During our visit to Université Protestante au Congo (UPC) in June 2024, we'd asked to interview some Education Congo scholarship recipients. We were hoping for in-depth conversations with just a handful of students because surely scheduling would be difficult. Students would be in class and have other obligations. We were busy in meetings with university officials, heads or assistant heads of departments, not to mention auditing/accounting sessions.

Our schedule was in the very capable hands of Madame Jolie. It turned out Madame Jolie was not just very capable, but also a miracle worker. She does not just manage the accounting for Education Congo's scholarships, she manages and masterfully inspires the scholarship recipients. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Teamwork
As for interviewing the students, we were a delegation of four, so I figured I would be the one to take video, someone else would record their names and log the time/date of the video and the other two would ask questions that we'd prepared in advance. I was hoping the students wouldn't feel uncomfortable talking to us and being videotaped—but the complete opposite turned out to be true!
Be careful what you wish for
The amazing Madame Jolie, who facilitated everything for us during our visit, somehow managed to line up over 40 Education Congo scholarship recipients to meet with us in one afternoon. As I said, we were psychologically prepared to meet only a small sampling of them. And, as it turned out, we were down to a "skeleton crew" of two because two of our comrades were back at the hostel sick.
Margaret and I were seated in a small room when Madame Jolie arrived and told us the students were ready. We must have looked perplexed when she opened the door because minutes earlier, the landing and stairwell had been totally empty. Now, magically, the entire area was full of students. I poked my head out, gave a shocked smile to them, took three quick photos and shut the door. The sheer number of them was overwhelming, especially since our two most fluent French speakers were sick back at the hostel. Margaret and I had only about two hours to interview all these students who'd been pulled out of class to talk to us.

Necessity is the mother of invention
Margaret and Madame Jolie let about eight at a time into the small room with us, while the rest waited outside on the landing and down the staircase. They chatted with this group and listed their names while I videotaped each one individually at the other end of the narrow room.
Each student was so amazing, but after 30 of them and with all the ambient background noise, it was dizzying.
Creative solution for the last group
We were running out of time. Margaret and Madame Jolie decided to interview the last group of students together.
I asked them to tell us how their generation was different from that of their parents. They were very eager to tell us! Below are some of their answers (translated from French)
Medical student speaks eloquently about the Internet

I'd like to draw a comparison between our generation and the previous generation. I would say that our generation has many more opportunities. Why? Because the generation before us did not have the Internet.
They didn't have the possibility of obtaining certain documents and manuals. Especially in medical school, they would have to travel to the library to get documents and anatomy books. Today we have access with our phones or computers. This is really an advantage our generation has.
With these technological advances, we have tons of material available to us… but what's a little sad is that with all these advantages our generation can be somewhat oblivious and not take advantage of the resources we can find on the Internet—and instead get more involved in TikTok, WhatsApp and social media. So, I would call on our generation to be conscious and take advantage of what we have. But, also, I would ask our elders from the previous generation to take us young people more seriously and to have more confidence in us. Often when they see us, they'll say, "Oh it's a young person. We don't have confidence in them—all they do is make mistakes." I ask them to have more faith in us!
Economics student talks about the new generation of women in Congo

In our generation we see the emancipation of women. In the previous generation, our mothers were tied to domestic work at home. But now, here, even our parents and our fathers encourage us to advance in the world and work.
I also want to be a role model and to encourage younger women. As you can see, Madame Jolie is a woman who works. Before women did not work. With the emancipation of women, we are liberated.
I want to call on young people to take things seriously. To take the time for things that are important instead of using their time on social media and TikTok—while others who want to study do not have the financial means to do so.
Also, I want to thank those who donate to Education Congo for your financial help.
56% of the 9,658 students at Université Protestante au Congo were women in 2024
Listen to an excerpt from our 2024 interview with the head of UPC, Prof. Robert N'Kwim, talking about the impressive women students and women alumni from UPC
If you would like to support scholarships for women at UPC, consider donating to one of Education Congo's named funds designated for women:
Sue Cardwell Fund—designated for women students from Bolenge Province or Equateur Province who are preparing for careers in teaching
Jain-Goel Fund—designated for women medical school students at UPC
Sanichas IT Fund—designated for women computer science students at UPC
Sanichas Law Fund—designated for women law school students at UPC
Jack & Linda Spencer Fund—designated for women medical school students at UPC
To donate to a named fund, click the donate button above, choose "Named funds" to go to our secure donation site, then scroll to choose your preferred named fund.
To donate by check, write the name of the fund on the memo line of the check and mail to Education Congo, 2216 Elgin Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27103.
If you are taking distributions from your IRA, you might consider making a direct donation from your account to Education Congo. The distribution amount that is paid directly to Education Congo would not be taxable to you and could save you some income tax dollars. Please talk to your financial and/or tax advisors on how to best make this kind of donation. (If you go this route, be sure to notify us with details.)