Jean Bakoma, the man on the right in the picture, left the savanna and villages of his native Kasai region as a young man. He sought a better life in Kinshasa. He had no idea how hard that would be. Jean didn't read ... at all. After all what does a youth growing up in a remote corner of Congo need to read to survive in a village?
In Kinshasa things were different. Without an education, without being able to read, Jean had to scramble for any kind of laborers' job to make a bare living. He married. Children and more children were born. Feeding and clothing everyone, not to mention school fees for them, consumed every ounce of strength he had. Every day started with a question: will we eat today? The dreams of a better life were lost in the grind of daily work.
One day Jean tried to touch up his older and more successful brother for some help. It wasn't the first time. Frustrated, his older brother exploded. " You say, 'Help us out, help us out!' Till when? You and your family will always be a drain on us. What kind of a job do you ever expect to get? You can't speak French. And you don't even read."
The insult, the contempt in those words shocked Jean. He vowed that he wouldn't speak to his brother until he could read, write and speak French. It would take three years of determined effort.
Jean heard about literacy classes at the nearby Lemba Matete Baptist Church. Many young people in the neighborhood were taking a course or had already graduated. Jean was older. But he swallowed his pride and enrolled in the first Lingala reading class. Raymond Mafuta, one of our veteran teachers and supervisors (seen at the left of the picture), led the class through the two readers. Jean learned the magic of reading and writing symbols that communicate words and ideas.
Armed with this new knowledge Jean enrolled in a course for tailors. Finishing that course, he set up shop for himself and started earning a good steady income. That helped when his wife became ill and needed care. It also helped pay for his kids school fees.
Jean's own struggles have only intensified his determination to give his 13 children a good education. Another man would have pulled his oldest daughters out of school to run the household when his wife died, but not him. His oldest daughter recently graduated from high school and another daughter will sit the state exams this spring.
Meanwhile, as soon as he finished the Lingala courses, Jean enrolled in the beginning French class. The time came when he could read and speak good everyday French. For the first time in years he could meet his brother without hanging his head. They're on good terms now. Still Jean is continuing his French classes. He listens to the newscasts in French on television and radio. He is adamant that he will no longer remain on the sidelines in the debate of big ideas and the future.
Jean's story started with a stinging insult. But that insult galvanized a Presbyterian man to walk into a Baptist church and begin a trek towards a new life.
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