Congo Education Partners (CEP) is a nonprofit that is making big change on a small budget by sustaining a college deep in the Congo Basin rainforest that provides one of the keys to saving the planet. The Congo Basin rainforest is one of the world’s most biodiverse regions and stores more carbon than the Amazon and Asian rainforests combined, affecting rainfall patterns as far away as the American Midwest. We are losing rainforest to climate change, population growth, unsustainable agriculture, logging, and mining. But we cannot save the rainforest without supporting the people who live there, and they cannot save the rainforest without education.
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Nelson Mandela said, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world".
The United Nations has recognized that education is key in making progress on all the sustainable development goals. It is key to reducing poverty and gender inequality and is a critical tool in developing local leadership for sustainable solutions. Local leadership is a key to saving the Congo Basin rainforest. |
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Congo Education Partners supports Djolu Technical College (DTC) – a higher education institution founded, led and attended by Congolese in the heart of the rainforest. The College provides higher education and training so local students can become professionals, leaders, and active stewards of the rainforest. DTC is the only accredited rural development college in one of the most remote, heavily forested and poorest regions of Congo, where only one out of every 500 people has any college education. It is the only rural sciences college in a region that contains all or part of five nature reserves. But “nature reserves” only exist on paper unless they have educated and empowered stewards. |
DTC develops local expertise for sustainable local solutions
Graduates of DTC – both men and women – are employed in nature reserves, local
government, NGOs, clinics, and secondary schools. They have become delegates in
the provincial government, managers and founders of local conservation and
development organizations, and leaders at DTC itself.
Graduates of DTC – both men and women – are employed in nature reserves, local
government, NGOs, clinics, and secondary schools. They have become delegates in
the provincial government, managers and founders of local conservation and
development organizations, and leaders at DTC itself.
The College provides:
- Higher education capacity for about 130 students per year (300 once the new classroom buildings are completed)
- Degrees in rural sciences: Environment and Sustainable Development, Forests and Water, and Nursing/Public Health
- Outreach to local communities and training for local farmers in regenerative agriculture and forest conservation
CEP funds:
- women’s scholarships
- faculty salaries
- agricultural extension programs
- faculty and student research
- DTC’s computer center
- building maintenance and construction
Click on the images below to read about DTC heroes and exciting initiatives
Congo Education Partners is DTC’s sole international partner, and most of CEP’s funding comes from foundation grants and
individual donors like you.
More than 95% of every dollar you give goes to the College.
Your contribution to CEP educates young leaders and has the power to influence
rainforest carbon storage and preserve biodiversity. This affects all of us, including
generations to come.
One donor says: “I feel like I get a better payoff from my donations to CEP than from
any other nonprofit I contribute to.”
To hear more of what people are saying about CEP, click here.
Supporting Congo Education Partners means directly contributing to tangible change
that benefits both local communities and the rest of the planet. Join our CEP family –
our family of donors, volunteers and supporters – and be part of the solution.
