The Initiative

 

The Bertozzi Initiative is a memorial fund created to perpetuate the legacy of Bertozzi Nganswe Mposo. It was started in February 2009 by family and friends to enhance educational skills among students from low-income families in Sub-Saharan Africa. These students lack access to the educational system and supporting environment necessary to successfully complete a level of education by any universal or national standards.

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Through providing free tutoring to Congolese children in middle and high school, the Initiative seeks to reach as many students as possible and to fill in the gaps in the crumbling educational and social systems of the DRC.  By providing instruction to students who are deprived of quality education and support,  the Initiative aims to accomplish the broader goals of reducing corruption and cheating in schools, and of preventing children from turning to crime, drugs, and prostitution and from contracting HIV/AIDS.

Current Programs

 

In the Initiative's first year (2009), $900 were raised to support three students who could not afford tuition at Bokeleale Middle School in Kinshasa, and to pay college admission fees for an orphan who was unable to support himself.  During the 2010-2011 school year, the Initiative provided free tutoring to more than 300 students in Kinshasa, the capital city of the DRC.  In 2011-2012, the Initiative reached over 3,000 students each month through tutoring programs in Kasavubu, Mpasa, and Binza.

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The Initiative has recruited 20 teachers to tutor 10-30 students each day for a monthly incentive of $100-$150, provided by the generous donors of Initiative.   ​

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The initiative seeks grant money to expand its work. In addition, it plans to introduce impact evaluation measures upon which it benchmarks its efficacy as an organization. At core, the grant will provide support to and opportunity to children living in under-served communities regardless of ethnicity and religious affiliation. Furthermore, it will assist with providing peripheral infrastructure to safeguard the educational outcomes of students. A successful target reach of $150,000 will enable the initiative to:

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1. Continue free after school tutoring to children of under-served communities and increasing total regular students’ participation from 150 to 400.

2. Operate center for technical learning whereby bright children, who can’t attend public school because their parents do not produce any income, are taught English, science, statistics, and programming.

3. Sponsor and supervise weekend events aimed at promoting leadership skills especially as it relates to the well-being of the community, including: community clean-up and farming support, presentations on anti-delinquency, the introduction of recreational sporting events (with refreshments provided) between different youth gangs to forge friendships.

4.  Assume financial support of high-achieving students of marginalized indigenous ethnic groups such as pygmies so that they have the chance to attend competitive higher institutions in Kinshasa.

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Devotion for a Just Cause

 

In the DRC, tutoring is commonly regarded as available only to the rich.  A good education is seen as a privilege only received by the few who can afford it.  The Initiative is working to change this paradigm in the Congo, presenting tutoring as a goodwill endeavor rather than simply a means of making money.  The Initiative also emphasizes the joy in transferring knowledge to students who would be otherwise forced to remain ignorant, urging tutors, parents, and students to realize the power of knowledge.  Many parents are still skeptical about sending their children to tutoring, as they cannot believe that their child would be entitled to free tutoring in an environment where such a gift seems impossible.  The Ministry of Education of the DRC has recognized the efforts of the Bertozzi Initiative and hopes to collaborate in achieving its goals.