Mayele Degaule Ngemba
Founder/President
At an early age, Mayele learned the importance of taking advantage of every opportunity that life presented him with; some may even be blessings in disguise. Today Mayele considers himself lucky, lucky to be alive, to pursue higher education, and most importantly to dare to dream for a better future. “My family fled DR Congo due to the ongoing civil wars, we sought refuge in Kampala, Uganda. Vibrant with life and opportunities, Uganda was the hotspot for individuals of diverse backgrounds. There I learnt English, I dropped out of secondary school to work at the age of 14 but also made memories that will last a life time”.
“You don’t value what you have until it’s gone,” I learnt this the hard way. After getting a job to help support my family, the only thing I wished for was to get back to school. Day after day, I worked very hard, hopping that if I make enough money then maybe I won’t have to be there and finally get back in school. That was only a dream of a little boy, I started resenting my family for fleeing Congo, maybe life wouldn’t be as strenuous there as it was in Kampala. Little did I know that I had it better here than some of the people in Congo, the economy was in turmoil, I was lucky to have left. I did envy those individuals whose family could send them to school.
I still remember the day my family got the news about coming to the US, the happiest day of my life. I knew that I was finally going to get back in school and not have to work at that strenuous job, after all “America is the land of milk and honey” or so as most people from my country refer it to. As a refugee, you don’t get to pick what country you are accepted in, in other words, I didn’t pick Cleveland, it chose me. Here I could enroll back in school and dare to dream bigger.
Mr. Mayele started Advocates for Peace and Change to give back to his community and to inspire younger generations of refugees to pursue higher education. “I know the importance of it, it’s one’s key to a better future”. “With time, I’ve expanded my goal of just teaching them English, I want to foster and nature their talents by exposing them to diverse activities and environments. After all, life is more than just books, the exposure you play a significant role on how big you can dream”.
Mayele holds two degrees in Political Science and Public management/Urban Studies from Cleveland State University and he’s completing his Master in Education. He’s passionated about education and its his goals to ensure that children in his home country receive uninterrupted education like he did.
Victoire Pilipili Mayele
Direactor of operation
Victoire who is Mayele’s wife, is an immigrant from the Democratic Republic of Congo who settled in Cleveland with her family in December of 2014. She’s a graduate of John Marshal High School and The Ohio State University. she holds a Bachelor in Human Development and Family Science. Both Victoire and Mayele have been working hand in hand and sharing the same passion about serving and improving the lives of their fellow refugee youths within the Cleveland and in their home country. Victoire has dedicated her time helping organizing events and mentoring refugee girls in the community. she’s passionated about serving women and kids living in poverty and underserved communities.
Annael Muhayiri
Field manager, DRCongo
Annael holds a bachelor degree in business management from the University of ULPGEL University in Goma. She’s joining our team with a lot of experiences working with internal war migrants within the Democratic Republic Congo. Annael will concentrate much of her time working with woman living under poverty both in displacement camps and in the city as well as coordinating education for younger children. Working to ensure pregnant women and their new born are receiving the proper care such as nutritions , sanitary material and proper treatment. Coordinating education for all needy children by providing school material and managing school payments.
Nikomeze Frederic
Field manager, DRCongo
Frederic holds a degree in nonprofit management from ISDR-GL University. He joins our team with experience working with NGOs and nonprofit groups in the Goma region supporting displaced families. He’s main role will be coordinating food distribution and training families on how to run small businesses.