Article: “Raising awareness among students in Haut Katanga about the EXCELLENTIA program and sickle cell disease”
The Denise NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI Foundation recently organized a lunch at the Pullman Hotel Lubumbashi, bringing together around one hundred and eighty students from twenty schools in Haut Katanga. The objective of this event was to raise awareness of the EXCELLENTIA program, which aims to promote academic excellence among young people, while raising student awareness of sickle cell anemia, the first genetic disease in the world.
The President of the Foundation, Denise NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI, reminded the students present of the importance of their role in the development of the country. She encouraged them to aim for academic excellence by telling them that obtaining at least 85% success in the exam would allow them to be eligible for a scholarship. This scholarship would offer them the opportunity to continue their university studies both in local establishments and abroad.
During this meeting, a doctor led an information session on sickle cell anemia, thus raising students’ awareness of the harms of this disease and the importance of getting screened. Denise NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI stressed the destructive impact of sickle cell disease on families and society in general, and urged students to get tested as soon as possible. Screening kits will soon be made available to them in certain hospital centers in Lubumbashi.
The event was also marked by the presence of former EXCELLENTIA program scholarship holders, serving as inspiring examples for future laureates. This program, lasting ten years, aims to reward academic excellence by awarding scholarships to winners who obtain at least 85% on the state exam. It plans to award a thousand scholarships locally and a hundred scholarships internationally.
To date, the EXCELLENTIA program is in its fourth edition and has two hundred and forty-one scholarship recipients, eighty-two of whom are pursuing their university studies in Morocco, France and the United States, and one hundred and fifty-nine benefiting from a local stock exchange.
The awareness and encouragement actions carried out by the Denise NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI Foundation are part of a global approach aimed at promoting academic excellence among young people, but also at fighting sickle cell anemia. These initiatives are essential for the future of Congolese youth and contribute to the construction of a stronger and more fulfilled society.
To find out more about the actions of the Denise NYAKERU TSHISEKEDI Foundation and the EXCELLENTIA program, consult our previous article on the subject: [link to the article].