The Bertozzi Initiative
Bringing Education and Support to Children of Congo
Over 50 years of insurrection and corruption in the Congo have left children without the
resources to receive an education.
Instead of becoming leaders in the rebuilding of their country, they become victims of poverty and disease. Many are forced to turn to crime,
drugs, and prostitution.
A $150 donation provides a Bertozzi Initiative teacher who can tutor up to 30 students per day - each teacher can instruct 100 students per month.
Bertozzi Nganswe Mposo was born in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), on May 21, 1989, where she lived until her family emigrated to the United States in August 2004.
As a young girl, Bertozzi began demonstrating her reliability, attentiveness, and valor in the face of chaos. At age eight, her parents sent her with her two younger brothers to Brazzaville to save them from fighting that was anticipated to erupt in Kinshasa. Instead, the fighting erupted and continued heavily in Brazzaville, with troops killing anyone belonging to the other ethnicity.