We are a family social enterprise project determined to use agriculture as a way out of poverty. We were brought up in the Democratic Republic of Congo. From the age of 12 years; we had to leave our parents and walk for 36 kilo meters to our secondary school twice a week: on Saturday we walked back home and Sunday we walked back to school.
We had to feed ourselves, provide our own sanitation, attend school and at the same time we were expected to perform at school just like any other kids living with their parents around the secondary school area. How unfair was that
Life was harsh and unforgivable. Two years after secondary orientation school , we had to go to Basankusu for the remaining four years of Secondary education. Basankusu was worse. We lived in a house where we only had to eat once a day. The meal comprised mostly of a piece of a fish called bofenge: a kind of a thin stick looking cat fish and massive mingled cassava powder called Fufu.
At times; when we arrived in Basankusu in September; one’s weight was sixty kilograms. By the time we left Basankusu in February for our holiday, one might have lost half the weight. Such was our life, we hate thinking about it. A small illness like malaria could be fatal to a child living in such conditions. We lost many friends.
Despite the challenges, we managed to finish our secondary education. We were smart and did well: all the time. However; to our surprise, there was no way to go to university in Kinshasa for further studies. Dad had no money, the system we were born into provided no structure to fund our education. We were condemned to stay in the village or take work with CCP the main employer in this part of the world.
Dad, realising that he could not send us to Kinshasa for further education, started encouraging us to start palm tree plantations. Without money, this was a far fetched idea, but entirely realistic.
In 1992, we started planting our family palm tree plantations knowing that it won’t get us anywhere.
Then the Mill Hill missionaries recruited one of our brothers to become a missionary priest. At the start, it did not make much sense except the fact that we knew he was smart enough to complete the missionary training. But all of us were also able to do that too.
You see, the missionaries had been put in charge of education for this part of the Congo since Roger Casement Report and E.D Morel’s lecture’s on Congo leading to the subsequent relinquish of King Leopold personal ownership of the Congo.
The missionaries set up fantastic secondary schools, however, they established no procedures nor system for the children in this part of the world to access University education. Secondary education was only easier for those living around their mission. As for the children who moved from villages or in our case CCP to mission schools, education was a matter of life and death. This is the system we were born into.
The recruitment of our brother by missionaries was observed by our family especially our Dad as a generous act by the missionaries. However, one can’t stop to question why didn’t they provide access to University education to all children but only to those who joined the missionaries?
Our brother went to study in Uganda, then London. He left the missionaries and studied Computer Sciences. After getting employed as a software engineer, he started to send money so that we can restart Dad’s dream: the palm tree plantations. The plantations with a small funding in place started to grow in size.
In May 2021, we decided to engage in a systematic expansion of our plantation. We currently have our own palm tree nursery with 2500 trees to be planted in March 2022. We plan to start a 5000 palm tree nursery in April 2022.
We currently produce 15 Metric tones of palm oil a year and intend to double that in three years and quadruple in five years.
We are determined to use much of our palm oil revenue to establish a system were children can be cared for in their secondary education and provide funding for University education to children who excel.
We are determined to use much of our palm oil revenue to establish a system were children can be cared for in their secondary education and provide funding for University education to children who excel.
If you want to join us or invest in our project, please register with us or send us your details.