CANADIAN DONORS:

Checks should be made

out to CMDS with the
designation to UPC on
the memo line and sent
to: CMDS Canada, 1-197
D Main St., Steinbach MB,
Canada R5G 1Y5

EDUCATION THAT BUILDS A NATION

USA DONORS:
Donate online at
www.upcongo.org
or checks can be made
out to North American
Liaison Bureau (NALB),
c/o Doug Cardwell, 2216
Elgin Road, WinstonSalem, NC 27103 USA.
Tel: +1 904 600 4123.

Any changes to your

contact information
should be sent to:
P. and B. Spatrisano
P.O. Box 8210
Bend, OR 97708 USA
pandb@bendcable.com

UNIVERSIT PROTESTANTE AU CONGO

The purpose of the

North American Liaison
Bureau (NALB) is to
promote and support the
development of education
in Congo through the
Universit Protestante
au Congo and selected
institutions. The NALB is
an IRS-recognized
501(c)(3) Public Charity.

NOVEMBER 2015

N O V E M B E R 2 01 5

NEWS

DESIGNER
Cherie Carter
cc@cheriecarter
designs.com

w w w. u p c o n g o . o r g

EDITOR
Lucy Hobgood-Brown
lucy@claypartners.com

Photo: Maureen Burdynski

UPC NEWS

Australians help kickstart UPC's visiting

physician program

OUR AUSTRALIANS WHO HAD NEVER

BEEN TO CONGO ACCEPTED A
challenge from UPC's Australian representative,
Lucy Hobgood-Brown, and took part in a
medical training mission in August and
September. Working in collaboration with UPC's
North American Liaison Bureau (NALB) and the
university's family medicine program, the selffunded team conducted training at four venues
including UPC Medical School in Kinshasa and

The Aussie team

IME Kimpese Hospital,
included (L to R)
where UPC registrars
Dr Vera Sistenich,
and medical students are
Chris Coombes,
receiving hands-on work
Lucy HobgoodBrown, Dr Grace
experience.
Maano, Dr Pp
They also traveled to
Banza and
Equateur Province and
Maureen
trained health care staff
Burdynski.
at Bolenge Hospital (near
the provincial capital of Mbandaka) and in
Lotumbe, a remote village accessible only by
canoe. Interpreting at each training site was
Dr Pp Banza, a UPC family medicine registrar
who is usually based at Tshikaji Hospital in Kasai
Province. Assisting with logistics at IME Kimpese
Hospital was Dr Patrick Ntontolo Ngangu, the
hospital's family medicine coordinator.
After working
so closely with
the Australian
team," says Dr
Philippe Lukanu,
coordinator of
UPC's family
medicine program, Dr Banza
is now able to
train many
Dr Pp Banza, intrepid
others in these
interpreter for the team.

emergency medicine
Dr Vera Sistenich
demonstrates
procedures. Our young
resuscitation
doctors will be able to
techniques.
save so many more
lives."
Jack Spencer, chair of NALB's medical
committee, agrees. This team's visit has
helped us explore ways to foster a visiting
physician program that can benefit multiple
teaching sites. It has been a great example
of collaboration, sharing talents and
resources."
Congo may have some of the lowest
medical resources the Australian doctors
have ever come across, notes Dr Vera
Sistenich, an Emergency Physician Fellow
of the Australian College of Emergency
Medicine. The capabilities of the doctors
and nurses are amazing, though. They
know how to solve problems with ingenuity
and compassion. I am so impressed."
Dr Sistenich provided training in cardiac
life support, airway and trauma management for adults and children, as well as
fluid resuscitation for children. Dr Grace
Maano, a Locum Career Medical Officer
based in New South Wales and a member
of Rotary e-Club of Greater Sydney, trained
Congolese medical staff in basic ECG and
obstetric scanning, handling obstetric
emergencies and contraceptive (Jadelle)
implant insertion.
In cooperation with HandUp Congo,
Rotary Australia World Community Service
and with the help of numerous donors, the
team took more than 400 kilos of donated
medical equipment, eyeglasses, footballs
and other community development
resources to Congo.
Team members Chris Coombes and
Maureen Burdynski documented the
medical training of more than 80 health
care staff in the four venues, as well as
159 women receiving contraceptive Jadelle
implants. They also roamed each training
site, photographing UPC medical students
in action and capturing poignant images
of patients and their families.
continued on page 2

Photo: Dr Grace Maano

UPC NEWS

Visiting physicians program continued from page 1

N O V E M B E R 2 01 5

EDUCATION THAT BUILDS A NATION

w w w. u p c o n g o . o r g
2

Photo: Lucy Hobgood-Brown

Photo: Dr Vera Sistenich

UNIVERSIT PROTESTANTE AU CONGO

Accepting medical
equipment for use at
UPCs Medical School
are (L to R), Dr
Philippe Lukanu,
family medicine
coordinator, Dr Sam
Mampunza, vice
president-academic
affairs, President
Daniel Ngoy, Dr Leon
Kintaudi (Sanru COO)
and Rev Nondo,
vice presidentadministration.

Dr Grace Maano
(L) oversees correct
insertion of a
contraceptive
(Jadelle) implant.

Meet the only husband and

wife medical duo serving as
UPC family medicine
registrars. Dr Ted and Dr
Sylvie, pictured with their
son, work at IME Kimpese
Hospital. This rural hospital
is one of three teaching
institutions that provide
hands-on work experience
for both UPC registrars and
medical students. UPC is
Congos only university to
offer an accredited family
medicine program.

Med-facts: Did you know?

UPC is the only university in Congo to
have a student and alumni health insurance plan.
Called MUSOPROC for short, it provides peace
of mind for our students, says manager Ibrahim
Nginama. Law student Olivier Musikitela agrees,
recalling quick treatment when he had a hernia.
A campus health center has been
established, managed by 2014 family medicine
graduate Dr Christian Magema. With the help
of six medical students in their last year before
clinical rotations, the health center treats an
average of 300 staff and student patients per
month. The principle health issues are malaria,
and gastro-intestinal or bronchial/pneumonia
infections. The health center was furnished
by the North American Liaison Bureau with
equipment shipped to Congo by MedShare.
Most of Congos physicians live in the
cities, but 80 percent of the nations population
lives in rural areas. For this reason Dr Sam
Mampunza, UPCs vice president for academic
affairs, explains that UPC must give its medical
graduates the skills to be a leader in a rural
area. The 2014 medical school graduates
UPCs first now have 22 doctors working in
Tshikaji (Kasai province), 33 in Vanga (Bandundu
province) and 42 in Kimpese (Bas Congo
province). Sixty percent are women.
Ten of UPCs top 2014 Medical School
graduates are now enrolled in a range of specialization programs at the University of Kinshasa,
with the goal to become teachers at UPC.

UPC NEWS

Alumna Profile

Virginie Basilua

WHEN UPC BUSINESS SCHOOL ALUMNA VIRGINIE

Basilua feels stressed by her high profile job as Director
of Administration and Finance at the 400-bed Kimpese
Hospital in Bas Congo Province, she turns to her father
for wisdom and comfort. A nurse with 40 years experience, her father can be found close by, working in the
hospitals ophthalmology clinic. My father made many
sacrifices to provide an education for me and my five
siblings, says Virginie, adding with a laugh, He still tells
me every day to work hard. The 1995 UPC graduate
certainly does just that she oversees 30 people working
in the hospitals personnel and accounting departments.
In addition, she spends her free time studying health
economics and cooking and freezing meals for her four
children and husband, who is a surgeon.

N O V E M B E R 2 01 5

UNIVERSIT PROTESTANTE AU CONGO

Student stats
THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS DURING THE 2014-15
academic year was 7,849 students including 7,819
Congolese nationals and 30 foreigners of different
nationalities.
By religious groups the students were divided as follows:
2,510 Protestants, 2298 Catholic, 2959 Independent
Churches, 26 Kimbanguists, 28 Jehovahs Witnesses, 2
Anglicans, 3 Orthodox and 2 Salvation Army.
The School of Theology had 249 students, the School of
Business Administration and Economics had 3375 students,
the School of Law had 2926 students and the School of
Medicine had 1246 students.

Staff profile

Gaston Likango

w w w. u p c o n g o . o r g

Photo credit: Maureen Burdynski

EDUCATION THAT BUILDS A NATION

Daughter and dad duo Photo credit: Maureen Burdynski

EVEN AFTER WORKING AT UPC FOR 23 YEARS,

Gaston Likango loves his job. It is always changing,
he says with a smile, noting that as assistant to UPCs
vice president for administration, his projects have included everything from introducing an administrative
filing system to managing human resources and improving the campuss internet connectivity. He is also
proud of the universitys addition
of toilets in every building, as
well as ramps for the disabled.
The Orientale Province native
left his Kisangani hometown for
Kinshasa to attend Congos
National Teaching Institute, with
the intention of being a secondary school English teacher. The
father of three was recruited by
UPC because the university was
Gaston Likango
growing. UPC has been very

Photo credit: Maureen Burdynski

New Masters program

launched at UPC

good to me, Mr Likango says. I am now building my own

house thanks to having a regular salary and access to a
bank loan. I also have a car.

A LIFETIME OF BATTLING
MISPERCEPTIONS ABOUT
her abilities because she is
a woman with physical
challenges has led Rev Dr
Micheline Kamba to explore
how to motivate others
who are also marginalized.
The Kasai Province native
has launched Francophone
Africas first Masters
program in Social
Transformation at UPC.
Micheline Kamba
The program has almost
50 students enrolled, and aims to explore new African
socio-cultural contexts and issues related to people with
disabilities. Popular classes include leadership, human rights
and gender violence. The pilot program is interdisciplinary
and follows a holistic approach that promotes how to be
a total person, no matter the handicap.
Dr Kamba is confident that future graduates will be
better able to make the world more accessible. This
Masters program will change how people view their
environment, the Associate Professor says, noting,
Kinshasa is not disabled-friendly. We must change
attitudes towards people with handicaps, because all
people have value.
An ordained Presbyterian pastor who received her PhD
from Kwazulu Natal University in South Africa, Dr Kamba is
also the Francophone coordinator for the World Council of
Churches Africa Unit. In her spare time, she likes to sing
and raise awareness in churches about the importance of
integrating handicapped people into all facets of society.
She is the mother of a 14-year-old son.

UPC NEWS

TASOK alumni raise funds

for UPC $25,000 goal
achieved!

N O V E M B E R 2 01 5

by Paul Olson, TASOK class of 67

THIS YEAR MARKED THE FIRST YEAR OF A

fundraising campaign organized by alumni of The
American School of Kinshasa (TASOK), where a
number of children of the university faculty and
administration went to primary and secondary
school. The campaign was organized by several
TASOK alumni who are members of NALB's board.
A couple of the alumni even attended UPC!
When the alumni gather, they often share stories
of expatriate families who were caught up several
times in the country's civil strife in Kisangani,
leaving vivid memories of the university's early
days. At various times some of these families
were housebound during military activity, waiting
anxiously for an evacuation. No wonder we hold
those experiences in memory, even as we now
see the university growing so hopefully and
dramatically these days.
Most students attending the UPC pay for their
own annual tuition, averaging between $650 and
$850 a year. While these expenses are quite small
compared to North American universities, they are
formidable for students in Kinshasa. There is little
opportunity to work and study at the same time.
In one of the poorest countries in the world,
university studies are prohibitive for many students

UNIVERSIT PROTESTANTE AU CONGO

Lets keep UPC clean!

UPC GREEN TEAM MEMBER AUDREY BAZONGA

enthusiastically participates in a recent campus clean
up day. Students from the Law and Business Schools
have been organising conferences and fairs throughout
the academic year, on a range of environmental topics.
Green Team president Christian Kanyinda Biaya
declares, UPC even promotes fitness with its green
soccer team. He adds, Our goal is to show the
community how behavior can be a tool to fight
against some sicknesses.

Congratulations to two new

UPC Doctors of Law

TASOK alumni L to R above: Margaret Loewen, Amy

Earle, Anne Zolnor, Lucy Hobgood-Brown, Paul Olson.
L to R below: Cynthia Decker, Phil Kliewer, Ernie
Ross, Carol Heimer, Beth Naegele, Jimmy Shafe.

w w w. u p c o n g o . o r g

Photo credit: Mike Naegele

EDUCATION THAT BUILDS A NATION

Photo credit: Mike Naegele

who must rely on scholarship support. Education and

the professions taught at the university level are key to
the development of the Congo. We hope you will join us
in coming years to support our scholarship program.
Please visit NALB's website at http://www.upcongo.org/
tasok-alumni-scholarship-congo-education, click on the
Donate" button, select Named Fund and then the
TASOK Alumni named fund" in order to make your
contribution.

Dr. Louis Tshiyombo defended his thesis at the Paul

Cezanne dAix University in France. His work has focused
on the OHADA Uniform Law and Interconnection of
Financial Markets in Sub-Saharan Africa: a Contribution
to the Construction of an African Financial Right to
Development.
Italy was the site for Dr. Bob Banzelynos thesis
defense at Degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo in Urbino
University. His work has focused on International
Mechanisms of Repression of War Crimes and Crimes
against Humanity: Case of the Democratic Republic of
Congo.

Florida registration #CH39562. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL

REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE
OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES
BY CALLING TOLL-FREE (800-435-7352) WITHIN THE
STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT,
APPROVAL OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE.