Kinshasa (Fides Service) - Hope is hard to come by today in north-eastern Congo bloodied by 5 long years of civil war. However an education support programme for children in difficulty started by the Consolata missionaries, is undoubtedly a clear signal for hope. Since 1998 at Isiro a town with 200,000 people, GAJEN, Support Group for Children and Youth in Difficulty, has provided instruction to young Congolese many of them orphans. Fides Service spoke with one of the people involved, Rinaldo. "We wanted to provide instruction for children to ensure a better future of justice and brotherhood in Congo. People are reduced to unbelievable poverty, denied basic human rights such as food, clothing, medical care, schooling. The illiteracy rate is rising: 80% of Congo's young people are unable to read or write correctly. Salaries of state school teachers have not been paid since 1991. Teachers rely on voluntary offerings made by the parents or the children who work in order to study. GAJEN hopes to put the young people on the way to a better future. We launch an appeal to all people of good will to help us in this initiative." The conflict in this region continues to the apparent indifference of the rest of the world. (Fides Service 29/10/2002)