Professor helps his native country with work ethic

When John Malala looks at his home country, the Democratic Republic of Congo, it's not the same country he remembers. The fertile, resourceful land, is now impoverished and war torn.

But he has hope since starting the John Malala Dignity Foundation in 2007. The foundation attempts to help the Congolese become educated and self-reliant.

Malala, 50, is a radio and television professor at UCF. Malala teaches courses on the Production of Interactive Multimedia and Computer-Mediated Communication. He is also the principal investigator of the R/TV Convergence Initiative.  

About 20 years ago, Malala moved to the U.S. on a student visa when the Democratic Republic of Congo was called Zaire and was considered one of Africa's developing nations.

According to the book, The Crisis in Zaire; Myths and Realities  by Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja, the currency of Congo in 1980 was 2.94 to 1 U.S. dollar. In 1993, the exchange rate fell to 2.529 million Zaire dollars to U.S. $1.

Today, the Congolese Franc is 1,000 to U.S.$1.

Malala studied in the U.S. for ten years, where he received a Ph.D. in informatics, an education specialist degree in computer science education and several other degrees. After that, he became a college professor.

"I attained the highest level education that I could receive," he said.

But as Malala and his family found prosperity in the U.S., he watched his country spiral downward from afar. After the fall of leader Mobutu Sese Seko, the country was renamed the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1996 the country was stricken by war and remains that way to this day.

In 2006 Malala finally listened to his calling to return for the first time in almost 20 years.

"Fear of death was nonexistent when I lived in Congo," Malala said. "But when I returned in December 2006, I was a little bit scared."

He said his visit to Congo was "eye-opening."

He immediately noticed that the capital city, Kinshasa, had grown immensely in population. People were everywhere and nearly all of them were begging.

Malala recalls the story of when a man came to his hotel room asking for money. Malala asked the man if he had an education. The man responded that he obtained a degree in meteorology and agriculture but no nongovernment organizations would hire him. The man said that he couldn't start his own production because there were no resources to do so.

According to Malala, 97 percent of the land in Congo had never been used and was extremely fertile — yet this man was saying that there were no resources.

"I began to see that the situation in Congo has created a culture of begging and that the Congolese had lost their dignity — they'd become beggars," Malala said.

The following year, Malala returned to Congo with an idea in mind. He contacted all of the local TV stations and began broadcasting seminars about empowerment on national television.

He taught practical concepts and principles about work and ethics that affected much of the country. This was the birth of the John N. Malala Dignity Foundation.

After Malala's visit to Congo in 2006, he focused his energy on empowering the Congolese to create opportunities for themselves.

Malala began doing seminars in rural villages of Congo about cultivating the land during more than one season. He said that in one village, Bulumbo, the people were able to cultivate more rice than ever before after the seminars.

The foundation has since created a center for leadership and development in the village where it will begin training Congolese to use what they have instead depending on foreigners.

Several partners have come alongside in the past few years including Heart of Africa, a faith-based western organization that helps native Africans achieve their vision to help their own people.

"He has the ability to stir people's own visions and instill self-confidence and an entrepreneurial spirit," said Mike Henderson, the executive director of Heart of Africa.

Andrea Thompson, a senior radio-television production major, has been directly involved in producing a video series for Malala's cause to help doctors among developing communities.

"This was probably the biggest thing I have ever been involved with in my career in productions," Thompson said. "It was a huge eye opener."

Malala is currently developing a curriculum called "What Do You Have in Your Hands?" to teach in Congo on his next trip in May.

"When you find yourself doing so many things, you also find that you have few choices," Malala said. "I'm just doing what I can and now I see that many people want to be a part of it too."