Misenga Mireille Ntumba shares her story

My academic journey started in 2009, when I had just graduated from state school in Kananga. I was 18 years old and wanted to apply for enrollment at Université Protestante au Congo (UPC) in medical school. I had so dreamed of attending UPC because I knew about the excellent training given there. But since studies were expensive there, my parents had resolved to enroll me in the University of Our Lady of Kasai. As it turned out, there were no more places for new candidates in medicine there when I applied. We were discouraged.   

One day, my parents were invited to a wedding party. Mom could not attend so I accompanied Dad to represent her. We met IMCK Tshikaji Administrator Kabibu, and he told us about someone who worked with a nonprofit (Education Congo) supporting the studies of young women. We subsequently got to know Mr. Shafe and applied for Education Congo scholarship assistance through UPC. Education Congo agreed to support me from the preparatory through my final year of medical school [through the Shafe Family Fund]! 

My dream was to become a gynecologist and public health expert, and I did not want to give up my dream. However, in my third year I experienced difficulties—needing just one more point in Physiology to be promoted. If I'd had to drop out, I would have been unemployed after spending three years in medical school. 

Mireille Ntumba, 2022 medical school graduate of UPC

In 2015, I enrolled in Medicine at the Vaal University of Technology in South Africa. But as medical studies are very expensive, my parents wanted me to study nursing for four years instead. Determined to become a doctor, I could not be convinced to pursue any other career. My parents and I decided that I would return to the Congo. I wanted to continue with medicine at UPC, but I thought that Education Congo had forgotten me and that my scholarship had been given to someone else.

To my surprise, my name appeared on the scholarship list, and I realized that I had not been forgotten! When I returned to UPC to reintegrate into the 3rd degree in medicine, my South African colleagues laughed at me and said that I had made the wrong decision. 

I have now completed my studies as a general practitioner. I want to express my feelings of gratitude to the Shafe family and Education Congo for supporting me so much during my long academic journey!!!  

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3 years later—June 2025 update

Mireille performing surgery at the small hospital in Moma village.

Education Congo board member Phil Kliewer [born and raised in Congo]

"This is great to see: It shows how a student supported by Education Congo donors is contributing much needed medical skills in a remote village.

Education is the long game in nonprofit work. Charities showing the need for immediate triage appeal to the heart of donors for immediate short-term relief, but when Education Congo appeals to donors for scholarships, that requires a bit more trust on the part of the donor. This photo rewards that trust—and Dr. Mireille is just one of many."

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Mireille is working in Kasaï-Central province

Mireille practices general medicine and surgery at Moma Hospital, owned by the Presbyterian Church of Congo. Originally built as a dispensary in the 1930s, it was rebuilt and modernized in 2012. It provides services in pediatric, internal medicine, surgery, OB/GYN and general medicine, commonly treating malaria, malnutrition and communicable diseases.

The village of Moma is located in the Kasaï-Central province in southern Congo.

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56% of the 9,658 students at Université Protestante au Congo were women in 2024 

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, PO Box 29, Lamar, CO  81052 USA.

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.)