Tag Archives: Zambia

Teacher Profile: Meet Mrs. Shanachenga!

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Sophie Hicks

Head-teacherWe would love to introduce you to Mrs. Shanachenga, the acting head-teacher of Inkumbi Basic School, located in southern Zambia’s Zimba district. Mrs. Shanachenga lives on the school compound in one of the teachers’ houses with her husband and some of her children, including her youngest, Timothy, who is enrolled in grade 1 at the school. The mother of seven children, Mrs. Shanachenga’s family is rapidly expanding; she already has five grand-children!

Mrs. Shanachenga qualified as a teacher in 1994 in Livingstone, and then went on to study for an additional teaching diploma before beginning her teaching career in 1995. Mrs. Shanachenga has been at Inkumbi Basic School for almost two years now teaching Grade 2, and she is also enjoying her new position as the acting head-teacher: “I am enjoying being the acting head-teacher; I am learning a lot. When you are not in administration, you might look and say that it is an easy job, but now that I am in this position, I have learnt that it isn’t easy- there are a lot of challenges but I like it. I would love to be promoted to be a permanent head-teacher one-day!”

school surroundings

Mrs. Shanachenga loves teaching, but it actually wasn’t her original career choice. However, she just couldn’t ignore her natural aptitude for teaching: “at first I had no interest in teaching, I wanted to work in the government in the Ministry of Defence; I went for interviews but I failed. However, I knew that I had a talent for teaching. That gift was apparent from when I was young…my fellow pupils would ask me to teach them, because I was very good especially in maths and science. After class, if my peers didn’t understand something, they would ask me to teach them, so I would go to the blackboard and explain the lesson to them again. It showed that I was a teacher from birth so it made sense to go into teaching; it was very easy and very natural to me.” It seems that Mrs. Shanachenga has inspired a new generation with her love for teaching, as her oldest daughter will be following in her teaching foot-steps and will be starting teacher-training next year!

Mrs. Shanachenga particularly enjoys teaching younger classes, and loves teaching her grade 2 class and contributing towards their development: “with teaching, what I like most is that you can see how children develop- some children have no problems learning, but others may need help. And once you help them nicely, then they will catch up. I like using my special skills to help all my pupils do well.” Mrs. Shanachenga hopes that with help, her pupils will grow up to “enjoy employment. Once the children are well-educated, mixing with people is easy and they will be able to go anywhere and do anything as long as they have their education.”

working pupils

Although it is a rewarding vocation, being a teacher in a rural school admittedly has its fair share of challenges. Mrs. Shanachenga explained them to us: “over-enrolment is a real challenge in the rural set up; all our classes are over-enrolled and we only have 12 teachers for 736 pupils. For example, in grade 2, there are 93 pupils, so it is not easy for me to teach effectively because I need time to spend with children who need extra help. So it is a challenge, especially because we don’t have adequate teaching materials.” In spite of these difficulties, Mrs. Shanachenga and her entire teaching staff work very hard to give the children of Inkumbi the best education possible. With her dedication, we are sure that Mrs. Shanachenga’s pupils will not only excel in school, but also grow up to do great things!

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Teacher Profile: Meet Mondella

Posted on September 9, 2015 by Sophie Hicks

TeacherHere at African Revival, we absolutely love meeting brilliant and inspiring teachers! Mondella, from Inkumbi Basic School, is one such teacher.

Mondella is originally from Mongo, a town in Zambia’s western province, but moved to Livingstone (southern province) in 1997 to study for his teaching certificate at Livingstone College of Education. Mondella has now been a teacher for fifteen years, and joined the teaching staff at Inkumbi Basic three years ago. Mondella lives on the school compound with his wife and children who attend the school. He has an 11-year old son, Naromindilla and twin daughters: Sepiso and Seveso who are six. Naromindilla is in grade 7, whilst the twins are currently in grade 1 and are taught by their mother, Natala, who is also a teacher. When your mother is your teacher, we’re sure that the old “the dog ate my home-work” excuses don’t really fly!

Teacher with his twins!

Mondella currently teaches grade 6, and also teaches maths and science to students in the upper basic section (secondary) of the school. Mondella actually entered the teaching profession because he was so inspired by one of his own secondary school teachers: “I used to really admire my physics, chemistry and biology teacher; he was my role model, he taught me so many things and he was just a genius because he had so much knowledge! He encouraged me a lot, and I wanted to be like him.” Just like his own teacher, Mondella likes “seeing children learn things they never knew before, and seeing them develop as individuals and as peers, it really brings joy to me”. One of the reasons Mondella loves seeing his students eager to learn is because he knows just how valuable education is, and what it can help people achieve: “(education) is so important, and the good thing is that it doesn’t choose who you are- whether you are rich or poor, as long as you can study, you can improve your life and move forward. You could be poor but if you have an education, then you can work your way up- a farmer’s son could even become president!”

Sunset and latrines!However, it can be challenging to give the children at Inkumbi the quality of teaching they deserve as the school struggles with over-enrolment and under-staffing. Although Mondella tells us that he tries his best, managing large classes is hard, and ideally he would like to divide the classes up, so that he can give individual children more attention. Although the school has its difficulties, the pupils still enjoy and benefit from their learning environment: “My pupils enjoy learning; they like school because they are learning new things, and they are able to socialise with their peers. They have time to play so they like it here.” Mondella hopes that his pupils will continue to enjoy school so that “they will complete their education, and they might be employed or self-reliant due to the knowledge which they have acquired here at school.”

We think Mondella’s pupils are very fortunate to have such a passionate teacher, who works so hard to instil a love for knowledge in his students. We’re sure that, just as his teacher inspired him, Mondella has inspired many children over the years to pursue excellent vocations!

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