Growing up in Congo, Claude Nzalankazi found it difficult to know where to turn for advice on further education and his career.Which subjects to study, how to apply to university, or even how to write a CV – help was in short supply.

Despite the difficulties, he travelled to the UK in September 2008 to learn English and attend university, and for the last three years he’s been an Engineer in our Manchester office. Having learnt from his experience, he’s passionate about helping other young people improve their life chances.

That’s why he’s set up a social enterprise called Molakissi – which means ‘showing you the way, the professor and the mentor’ in Lingala, the Congolese second national language.

Fast forward a year, and Molakissi has taken off, thanks to his efforts in talking to schools, companies and government to spread the word and get people involved. And on 01 October, he’s heading home to Congo to take it one step further by visiting 46 schools and meeting officials to promote the project.

While he’s there, he’ll also attend the opening of a new public library in Pointe-Noire, made possible to a great extent by kind-hearted WSP colleagues.

To help fill the new library, Claude had sent a message round the Manchester office asking for spare books and was overwhelmed by the generous response.

The WSP Foundation team in the Manchester office stepped in to help with the cost and logistics of getting the books Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo. As the Molakissi project expands, it intends to open other libraries across Congo, and the WSP Foundation will be announcing details of how you can contribute to the next book donation appeal.