Godi Godar, Vice President and lead for Earth Keeper Community – Democratic Republic of Congo.

Godi Godar came to the United States from the Republic of the Congo, his place of birth about 1988. He was sponsored by Mr. Dean who had worked in his village in what was then called Zaire with Habitat for Humanity. He learned English and completed a mechanics course at Durham Tech. He did carpentry in a repair shop and then started his own business fixing cars and selling bio-diesel.

He started “Go Conscience Earth, a no-profit organization for the preservation the of Lake Tumba Congo forest area after his mother contacted him and said that a logging company had gotten involved in the area and she was concerned that his ancestral land which his parents had inherited would be taken from then by logging companies. Selling it would also have led to a tragic destruction of the ecosystem.

The last words Godi heard from his mother were “God will bless you in preserving my people’s land”. Since that day he was inspired to do whatever necessary to protect this unique forest.

Since that time Godi had worked with the Non-profit “Tree Foundation” to preserve the land and in 2014 all official government of the Congo approvals and all official documents have been signed by the appropriate officials and the land officially preserved. He returns to the Congo at least once a year and his organization digs wells for clean water which greatly improves the health of each area where a well is dug.