Flooding of the Congo River: CS Ste Perpetue under water

Since October 2023, activities have come to a standstill at the Sainte Perpétue school complex, located on Lubefu Avenue in the Kinsuka-Pêcheurs neighborhood of the Ngaliema district in Kinshasa. Flooded by torrential rains and the rising waters of the river, this Catholic charter school is on the verge of disappearing. Access to the school’s facilities is practically impossible; water surrounds the area and has flooded the schoolyard. Unregulated urban development among the causes Local leaders indicate that this situation is caused by poor drainage of water from the rehabilitated Avenue du Tourisme (commonly known as Nzela ya Mayi); but also unregulated construction that completely disregards urban planning regulations. When approached by the DGC/EPST, Dominique Manima Bukaka, a local leader, called on the ministers of Urban Planning and Housing, Infrastructure and Public Works, and Primary, Secondary, and Technical Education to get involved in resolving this situation. "It pains us deeply to see this school in such a state; all the students have left—they no longer study here because there is water everywhere. Today, we need to demolish this school to build a new one. But even if we rebuild the school, there is still a serious problem plaguing the Kinsuka-Pêcheurs neighborhood. "When they rehabilitated Tourism Avenue, the Chinese diverted all the water from the surrounding neighborhoods toward our neighborhood because it is the lowest point. This drainage pipe ends behind the school, and now that the volume of water has increased, there is no way to drain it," he explained.  The school principal issues an SOS For the principal of Sainte Perpétue, Gaston Mulumba Matadi—who says he doesn’t know which way to turn—the administrative offices of the Catholic Coordination have already been informed several times, but a solution is slow in coming. “Everything is at a standstill. We haven’t been able to operate since October 23, 2023. The school is no longer viable because all the classrooms are flooded; we have lost all the elementary students, except for those in sixth grade who are attending classes at the parish," said the elementary school principal. Sainte Perpétue School was founded in 1992 and offers the full primary school curriculum as well as secondary education. Secondary students are currently attending classes in the buildings of another local school. Cheta Birhashwira and Willy Kambulu