Your Generous Support Is Needed to Rebuild the Post-War Congo 's Classroom

Congo Youth Biggest Victims of the World's Deadliest War:

Dear Friends:

In an increasingly global world and in the aftermath of growing acts of violence around the world, people are becoming more aware of the close ties with people in poor and ravaged countries like Kosovo , Afghanistan , or Indonesia (Tsunami crisis). Another such a nation is the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa .

In recent months, we have all been stirred with compassion and beset with sadness at the shedding of innocent blood in that African nation.

“The war in the Congo has been one of the bloodiest conflicts known since the Second World War,” according to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). Thanks to the mediation efforts of the international community and the United Nations, the war has ceased, and a democratic government has been elected.

However, the war has exacted profound social consequences—killing over four million people, halting the formal economy, and crippling social services. Schools have been dismantled, making the Congo 's youth the biggest victims of a war called “The World's Deadliest war,” by The Time Magazine . For over six years, the Congolese people have felt the pain of the war and the sense of abandonment. Today, much help is still needed to rebuild the collapsed African country whose size is about a quarter the size of the US or equivalent to the whole Western Europe .

That is where the Cambridge , Massachusetts- based non-profit American University of Kinshasa Foundation ( www.auk-congo.edu ) comes in. It promotes college education and academic exchanges between the Congo and the International community. Its current goal is to rescue the war-torn Congo 's forgotten youth, and bring classroom to life again. “The real casualty of the protracted Congo war has been the destruction of a social and educational infrastructure whose effect is only partly symbolized by the ruins of the once great university, also known as Université Franco-Américaine de Kinshasa. The effect of the war and the extended financial crisis has forced the closure of the University. It's unfortunate that such an institution with a global vision, as well as the purveyor of prized and crucial general and healthcare education, has been effectively leveled, impacting so many lives in the Congo .

The Task Force on Higher Education and Society Publication (February 2000), published by The World Bank & The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) wrote, “Université Franco-Américaine de Kinshasa is a private University that since 1994 has pioneered a credit-based system that also allows students to program their courses around a work schedule.”

The American University of Kinshasa Foundation's immediate objective is to start all over, reopen the University and continue the momentum this institution has ignited since 1994 by educating the youth and preparing them to bring answers to humanity's challenges. This is a University with a global vision of educating Africans and Foreign students from around the world, and engaging in partnerships with international organizations and Universities. The Foundation is appealing for donations from the general public, religious organizations, businesses and philanthropists. They will help the university acquire classroom spaces, support faculty and students in desperate need, including establish scholarships for girls.

The task of reconstructing the Congo 's education system shattered by years of war is urgent. The risk of leaving the nation's youth to the prospect of a new dark age without schooling is too great to bear. From their ranks will come tomorrow ‘s leaders and society's builders. This is one of those times when waiting to see what happens next won't do. The stakes are too high.

On the other hand, people all over the world recognize what the International community is traditionally able to offer, by being generous to those in need, by helping alleviate human suffering. Supporting education is one of the best ways to address the root causes of poverty, healthcare and conflicts. It's possible to help bring the youth back to school again with the charitable assistance of the International community, philanthropists, and charitable organizations.

If you'd like to support our shared mission of rescuing the war-shattered Congo 's Forgotten Youth, please, contact us by phone at 508-270-0521or by email aukuniv@auk-congo.edu . Please feel free to spread the word to friends and associates.

Thank you and regards,

Dimandja Kasongo

P.S. About the American University of Kinshasa Foundation

The American University of Kinshasa Foundation is an US 501(c)(3)

Tax-exempt Non-profit established since 1998 to carry on and promote programs for the advancement of higher education in Africa , with particular focus on rebuilding the “Université Franco-Américaine de Kinshasa” in the Democratic Republic of the Congo . Another Foundation's key priority is to promote the public awareness of cultural and academic exchange opportunities between Africa and the International Community for the mutual benefit of people in both regions.

Contact :

American University of Kinshasa Foundation

C/o Harvard Epworth UMC
1555 Massachusetts Avenue , Cambridge , MA 02138
508-270-0521; aukuniv@auk-congo.edu .
www.auk-congo.edu