Despite three decades of armed conflict, JRS remains committed to bringing hope and support to refugees, displaced persons, and local populations in North and South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The project, made possible thanks to the 8×1000 CEI Funds, is allowing 1,800 secondary school students to receive school kits and more than 700 to attend remedial classes to boost their academic performance. 22 classrooms were renovated and equipped, five school libraries were established while parents and teachers took part in group therapy sessions to strengthen the community’s psychosocial wellbeing.

Last year was marked by challenging months for students, teachers, and parents due to the conflict in and around Goma in the DRC, which led to school closures and displacement.
Despite this, the JRS team on the ground wanted to offer its students a different way to return to school. They hoped to rekindle a spirit of peace within the schools and the wider community, and to set the tone for a year that could start with joy and calm.

To do so, the team brought everyone together for a day of celebration. Through games, traditional dances, poetry, and short performances, the event became a vibrant moment of reunion. Four secondary schools took part in the initiative, gathering more than 400 students. Building on this experience, the headteachers of the four secondary schools where JRS operates plan to organise such activities more frequently — not only as moments of enjoyment, but above all as opportunities to strengthen the bonds between the diverse communities to which the students belong.

One of the most moving moments during the event was when Simire Hangi, a 13-year-old student at Mubambiro Secondary School, performed his poem.

My pen is my weapon

I raise the flag and my pen is my weapon
Why should we fight against each other?
While our differences make us rather strong
I learned that to prepare for peace, one must prepare for war.
Rest assured, my methods are not old-fashioned.
I defend what is best through my silence.
I have now loosened my tongue, armed with my weapon, which is my pen.
Because I see my mothers, my family, dying of hunger,
I see rape as a weapon and prostitution as a means of survival.
There is no more peace; we have been calling for peace for over a thousand years.
It’s time to stop crying and whining and instead relax.
Now we will stand up and retaliate immediately.
They came against us with violence, with hard hearts
We respond to them with flowers and kindness.In the early morning, upon waking, prostitution, racism, and tribalism will be dead.
We will close our hearts, yes, we will close everything off against hatred.
Thank you.

These celebrations brought a spark of hope that will continue to nurture the desire to live in reconciled communities where students can learn in peace and in full respect of one another’s identities.