Meet the Team dedicated

to the education of indigenous children

Located in Central Africa, the Republic of Congo is a  country facing many challenges including the protection of the rights of ethnic minorities. For example, indigenous populations represent 2% of the national population, estimated at 5.1 million inhabitants in 2017. However, the fundamental rights of this ethnic minority are regularly violated, both individually and collectively.

They are subject to persistent discrimination in education, work, access to health services and natural resources. As a result of the government’s failure to address indigenous peoples’ access to education, no indigenous children in the Bambama district have graduated from high school since independence of the Republic of Congo.

Stigmatized and categorized as an inferior population, the indigenous population of Bambama is assimilated to the slaves of primitive societies exclusively employed for hunting and gathering activities. The lack of education within this community results in the exploitation of many indigenous people by people of bad faith in the hunting and illegal trade of fully protected animals including elephants.

Faced with this critical situation, and in order to promote the equality of all proclaimed by Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of December 10, 1948, Espace Opoko was created.

The mission of Espace OPOKO is to empower the young indigenous people to help them take charge of their own lives. At ESPACE OPOKO, our tutoring programs create role models by teaching these young people life skills and academic skills that will turn them into productive members of our society.

At ESPACE OPOKO, we believe that supporting these communities with valuable resources and sound advice is the right thing to do. It is our firm goal to ease the suffering of these students, help them to remain in school and learn valuable life skills that will make their successful tomorrow.

These are the goals of our mentoring programs:

These are the goals of our mentoring programs:

    1. Teach young people life skills that will allow them to lead productive lives as members of our community
    2. Improve their grades at school
    3. Reduce or eliminate dropouts caused by lack of support at school
    4. Help our young people to become ‘’life learners’’ through continuous education while facing challenges.
    5. Create a pool of role models that can assist others to solve the problem in their community
    6. Create and strengthen partnership between, parents, teachers and students
    7. Increase parent’s involvement in the education of their children.
    8. Provide an opportunity for the students, parents to know & serve the Lord.

Meet the team

Team Canada

Averty Ndzoyi

President

Averty was born while his parents were still in high school. Unable to care of him, when he was only 3 months old, they sent him to stay with his father’s mother, Opoko Emilienne. He grew up in her village of Bambama until he turned 16.
Ndzoyi’s school was 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) from his grandmother’s village. Every day, he had to walk 14 kilometers through forest to get back and forth to school. As a young boy, he did not realize that his life was difficult because he had nothing to compare it with. However, as Mr. Delamizere grew older he realized that the situation he and other students faced was not right. Many from his grandmother’s village were not completing their schooling due to a lack of funds for school fees and the challenge of long daily commutes. Mr. Delamizere considered quitting school himself, but his grandmother would not let him. She told him that, “He who wants the rain must love the mud.” The proverb is the equivalent of the saying, “no pain, no gain.”
Due to his grandmother’s support and his own efforts, Mr. Delamizere was able to complete his schooling. Even though Mr. Delamizere had succeeded, he was distressed by the large number of youths in his community that did not. The long distance that students had to traverse to obtain an education was a real obstacle to completing a degree. Approximately 30 percent of students drop out each school year. It was for this reason that in 2013, Mr. Delamizere left his job as the head of the communications department at MPD Congo, a mining company, and founded Espace Opoko, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that empowers young people in rural areas, including his grandmother’s where he grew up. Mr. Delamizere’s NGO bears the name of his grandmother because she was his inspiration and she helped him to become the person he is today.
As the Director of Espace Opoko, Mr. Delamizere is helping to alleviate hardships for youths, including helping them gain easier access to education, but too many young boys and girls still have to walk 7 kilometers (4.5 miles) to every school day. Not only is it difficult to obtain a basic education, but if successful, things do not get any easier for those that make it to secondary school (high school). There is only one public secondary school that serves Bambama and another nine villages; this means that many students are walking more than 43 kilometers (27 miles) each week, just for school. The school has no dorms and students must find their own places to stay during the week. There is no school lunch program, so if students want to eat they need to carry food for the entire week, then return to their parents’ home on the weekend to collect food for the coming week. Those students that do not wish to attend the local public secondary school must travel an even greater distance from home to reach the next nearest school, which is in Sibiti, 200 miles away.
Mr. Delamizere understands the hardships of the students because he went through the experience of obtaining his secondary school education in Sibiti himself. Many others at the school, like him found it very difficult to not only pay for housing, but also food. There was no library in Bambama, so in this video, Mr. Delamizere describes how he created one, with books in hard copy as well as e-books available on kindle devices. His dream is that one day the students in Bambama will be able to receive an education that is on par with students elsewhere in the world.
In 2015, Mr. Delamizere was selected as one of five young leaders from his country to participate in the Mandela Washington Fellowship Program in the USA. Part of President Obama’s Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI), the program enabled Mr. Delamizere to compete six weeks of training in the “Presidential Precinct” a consortium of several universities including the College of William and Mary and the University of Virginia. Mr. Delamizere plans to use the skills that he learned in the USA to put into action several initiatives: In addition to the library that he has already created, Mr. Delamizere intends to make a bus available to the students in the Bambama-Sibiti area so that they will be able to easily transport food in bulk to their high school. He believes a bus will help to reduce the high school dropout rate in the region. He also plans to build a school in Bambama and a school in Sibiti at which students would be able to overnight for free. Free housing should further reduce the school dropout rate due to those that can’t afford to pay the rent. A final goal is to train those students that have already dropped out of school, so that they will be able to earn a living and find success.
Based on the literature on international development and personal success, why has Mr. Ndzoyi Averty Delamizere been so successful in his undertakings?
Some key characteristics come to mind:
Mr. Delamizere is a strong believer in SERVANT LEADERSHIP. He gave up his job at the mining company to serve the community in which he grew up. He believes in African youths and serves as a ROLE MODEL for them.
Mr. Delamizere, like Nelson Mandela believes that “education is the most powerful weapon we can use to change the world.” He understands the importance of education not only for individuals, but also for the development, democracy, and sustainability of communities and countries. The numerous initiatives he has planned will help to support and empower youths and help give them the resources and technical skills they need to succeed in life.

Alain Bernard

Vice-President

Stéphan Mohler

Communication Adviser

Team USA

Roland N'Zaou

America Representative and Fundraiser

Marshall Hanbury

Mentor

Team Congo

Chirack Mondjo

Coordinator

Chirac is a civil engineer. His contact with Espace Opoko dates back to 2010 when he was still studying at the high school

Coming from the same village as the founder of Espace Opoko, Chirac went one day to visit President Averty. He came to find the President in the process of drafting an action plan on improving the living conditions of indigenous peoples.
Thus began a long discussion to understand what needed to be done to improve the living conditions of this long marginalized and stigmatized people.
When the name of the future organization had to be chosen, Chirac will propose ``Association of Young Leaders of Bambama``. After an exchange, the president finally decided on Espace Opoko to pay tribute to his grandmother.

At first, Chirac was the representative of Espace Opoko in Brazzaville. When the President left the country in 2017, he decided to leave the organization under the responsibility of Chirac as National Coordinator.

Therefore, since 2017, Chirac has been the one to coordinate all of the organization's activities in the Republic of Congo.

Jesse Alex

Communication Manager

Alex is a young communication student at Marien Ngouabi University.

Alex did part of his high school studies in the Bambama district where he was in constant contact with indigenous peoples. He played soccer several times with indigenous youth of his age who unfortunately did not have access to education.

During several exchanges with Raustant, one of these indigenous friends, Jesse understood why it was difficult for this people to follow a normal school curriculum. Jesse would then ask himself questions about how he could help his friends go to school.
When he arrives at the school, Jesse will get in touch with Espace Opoko. From the beginning, he did not hesitate to share his experience about the difficulties of indigenous children.

Knowing how to speak several indigenous languages, Jesse began working with Espace Opoko in 2013 as a translator.

Since 2017, Jesse has held the position of Communications Officer for the organization.
His multiple missions include promoting Espace Opoko and seeking partnerships with other organizations. Alex also supports indigenous students in Brazzaville. He is in charge of university registration and the search for housing for indigenous students.

You can reach Alex at: +242 06 937 9923
alexnzambi7@gmail.com

Makita Naudet

Fundraiser

Naudet Makita is a 3rd year undergraduate student, option plant production.

Naudet joined Espace Opoko in 2020 in order to help indigenous children who are practically in the same situation as she was a few years ago.

The village of Naudet did not have an primary school. From the age of 6, she would have to travel 5km twice a day to go to elementary school. Naudet walked this same distance every day during her secondary school years.

Naudet studied agriculture at university with the goal of starting a farm to provide work for Indigenous families. This farm will also help eliminate child malnutrition in the community.
Naudet is therefore Espace Opoko's resource person in the farm project that we will launch as soon as we have the necessary budget.

For the moment, Naudet is busy planning the harvesting of the clothing, nutrition and notebooks that we distribute to the indigenous children.

Angele Malouono

Representative Lekoumou

Angèle is a 7th grade Head Teacher with 11 years of experience as a school principal.
She has worked as an elementary school teacher for 21 years. During those years, Angèle had to teach many indigenous children who were intelligent but could not afford to pay for their education due to lack of financial means.
Angele has been around these kinds of children since she herself was in junior High school. In fact, Angèle went to school with many indigenous people who all drop out because of poverty.
In her youth, she benefited from traditional indigenous medicine to heal an ailment that bothered her for many years. Since then, she has been looking for a way to be useful to this ethnic minority.

Angèle contacts Espace Opoko in 2012 where she will intervene as an educational consultant. She will set up several programs to help keep children in schools. She will also propose awareness campaigns in schools in order to improve the climate in the classrooms and avoid the stigmatization and marginalization of indigenous children.

Since 2017 Angèle is the representative of Espace Opoko in the department of Lekoumou and is also in charge of the organization's finances.

Bardanie F. Saya

Representative Brazzaville

Berdanie is the representative of the Espace Opoko in Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo.
She is a communication student at the university and has decided to put her knowledge at the service of others.

Berdanie's work within Espace Opoko consists of advocacy with the government, international and national organizations in order to find partnerships and support.

She also works with churches to solicit contributions during various fundraising campaigns.

Bardanie grew up in a village where there was no school. She had to walk 5km twice a day for her entire school period in primary and secondary school. She had indigenous friends who unfortunately dropped out of school due to lack of support.

Berdanie wants to be the support that her friends lacked to go to school. She believes that all children have the right to go to school and that she should be the channel that allows Indigenous children to grow and have the same opportunities for academic success

Blanchard Tsikayassi

Pointe Noire representative

Chancelvie Ipemba Pea

Indigenous Program Advisor

Justice Mbembou

Secretariat Manager

Justice is a 23-year-old Congolese boy. He is from the Bambama district, the area where we first started our activities in 2012.
While he was in high school, Justice received computer training at our training center, which also serves as a source of income for Espace Opoko.
It is at this time that he became aware of our activities with indigenous peoples.
Anxious to see this people emerge in a world that does not give them a gift, Justice has committed itself with us in 2015.

Since then, despite the very poor state of the roads and even the transport vehicles used to reach indigenous communities, Justice Moussengue has not hesitated to take risks, sometimes risking his life to allow indigenous children to go to school.

Since October 2020, Justice has held the position of manager of the secretariat. Thanks to his work, the secretariat allows the association to have $200 each month to finance the different projects.

Mbou Mavie

Education Adviser

Bienvenue Ngali Ngami

Fundraiser

Miete Anicet

Driver

MISSIE Odile

Education Adviser

Vanessa Nzouba

Fundraiser

Grace Djenie Kaboudi

Fundraiser

Hermes Malonga

Fundraiser

Our Partners

ESynergy
eSynergy Organization is working collectively with other organizations in North America and in Africa to provide opportunities for marginalized youth through academic achievement.

 

 

Eglise Baptiste dela Beauce
Religious Organisation In Saint Georges de Beauce, Canada

Espace OPOKO,

Ministry of Beauce Baptist Church / 615 182th st St-Georges Qc Canada G5Y 5B8

NGO supporting indigenous students in the Republic of Congo.

Registered under number: 004/MID/DL/SG/DDSP.

Telephone:
Congo : +242 06 979 61 68,
Canada: +1 514 443 72 60,
Usa: +1 (434) 566-5598
Email : info@espaceopoko.org
Facebook : Espace Opoko/
Twitter : @EspaceOpokoOng