Our current efforts are focused on a shanty town called Mabulu in the Kingabwe quarter of Kinshasa, DRC's capital city. Our program director lives in a home adjacent to this community and has worked for many years to provide opportunities for its impoverished residents. Under her direction, Hope Sparked selects boys and girls who have a good chance of success and provides everything they need to complete primary and secondary school (equivalent to high school graduation). Since many of these children have not been able to consistently attend school in the past, we provide year-around tutoring to help them catch up and keep up. The tutoring sessions are open to others in the community and help us identify children with a desire to learn as resources allow us to take on more students. We locate local schools suitable to the children's needs, then directly pay tuition and provide needed supplies like shoes, backpacks, and notebooks. We make long-term commitments to the students so they can have confidence and hope after years of sporadically attending school only when their family could find the money for fees. We began this process with one student in 2014, and are now supporting 25 students in various schools throughout the area.
School fees throughout Kinshasa are typically a few hundred dollars per year. The average annual income in DRC is below $500, and estimates show about 70% of the population lives below the global poverty line of $1.25 a day, so school costs are prohibitively expensive for most families. Most children are eager to attend school and families do all they can to send them, but few can consistently meet this goal. Hope Sparked identifies these eager children and removes the barriers to their consistent education. Family members are asked to provide whatever support they can when they are able, which sometimes is simply buying a notebook to show their commitment. Once a year, Hope Sparked runs a fundraising campaign to support our returning students for another year, then brings new students into the program if we have sufficient resources. We are committed to the long-term education of our students, and hope to grow our efforts with your help.
Check our Our Goals to see how we plan on growing.
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