See how Bismack Biyombo is making a difference in his home country this summer

BarDown Staff

Teach Away

Do you ever wonder what professional athletes get up to during their summer vacation?

If you’re Pittsburgh Penguins Sidney Crosby, maybe you go for a swim with the Stanley Cup, or throw out the opening pitch at a Pirates game? If you’re Golden State Warriors Kevin Durant, perhaps you work on improving your championship celebration, so if there is a next time it might be a better celebration than this one? But chances are most athletes spend the summer getting in shape, sharpening the finer details of their game, and maybe taking a vacation to a fancy resort or two.

If you’re Orlando Magic Bismack Biyombo, however, the offseason goes a little different.

When Big Biz was in Toronto playing for the Raptors, he was a fan favourite because of his positive attitude, incredible confidence, the finger wag, and his dominant play on the court. But when he was visiting Toronto this past week, he gave us another reason to love him.

Biz is the driving force behind the establishment of an international school in his home country, the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Set to open in September 2017, Kivu International School is a bilingual, co-educational, non-denominational school located in eastern DRC. Serving the local population of Goma, Kivu International School offers both a dual IB and national curriculum.

Biyombo’s goal is to make quality education for children in Goma and the Congo more accessible. He aims to do this not just by building schools in the Congo, but also by creating revolutionary education facilities. Kivu International is a state-of-the-art school that’s the first of its kind in the DRC. Its curriculum rivals top schools worldwide, each classroom is wifi enabled and equipped with computers and tablets, and the school runs on solar and electric energy.

Kivu International School marks the first of three new international schools being built over the coming years that aim to address the various economic and sociocultural barriers to education currently facing children in the DRC.

Biyombo visited Teach Away in Toronto to meet the international teacher recruitment team who will be sourcing the best teachers from around the globe to teach at KIS, and took some time to discuss the project: