December 8, 2024
Dear Friends,
Let me first of all extend to you and yours best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a New Year filled with much peace and joy.
I am very happy to send you the current issue of our Prince of Peace newsletter. The school has seen exceptional growth since its beginning, which you have made possible by your prayers and generosity. We began this initiative in 2018 with a few hundred students and in six years we have not only surpassed 1,200 students but have seen the school complex expand to include an entire secondary level with three tracks: humanities, management/business, and science and agricultural industries. During this time, the reputation of the school has only grown. There is a waiting list of young people who wish to enroll.
You are all aware of the insecurity in the region which makes the school’s success all more remarkable. One of our initial goals was to give the population of this growing city of Beni (well over 300,000) the assurance that they had not been forgotten by the outside world — and what a better way than providing a future for their children.
Education is one of the hallmarks of the Assumptionists and we take great pride in the success of this institution.
But, as you will see in this issue, the remarkable progress has given birth to substantial growing pains — need for more classrooms and laboratory space, for various materials, for toilets, for playground areas, and for an enclosure fence to assure some level of security.
As you will see, the school is well run, both at the administrative and teaching level. Over the past few years we have presented the portraits of any number of students and faculty. In this issue we present the four major administrators, three Assumptionist religious and one Oblate Sister of the Assumption.
All who have been involved in the success of this institution can give thanks to God for what has been accomplished in such a short time…..and there is reason to believe that with your continued support Prince of Peace will grow and provide its students with an excellent education.
I want to thank Fr. Salvator Musande, the out-going Provincial Treasurer, for his ongoing commitment to this project and for providing the material for this issue.
Warm regards,
Fr. John L. Franck, AA
Donations can be sent to: Assumptionist Center, 330 Market Street, Brighton, MA 02135 (please indicate that your donation is for Prince of Peace/Beni)
THE ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF OF THE PRINCE OF PEACE SCHOLL COMPLEX
The Prince of Peace school complex continues to grow. To start this 2024-2025 school year, we needed to add 3 classrooms. And this was made possible thanks to you, our benefactors and sponsors. We especially want to draw attention to the classroom whose construction was financed by the family, friends and acquaintances of Fr. Olivier Blanchette. We must succeed in doubling the size of this classroom if we are to continue to honor this Assumptionist religious who has marked and inspired so many minds.
Our numbers have also grown. We have surpassed the 1,000 mark with 1267 students. Here is the breakdown for the 2024-2025 school-year:
Pre-school—185 students: 81 girls and 104 boys
Elementary school (1-6)—586 students: 304 girls and 282 boys
Secondary school—(7-12): 420 students: 235 girls and 185 boys
Remedial classes—72 students: 45 girls and 27 boys.
In this issue let me introduce you to the people who run the school.
Many thanks once again for helping us make this dream become a reality.
Fr. Salvator Musande, AA
Fr. Justin Kambale MBAVUGHA
My name is KAMBALE MBAVUGHA JUSTIN, Assumptionist religious. I was appointed to Prince of Peace in September 2021 as Prefect of Studies. I just completed my third year and am beginning my fourth.
Our school is private, Catholic and accredited nationally as of 2018. When I arrived, the secondary school had a total enrolment of 182 students, of which 108 were girls and 74 were boys. The school offered two tracks: sciences and agricultural industries.
Enrolment has since increased, and we have added the business and management track as of the 2023-2024 school year. This track is still growing. Today, the secondary school has 15 classrooms with a total enrolment of 420, 235 girls and 185 boys, supervised by 27 teachers from different educational backgrounds. We thank God for this progress.
I am happy to be among the administrators of Prince of Peace. I take pride in the high and regular attendance of the students as well as the collaboration among the teaching staff, the high level of trust between teachers and school authorities, the noteworthy involvement of parents and the remarkable success of our students taking the State exam. In short, the quality of our education is very good. And we haven’t forgotten the spiritual formation of our students. Indeed, “science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul”. Christ must be formed in our students,” says Fr. d’Alzon, our founder.
However, there is no shortage of difficulties. Here are just a few: the insecurity that persists in the region; the shortage of classrooms and toilets in relation to the number of students; the deficiency of materials in the physics-chemistry laboratory; the difficulty for some parents to pay school fees and the lack of textbooks for the Agricultural Industries track.
But we remain optimistic and look forward to a better future.
Br. Pascal Muhindo Malyatsi
My name is Br. Pascal Malyatsi and I was named to be in charge of discipline at Prince of Peace this school year 2024-2025.
Our school motto is “Discipline-Peace-Excellence”. Discipline comes first because it is a key element of any educational environment. It is necessary to guarantee the safety and well-being of students, as well as to promote a learning environment conducive to academic success and personal fulfillment.
Discipline at Prince of Peace is necessary to ensure the smooth running of all our school and extra-curricular activities.
This includes the rules of conduct contained in our school’s Rules of Internal Order (ROI) and communication protocols to manage problems and incidents effectively and responsibly.
In addition, at Prince of Peace, discipline is important to foster a healthy and productive learning environment. Students need a calm, orderly and steady environment to focus on their work and acquire the skills and knowledge they need to succeed.
Rules of conduct help establish this atmosphere and ensure that every student has the opportunity to learn and progress.
At Prince of Peace, school discipline is not limited to strict rules and punitive sanctions; it encompasses supportive methods to help students understand the rules and consequences of their actions, as well as interventions to help them overcome any difficulties they may encounter. Teachers, counselors and other staff mobilize to identify students who need help, and to offer them appropriate resources and support services.
Finally, at Prince of Peace, discipline helps prepare students for their future lives as active, responsible members of society. School rules and expectations reflect the values and norms of the community in which students live. Students learn to be respectful, to work as a team, to solve problems, to respect rules and to conform to academic and professional standards. We believe this helps them to succeed in their future professional, social and personal lives, and to contribute positively to their community and to society as a whole.
Sr. Zépherine Kavutya Simamuli
My name is Sr. Zépherine Simamuli and I am an Oblate Sister of the Assumption. I have been in charge of the nursery school at the Prince de la Paix School Complex since 2021.
When I arrived, there were 124 children, 72 girls and 52 boys, in the three levels of pre-school, including kindergarten. In the 2022-2023 school year, we had 144 children, 79 and 65 boys. In 2023-2024, there were 157 children, 83 girls and 74 boys. And this year we have enrolled 185 children, 81 girls and 104 boys. We have 6 pre-school teachers, 2 per class, who provide the children with good supervision. We also have a worker who helps us prepare the children’s porridge.
I’m also delighted with the collaboration between the administrative team, the teachers, the students, the parents of our students and other Assumptionist schools in the city. I appreciate the layout of the school; the spacious classrooms; the politeness of the children; the physical, spiritual, moral and material support provided by the Augustinians of the Assumption (Assumptionists) in general; the supervision and protection of the children by the teachers and the participation of the children in spiritual activities.
However, there is a challenge in supervising the children after class, given that their classes also accommodate students from the remedial school. Play equipment for the children also needs to be increased, given the current number of children in the pre-school grades.
Fr. Nicolas Kakule Mahamba
I’m Fr. Nicolas Mahamba, an Assumptionist religious. I am in charge of the primary level at Prince of Peace. I have been working at this school since the 2019-2020 school year..
Since my arrival at the school, I’ve seen good progress. This can be seen in the fact that the number of school-children increases every year. As of 2019-2020, there were 213 pupils, 106 girls. and 107 boys. Today, we have a total of 586 pupils, 303 girls and 283 boys, in 13 classes. So far, I feel that the school has the confidence of the Beni population, given the quality of its infrastructure and training. My impression is that the presence of religious in the administration and teaching attracts both Catholic and non-Catholic Christians to enroll their children here.
During my five years at the school, I’m delighted to have had the opportunity to discover what school management is all about. There’s a collaborative atmosphere between teachers, parents and administrative staff. The teachers are aware of their mission as teachers and educators, as Father Emmanuel d’Alzon asks of us. It’s also worth noting that the success of our students is one of the things that makes the school proud. In the three years that we’ve presented candidates for the National Examination, our students have fared very well.
However, as the schoolyard is not fenced in, we are often the victims of broken windows and other damage. Hence the urgent need, in my opinion, to fence off the school compound. What’s more, given the increase in enrolment, managing the students is becoming more and more difficult due to the shortage of classrooms. This means that more classrooms are needed. The security situation in the region is preventing some parents from paying school fees due to financial difficulties. This makes it difficult for us to function normally and to pay teachers in normal times. From a sanitary point of view, the number of students has far exceeded the capacity of our toilets. The need to build additional toilets is now imperative in order to spare children from certain infections. All in all, we encourage the initiative that has led to the creation of this educational work, which is the pride of Assumption in the town of Beni. We welcome the generosity of anyone with a particular attachment to the development of this school, supporting it morally, physically and materially. We look forward to seeing this school achieve the excellence proposed in its motto, “Discipline, Peace, Excellence”.
Our Pre School Staff
Beginning of the school day 1
