Integrating and educating those with albinism in Kasai., DRC

There is an unusual percentage of albinism in the Kasai region of the DR-Congo. Some statistics suggest that one in every 1500 is born with albinism. In other nations, albinism is a challenge for skin and eye care. In the nation of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, it can be a death sentence. Those with albinism are ostracized and sometimes murdered. There are folk beliefs that a limb or body of an albino person will bring wealth. Many albino children are abandoned and thus have no road to social integration and education. 

Our project will work in conjunction with the Don Bosco school in Mbuji Mayi, which is within the Kasai region. 

An article in Habari Magazine says this about Mbuji Mayi's issue with albinism:

(By Franck Mbambi on December 1, 2021)
"In Mbuji Mayi, when you are albino you have to tighten your belt to live. Rejection, discrimination, stigmatization, superstitions are the daily difficulties encountered by people living with albinism. Those who lack the courage to face these pitfalls let themselves be carried away by depression and despair."

Furthermore, children with albinism are susceptible to life-threatening tumors, which require medical attention few can afford.

Our project offers roads to education and integration for those in the Kasai area with albinism and employs them to work in farms which cultivate plants and herbs which can create effective sun-blocking creams. These creams can be sold to the general population as well, which provides a source of income for those involved.

Farms on the Don Bosco property in Mbuji Mayi will be cultivated with aloe vera, zinc, cucumber, and jojoba. These plants will then be blended to form a cream for skin protection. (We also insist that those with albinism wear hats when outside.)

The rechargeable RACHEL is a contained hotspot which can go into any area, regardless of electrical connection. Our partner organization, Community Development Network is ready to pilot  5G CDN servers which have the RACHEL software on the Raspberry Pi quad core computer (It's smaller, faster and more durable in African settings). 

A student will connect to the curriculum using the RACHEL hub. Each RACHEL makes curriculum available to as many as fifty students at a time, which meets the needs of the typical classroom. 

Curriculum will be tailored to address particular needs of those with albinism. The fact that these students will participate in such courses TOGETHER helps with socialization.

Our solution serves ALL of those with albinism in the Kasai area, where the proportion of albinism is unusally high. It will help with skin care, social integration, and research. Medical help provided from a group from Spain which works from nearby Ngandajika will also become available to address the tumors common in albinism. 

As we educate and address the needs of those with albinism in Kasai, we also protect them from people who believe that killing or maiming an albino will bring them wealth. Our organization also has a film component, and we will make documentaries about albinism to correct the folk beliefs which are so dangerous to albino people.

We have vast experience with the RACHEL and have had multiple meetings with the leaders at the Don Bosco school in Mbuji Mayi. We participated in ceremonies on June 13 marking "the day of Albinism." We are actively pursuing solutions to all of the challenges presented by albinism. In fact, we have family members affected by this condition, so our deotion to the cause is personal and deep.

As our website reveals, we also have vast experience in filmmaking and will be ready to film a documentary about albinism in 2023. We will do this in the local language, Tshiluba, and show it widely throughout the villages as well as conducting informative meetings to dispel the deadly rumors about the "value" of albino bodies.

Our need is financial. If we are to provide educational opportunitie to those affected by Albinism, we must have funds to purchase Chromebooks for them to use with the RACHEL, land for farming, and plants speciic to our needs.

Use of the RACHEL in expanding educational opportunities is completely innovative. As we make documentaries about albinism, we can download them onto the RACHEL and transport them to any area, regardless of the presence or lack of electricity or internet. The RACHEL is a self-contained unit which can serve fifty people at a time and show films, research, laboratory experiments, and basic STEM curriculum.

Establish farms on the Don Bosco land and cultivate all herbs and plants needed for the specialized creams and then create and market the creams. (Our film initiative also helps with publicity.)

Provide specialized education about albinism using the RACHEL so that we can take the information into any rural area.

Educate those with Albinism, who (because they are so frequently abandoned) usually lack educational opportunities.

We have used the RACHEL in rural settings five times and have successfully offered instruction in places without electricity.

We have made several films in the DR-Congo and have a team in Mbuji Mayi equipped and ready to help with this part of the initiative. The films we have already made have won numerous awards throughout the world.

Statement: Film and accessible curriculum catalyze academic growth, retention of facts, and resourcefulness as well as social integration, so needed in the Albino community.

Mission: To create and develop equitable classrooms in the Kasai area of the Democratic Republic of the Congo for those affected by albinism as well as developing marketable creams for their delicate skin.

 Key Assumption: As we use film and use the RACHEL to educate the population about the truth of albinism and counter dangerous folk beliefs, we will help the albino people better integrate with those around them and access paths to education and sustainable careers.

The Raspberry Pi  can 'make computing accessible and affordable' (https://www.raspberrypi.com/). Using the new 5G servers which have the RACHEL software on the Raspberry Pi quad core computer, students and administrators can design the best curriculum, execute tests to monitor progress, and meet all government requirements.  We have assembled a perfect team for stepping into the future: a film production organization, a non-profit with vast experience in the designated work area (Mbuji Mayi), a network specializing in innovative digital technology, and the Don Bosco school itself. 

The RACHEL is essentially a rechargeable hard drive which can go into any location. More information is available at www.worldpossible.org

Our leadership team includes two leaders at the Don Bosco school, one with albinism, Israel Kajingu, and one without: Leonard Felician Ngandu

We are already working with some albino children as we prepare this initiative.

In the film initiative, we work with Bimpa Production in Kinshasa, which employs 50 people, and with Zayon Production in Mbuji Mayi, which is just beginning and currently has four volunteer leaders.

We will immediately provide education to any albino person who desires it. The albino population and their families are our prime customers. We will offer instructional films, skin creams, and opportunities for socialization.

We already have a RACHEL in Mbuji Mayi and several already placed at the Don Bosco school there as well. We are ready to begin.

Having successfully released two films, we are prepared to make excellent documentaries about albinism in the Kasai area, which we will do in the language spoken most commonly (Tshiluba) as well as in French with English subtitles.

We intend the farms which will grow plants for skin care to becoem profitable for those who work on them or who market the product.  Thus, the program becomes self-sustaining.

We intend the basic profit to come from sales of the skin creams developed specifically for the albino population but which can be used by anyone. A good marketing campaign (which we can do because of the film component of our proposal) will help this enormously.

We received grants from three organizations for our filmmaking initiatives, one from the Sorenson Legacy Foundation, one from the Center for LDS Arts, and one from the Bennion Foundation. These helped us complete our films. Though COVID closed theaters within five days of our film's release in the USA, it was the #1 foreign film in the USA during that time. It and its companion film continue to generate revenue through streaming.