MADIFF (Making a Difference Foundation) is a non-profit charity that has been created to break the cycle of poverty in multiple families in Africa through the education of children. MADIFF also aims to restore hope to vulnerable children that have lost hope due to the cycle of poverty. The organization is committed to initiate Socio-economic development opportunities for the children in poor countries in Africa by providing them educational and moral support.
According to the United Nations' data, children in Sub-Saharan Africa are more likely to be ill, less likely to be in school and far more likely to die before the age of five because they are trapped in a downward spiral of war, disease and poverty. It is estimated that 38 million children in Sub-Saharan Africa had never been to school. As a result they have beendeprived of experiences integral to full physical, social and emotional development. Problems with funding and the institutional responsibility for education are major factors. Children from the poorest income groups are least likely to attend school.
It is widely agreed that the relationship between poverty and education operates in two directions: poor people are often unable to obtain access to an adequate education, and without an adequate education people are often constrained to a life of poverty.
MADIFF will enroll children, including children with disabilities, to class and provide books, school supplies and uniforms for the children coming from impoverished families.
MADIFF will start working on its educational program in the Democratic Republic of the Congo for the following reasons:
- It is listed among the poorest country in the world despite its wealth of natural resources including minerals and forests – more than 70% of its population live in poverty.
- Primary education is not free
- Less than a third of the relevant population was enrolled in primary education (the equivalent of elementary and middle school) in 2011. By comparison, in the United States, nearly 95% were.
With only five years to go, Congo is far from reaching the millennium development goal of primary education for all by 2015, with nearly half of Congolese children (more than 3 million) still estimated to be out of school and one in three having never stepped into a classroom.
Universal primary education is one of the key Millennium Development Goals and identified as a priority by the Congolese government, yet funding for education programs remains extremely limited. Madiff is committed to make a different in children's lives through education.