun, focusing on the game, laughing and supporting each other.
One of the two preschool classes, supported by our partners at PILA Global, pictured here playing and running on the Congo Peace School’s soccer field.
The new building with three classes on the ground floor to add a third preschool class is almost finished! The roof completed, it is being painted outside and in, and after that dries, the windows and doors will be installed. (Please see our previous update if you missed the news about construction.)
The students continue to learn, inside the classroom and out, because of your partnership. The lessons of stories, of science, of the mathematics of the universe, of growing food, and living in peace with the earth and one another, will change their communities, and ripple into the rest of the world. Thank you for investing in the staff and students at the Congo Peace School!
Photo Credit: Esther Nsapu