Planet Aid is pleased to announce that it has received its first grant through the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID) American Schools and Hospitals Abroad (ASHA) of the USAID Bureau for Development, Democracy & Innovation. Through this award, Planet Aid, in partnership with Humana People to People-Congo (HPP-Congo), will implement a Training Teachers and Changing Communities (TEACH) project housed at HPP-Congo's teacher training college located in Mbankana, in the Kinshasa Province of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Beginning in 2021, TEACH will expand and improve campus facilities and academic operations for teacher training students, primary school teachers, and community members who live, study, or work in and around the Mbankana college campus. The project's first objective is to improve the technical and institutional capacity of the Mbankana teacher training college by constructing and furnishing classrooms and staff accommodations, drilling a borehole to provide a permanent, reliable water source; and building toilets. The project is slated to begin construction activities in April.
In addition, TEACH seeks to cultivate in the DRC a positive view of American values, culture, and history as well as an appreciation of the English language. The project will accomplish this by incorporating English language and studies of American values and culture into the college curriculum. Virtually or in-person, American citizens will participate in classes and events at the college and in the community.
In order to better understand the infrastructure, history, curricula, and activities of the Mbankana Teacher Training College in DRC, USAID Director of Education and Youth Marc Bonnenfant and other delegates on the USAID DRC Education Team visited the Mbankana campus in November 2020. During their tour, the U.S. delegation met with current students as well as graduates who are now working as teachers in local primary schools.