On September 27, 2020, at 7:00 p.m. in Mpasa II, an outlying neighborhood located a few minutes from N’djili International Airport in the city of Kinshasa, a noise is heard on Inongo Avenue. It is hard to identify. Young people come running. White powder all over their bodies. Someone has passed the State exams, the equivalent of the high school diploma. (Editor’s note: in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it has been customary for about a decade that when a finalist passes the State exams, white powder is sprinkled on their head). They shout, they laugh. It is total joy. A striking noise. No need to ask questions. One quickly understands that these are the baccalaureate results.

Bassis BASAMBOMBO, David Mabenga, Sylva Kalonji, Francis Kabalo, Kabamba Andry, and Kanga Jonathan—since it is they we are talking about—have just obtained their State diplomas in the following options respectively: electricity (61%), literature (61%, 65% and 69%), and pedagogy (65% and 56%).

Immense joy fills them. Sharing their impressions, these five laureates warmly thanked the NGO Kakasu (Kakasu Switzerland, Italy, Congo), thanks to which they were able to continue their secondary education and complete it. In their words, they do not stop there. These new graduates have ambitions. They intend to continue their studies. They are thinking about university studies or vocational training. A request has therefore been made to the KAKASU coordination so that the NGO can support them in this.

It should also be noted that there is satisfaction on the side of the Kakasu Steering Committee, which rejoiced at the success of these five children whom it supported during this pandemic period. “This encourages us and pushes us to work even harder for the education of Congolese youth, considered the future of tomorrow,” declares Solange Bukumba, who took the opportunity to call on all people of good will to help children who are socially vulnerable regarding their education. “Thank you to our five finalists for the efforts made. We are proud of you, our champions,” she concluded, while also thinking of all those who already support the NGO Kakasu.

Espérance Makabu
Secretary and Communications Officer, Kakasu Congo