Congolese Community of Scranton

06/14/2026

🌍 FREE INTRODUCTORY SWAHILI CLASS IN SCRANTON! 🌍

Have you ever wanted to learn Swahili, one of Africa’s most widely spoken languages?

The Congolese Community of Scranton (CCS) is excited to offer a FREE Introductory Spoken Swahili Class for:

✅ Caseworkers and service providers who work with Congolese refugee families and other East and Central African communities

✅ Travelers planning safaris or visits to Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo

✅ Students, educators, healthcare professionals, and community members interested in African languages and cultures

✅ Anyone looking to learn a new language and connect with one of the most widely spoken languages on the African continent

Swahili is spoken by millions of people across East and Central Africa and serves as an important bridge language for communication, culture, business, and travel.

👨🏾‍🏫 ABOUT THE INSTRUCTOR

Jean Claude Mukelo is a professional French teacher who holds a Master’s Degree in Pedagogy from ISP Bukavu in South Kivu Province, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A native speaker of Congolese Swahili (Swahili Kongo), he has taught at secondary schools in both Uganda and the DRC including Alliance Française in Kampala.

Since making Scranton, Pennsylvania his home in 2015, Jean Claude has remained committed to serving the local community. He currently serves on the Council of Elders of the Congolese Community of Scranton and manages the CCS Community Garden.

As a way of giving back to the city he now calls home, Jean Claude is volunteering his time to teach this introductory Swahili course to anyone passionate about learning the language spoken by more than 22 million people in his native Democratic Republic of Congo.

📚 No prior experience is required.
🎓 Open to all ages and backgrounds.
💲 FREE to attend.

Join us and take your first step toward learning Swahili while building stronger connections with African communities both locally and abroad.

Registration Link:

https://forms.gle/1L2PmRGFx8YFGoN87

06/04/2026

NEPA Gives Campaign

Dear friends and supporters of the Congolese Community of Scranton,

We invite you to join us for the launch of the NEPA Gives fundraising campaign hosted by the Scranton Area Community Foundation, beginning tomorrow at 7:00 PM and continuing through Friday at 7:00 PM.

As a refugee-led nonprofit organization, securing sustainable funding remains one of our greatest challenges, despite the vital work we provide to families in our community every day. Our services include, but are not limited to:

Free interpretation and translation services
Immigration-related assistance
Community liaison support with local partners
Cultural preservation initiatives
Civics and ESL programs
Transportation assistance
Access to fresh food and essential resources
Leadership development and mentorship
Cultural orientation and mediation services
Travel support and coordination
Educational support services
Women Empowerment Services
Free Swahili and French classes for friends and allies of our community

Every contribution—large or small—helps us continue serving refugee and immigrant families with dignity, compassion, and hope. Your support means more than words can express, and we deeply appreciate every donation made to our campaign.

To make a donation, use the link below:

04/23/2026

11/26/2025

Thanks WVIAfor covering our Community Garden story. Happy Thanksgiving to the entire news team and especially to Kat Bolus and Kara Washington, these two have been amazing throughout this year !

10/07/2025

RECEIVED COMPUTERS TODAY

We are so grateful to Afree Foundation that tirelessly worked so hard for the PA state connectivity grant. These computers will be a game changer for many students in our community that need computers for homework and other activities, adults that need computer literacy and even everyday work by our staff at the office and during family visits.

Many thanks to Rashida and her team. It was such a wonderful experience picking up the computers at their office on Jackson St, Scranton; the smiles, support and a chat on her new invention, one couldn’t make this up. This is another affirmation of the abundance of wonderful people Scranton has !

09/27/2025

SNAP BENEFITS DILEMMA
—Reductions & Cuts

We are extremely concerned about the changes in public benefits, SNAP in particular because our families heavily rely on this assistance. They are hardworking but unfortunately, they are also big with many children and with just the money they earn, which is always not enough, the money from SNAP helps balance the families budgets. Now this is not an option. These reductions are forcing families to spend more on food and could lead to families not being able to pay some bills or afford other necessities.

This comes at a time when we are harvesting fresh food from our local Community garden here in the city, and we are being forced to review our food quality strategy, and maybe rename it Food Security Strategy and acquire more land so we can grow more food because self reliance as a community is no longer an aption but a priority. The government is no longer predictable and as many families are in their initial stages of integration, this is proving to be a disaster.

The Community leadership and the council of elders will be meeting in the next couple of weeks to discuss this situation and find ways to make sure families continue afford food going forward. The policies from this administration are purely a collective punishment as they don’t put into account for hardworking families that are doing everything they can to stay afloat that are impacted by such major decisions.

Our position is that food, has to meet quality, but also quantity. And we continue to be committed to addressing both of these factors.

09/08/2025

CULTURAL MEDIATION
—Upper Darby, Pennsylvania

We today were able to visit a Congolese single mom in Darby, Pennsylvania for a cultural mediation session. Her wonderful Caseworker was able to join us and we had a fruitful discussion. We completely understand the difficulties of integration of refugee families and sometimes bringing in people like us equipped with language, cultural and traditional expertise and lived experiences is sometimes what is needed. The caseworker was so transparent in the conversation and as always, we left all the options open. We are happy that she was able to understand we visited in the spirit of love and care and that whatever decision she takes, we will support it. And if she decides to move to Scranton, our office will facilitate her relocation at zero cost. Here, our community strongly believes in the power of togetherness and that help is always reciprocal; everyone of our families that came to this great city was helped tremendously by the generous Scrantonians we found here and we are willing to also help as much as we good.

08/13/2025

📣 Calling all Scranton families! Join the University's First-years in Reflective Service Together (FIRST) program for a community fun day in Novembrino Park in West Scranton on Friday August 22!

08/07/2025

ATTENDED THE PATRICE LUMUMBA ANNIVERSARY
—Philadelphia | PA

We are so grateful to Mr. Mukulu and Wata and all those that made the Patrice Lumumba Anniversary event possible. We are also very thankful to many Congolese Americans and Americans in general that came to attend the event.

Attending this event reminded us not just about the fight that Lumumba waged against imperialism but that he was also a global leader that fought imperialism head on everywhere. We had an opportunity to meet Maurice from the Friends of Congo organization and many wonderful people including African American professors that spoke about Ubuntu and the importance of unity in addressing the pains of imperialism.

And lastly, Goma was also on the menu. It was unbelievable how people raised all they had to support the people of Goma, Easter DRC who are going through all kinds of pain and suffering under the rebel insurgents. Looking forward to connecting with the organizers. We reminded them that for us here in Scranton we don’t just talk about Ubuntu but we practice it !