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Sometimes you can see the difference between good water and bad water. If it is dirty or cloudy, then it is probably not good, clean, and safe drinking water. Which one would you drink?
You would probably drink the clear, clean drinking water. Even poor Congolese would drink the clear, clean drinking water if they had the choice. But when do not have a choice, you drink water. You hope that it is cler, clean drinking water.
These children are the future of Congo. That's an easy statement to say. But what will their future look like?
Will they attend elementary and secondary school? Over 50 percent of the children do not complete elementary school.
Will they have job? Will they have food to eat? Will the Congo government support human rights for them?
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
We have all done chores as children. But can you imagine have to carry 40 pounds of water on your head? That's what Congolese girls learn at an early age. It prepares them for what?
In order to break the cycle of poverty, you have to reach these girls at an early age. This girl looks no more than seven years old. She should be attending school.
Is it wrong do chores? I would not call carrying over five gallons of water up a steep hill a chore.
Safe water is available from improved water in some places. But getting to that water is an unbelievable challenge. Most of the safe water is down steep hills in Congo. And it is located miles away from the village and their home.
When you see the young girls and children who are responsible for going to get that safe water, you feel the pity. Safe water needs to be closer. Drilling water wells is the solution.
Any education provided to children living in extreme poverty will provide some relevance and benefit. As we know from the US education system, the relevance and benefit received varies greatly from school to school, school district, province, and country. It is my opinion, dollar for dollar, your education dollar goes farther in a developing country.
When an education system produces nursing school directors, hospital administrators, health clinic directors and doctors; it provides relevance and benefit to their rural poor.
When you help children in the developing world attend school, what sort of school are you helping them to attend?
The mere construction of a building or provision of a scholarship does not mean that a child is receiving an education. We believe that if you donate to help more children attend school, you must check on the quality and nature of the schools they’re attending - otherwise you could easily be wasting your money.
And even if a child is receiving an education, it’s worth asking whether this education has any real relevance and benefit. Reading and arithmetic skills may open up opportunities in the U.S. (although there is surprisingly little data on whether they do), but do they in rural Africa? Is it realistic or even possible that children who grow up in extreme poverty will find themselves in situations where academic skills are helpful?
How much water do you drink daily? Health officials recommend that you drink at least eight 8-ounce glasses of water per daily. I do not drink that much water.
In rural Congo, I doubt if anyone drinks eight 8-ounce glasses (or cups) of water per daily. When you have to walk three miles for water, everyone can afford to drink that much water. Also, you may not want to press your luck.
There are almost no textbooks in rural Congolese schools. Why?
In a failed economy, there is no catalogs or traveling sales persons going from school district to school district to sell needed textbooks. School administrators have to travel to a bookstore in a central city.
Most rural schools are over-the-head in poverty. Teachers are lucky to be paid. Students struggle to pay their fees. Money for books are a luxury. Available money is used to repair or build schools including desks.
It is very difficult for students to learn without textbooks.
Girls in rural Bulape in central Congo are learning computer skills. Typically, the boys are the more educated. Also, they are the ones who learn new skills like computer technology.
Education for girls is a poverty cycle breaker. Better educated girls improve the quality of life for themselves, their families, and their villages.
