D.E.F to support mobile school in the DRC

The Diamond Empowerment Fund (D.E.F.) is extending its support towards a mobile school in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The school is designed for the youth in the Kankala mining community of the Kasaï Occidentale province in DRC.

This initiative of D.E.F will see the formation of Diamond Empowerment Mobile School which will open next month. It will give an opportunity to 25 children. It will be one of eight planned schools developed by the Diamond Development Initiative (DDI). Mobile schools consist of traveling teachers and portable materials that are brought to a mining community for a condensed school year. These communities are in remote locations where children, particularly girls, would not otherwise have full access to education.

D.E.F President Phyllis Bergman added, “The Mobile Education School’s Project is synergistic with D.E.F’s mission to support sustainable approaches to development and education in diamond communities around the world. This is another example of how diamonds truly do good”.

Dorothée Gizenga, Executive Director of DDI added, “It means 25 fewer children in mining and 25 more children with a daily meal and the chance to succeed.”

“Sending schools to kids is a proactive and practical approach to a longstanding problem,” adds Ian Smillie, Chair of the DDI Board. “We look forward to partnering with those, like the Diamond Empowerment Fund, who share our vision on a more permanent solution.” The Diamond Empowerment Fund joins Brilliant Earth as the first two sponsors of mobile schools in the DRC.