This Central Regional Teacher Is Raising Money To Build A School In Africa

BERKELEY, NJ — When Dan Torsiello visited the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2021, he had no idea he would end up working to change lives.

Torsiello, an avid traveler, was planning on visiting Virunga National Park and ended up having some extra time. He teamed up with the socially conscious Congo Local Guides, based of out Goma, capital of eastern DR Congo's province North Kivu. His guide, Christian Aganze, took Torsiello to several local orphanages, where $100 can feed a child for several days. Torsiello quickly raised $1,400, which bought 3,000 pounds of food. The donation supplied three orphanages with a month of food.

Then, Aganze took Torsiello to a school in the rural village of Mushaki. Mushaki is a rural farming and herding village, Torsiello said, and right on the edge of where rebel groups are - there are about 120 active rebel groups in eastern DR Congo, Torsiello said.

While the building was called a school, it was "very ramshackle," Torsiello said, made of corrugated metal and clapboard.

"In reality, there's not much of a structure there," Torsiello told Patch.

Torsiello, who teaches world history and African studies at Central Regional High School, knew something had to be done. He asked his guide if it was possible to build a school and the two immediately got to work.

The calculated cost of building the simple wooden building is $8,300, but Torsiello wants to raise $10,000 to cover any additional costs. Any remaining funds will go towards school supplies.

A GoFundMe was created to raise money. Torsiello said that if he did not raise a single dollar, he, his family and his girlfriend would raise the money needed. However, the response has been "incredibly overwhelming," Torsiello said. As of May 20, $7,665 has been raised to build the school.

Construction begins in October, and Torsiello plans to visit again.

Though Torsiello never expected to help in such a way, this is now only the beginning. He doesn't plan on stopping at just this school - it's now turned into a legitimate nonprofit. Through the newly-founded Kivu Project, Torsiello plans on future fundraisers to help people in Africa.

"It started off as a one-off endeavor and now it's going to grow," Torsiello said.

Read more about The Kivu Project here. You can donate to help the school at GoFundMe.

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