Teaching is never an easy job. However, in the North Kivu area of the Democratic Republic of Congo, every day as a teacher can be a fight for survival. Children who have lost everything crowd into the classroom, more and more they pile onto the wooden benches, clamouring for education, desperate for love, shelter, hope. The violence which has been known for so long, always hounding at the door, rages outside between the rebel groups and government forces as they attack, loot, rape and kill. Wages are scant and food is expensive, somewhere to sleep is not a given. However, despite the fighting, the poverty, the volcanic rubble and ash which bereave the area of any softness in its landscape, Comfort Congo’s teachers continue to educate and cherish the next generation of DRC. One of these is Theo, who started teaching with us in 2019.
Theo was born in 1992, and when he was seven years old his parents divorced and he moved to live with his grandparents. Four years later his grandfather died and more recently, his father passed away also. He lived alone with his grandmother, and when he finished his teacher training he knew he wanted to make a difference with his life. In 2019, when asked his reasoning for coming to Kisima, he said:
“I was compelled to come here by my own conscience, my teaching vocation and my involvement with Comfort Congo and the desire to help vulnerable children who were left to wander the streets due to lack of means to attend school and receive an education … I am teaching my pupils to be good and well-educated citizens who will, as future leaders, hopefully influence the transformation and holistic development of our nation.”
Theo is sponsored by Comfort International to provide something towards a wage as the schools cannot afford to pay teachers. Despite the undoubtedly difficult circumstances, we love to hear from Theo as he updates us on his life and his work as a teacher. In December, he sent us a letter to let us know how he is getting on.
“My work at Kisima Secondary School is going well and we are nearly at the end of the first term of this school year 2023-2024 which will probably finish in February after examinations and publishing of the first semester results. I am enjoying classes with the pupils and have a good relationship with my school colleagues and our headmaster. At the start we had difficulty finding out in which ways we should use the classrooms for our students – we happened to have 4 upstairs classrooms though in bad conditions, but which we used anyway to help to keep us working and caring for these children who need education.
The school ground is busier than it was before, as there are children for both Kisima Secondary School and Nahori Primary Schools playing in the school break in the morning, yet there are those from Kambize that come in the afternoon to use the same classrooms Kisima uses before noon while waiting for their school building to be finished and which is nearly at the end of construction.”
“The issue that is still difficult to solve is having school materials, mostly chalk and notebooks for lesson preparations as there are many teachers for three sections, but those which we get we use responsibly and it is good for us to see that children are working hard to succeed even with a lot of challenges due to the situation of war between the M23 (rebel armies) and the government army helped by local armed groups that confuse and traumatise the population.
This year I look forward to making better use of my sponsorship and any other advantage that I may get in any way to improve my life and my professional experience in teaching in order to plan better for my future. Also, I want the pupils to understand my lessons more than they do at present and if possible, all of them should successfully pass my course exams.”
“Please continue to keep me in the hands of God to overcome this situation and continue my hope in the Lord because I believe that with Him, nothing can hinder my progress. I pray that God will always be with you as a protection together with all the family of Comfort International. From Theo.”
Please continue to pray for Theo and all of the Comfort Congo staff and teachers who do an incredible and heroic job in the midst of such chaos and fear. If you are interested in sponsoring a teacher, please head to our website or click the button below.