The Kivu International School

In 2017, the Bismack Biyombo Foundation launched its first major project, the Kivu International School. Located in the vibrant Kivu River Region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the school provides everything for its 500 students, including tuition, books, meals, and other learning materials. Because Biyombo remembers the 45 minutes he spent walking each way to school every day, the school also provides free transportation for students so they can focus on their education.  

The Kivu School is fully internationally accredited, and is a modern facility, equipped with 21 classrooms, library, computer lab, and sports facilities, including the country’s first covered basketball court. The school’s curriculum, in addition to teaching reading, math, and science, offers students French and English classes so they will have better career prospects both in the DRC and internationally. 

Despite the COVID pandemic, The Bismack Biyombo Foundation plans to open a second school in the city of Lubumbashi sometime during 2021. Lubumbashi is Bismack’s hometown, so this project hits home. As he recently told NBC News, “I’ve learned so much, now I can use that to go back home and motivate a lot of kids, use that to put new ideas in them. Hopefully, now that we’ve started the work, they have a different understanding of life. They want to be somebody in life.”