Isabella Kituyi, 39, is a teacher at Kimwanga Special School for the Hearing impaired. Before receiving training as part of VSO’s Community Empowerment for Deaf Inclusion (CEDI), she had scraped by for years without any training in sign language or in meeting the different needs of children with disabilities.

Isabella explains how the training is improving her teaching, as well as challenging negative local attitudes towards children with hearing impairments. 

On my first day at Kimwanga Special School for the Hearing Impaired, I looked at the pupils and I questioned myself: Will I manage? And if I don’t, what will I do then? What if I lose my job? I had nothing in my head to prepare me for this work, no training or knowledge of Kenyan Sign Language (KSL).

But I was encouraged by the head teacher. She told me that the best teacher is these children themselves. By becoming comfortable with them, I would come to know some of the signs. I was interested and I was committed to teaching, so I kept on trying.

I used to use non-professional signing to get my message across even for basic things like wanting them to sit or eat. But after my training with VSO I am now able to use proper KSL to communicate with them.

It makes me happy whenever parents come to school to tell us that thanks to my teaching students are now able to better express themselves back at home. This is really motivating and gives me a reason to keep on with what I am doing.

Many people in the community view this job as a waste of time. They look at our young ones, think that we are giving out something that is not supposed to be given to them. They see these children as people who are already wasted. They are not valuable in the community. So they see us teachers as wasting our time here, doing nothing.

The negative perception that people have of these young ones deeply saddens me. I wish to see a time where they will see them as normal human beings who only have a different way of communicating their thoughts.

That is why I have taken a personal responsibility to educate the community around me about them – it is my hope that someday they will be appreciated and not discriminated against. As for me, I am not giving up on them no matter what people’s thoughts are- they are my main motivation.

Thanks to training, I am courageous and now even in church I talk to people and show them the benefit of us loving these pupils – or anyone – who is hearing impaired. So in the communities where I come from, they now know that a person with an impairment is just a normal person like them.

That has encouraged some of the parents who were hiding their hearing deaf children at home. Now they look for me wherever I am. VSO gave us a book for KSL communication – I invite these parents and show them the book. Two of my neighbours are deaf, I am also teaching them KSL.

We have got so many challenges in our school –uncountable. Our pupils come from far, so you may come to school and meet only one child, or none, because of the distance. These children come from poor families. They need support from us, even food. Sometimes they tell you, ‘Miss, yesterday I slept without eating, so I cannot concentrate.’

It forces us teachers to dip into our own pockets, to be able to provide some food for them so that they can be motivated and have energy to learn. It is hard on my salary – I am not comfortable. Sometimes I cannot afford transport to school so I walk for one hour to reach here from my place.

I get to school at 7.30am. I do cleanliness and health check-ups with those pupils who have already arrived. Some children come from homes without water, so I wash their faces.

We have only two classrooms. In my class are four streams together at once, class zero to four. There are effectively four lessons going on at once: we just have to divide the blackboard into four. So teaching becomes a problem – it is very hard for the pupils to concentrate.

In the school, all our children have hearing impairments. I also have three hearing children with learning disabilities, and one girl with intellectual impairment. This makes teaching difficult because those with additional disabilities may refuse to participate.

Handling these children is the hardest thing about the job. You want to attend to them, but you cannot always understand them. You want to ask a question, instead you get a slap. That is very difficult. But since training, I feel empathy because these children are just the same as normal children, but because of the impairment it may affect their actions. I sympathise with them.

People from outside should try and have a positive attitude towards our children who are hearing impaired – or towards anyone who has a disability.  If they have that positive attitude they will keep on assisting them, knowing that they are just normal beings like others.

Despite the challenges, I still say being a teacher is the best. I can interact with anyone, anywhere, and in whichever situation, because I have handled these young ones.

This story in published in partnership with VSO International for #WorldTeachersDay. It was originally published on VSO International's website. 

Josephine Nyirampuha, 28, is an early grade teacher in Nibori village, in Nyamasheke district, Rwanda. Her classroom is a wooden hut with a mud floor and no furniture, in which she tries to equip 58 local children with quality early childhood education (ECE). She receives no government salary, surviving on school fees paid by those parents who can afford to in this, one of the poorest districts in the country.

Rwanda has prioritised upgrading the quality of ECE in hopes of reducing rates of repetition at primary school. Currently only around one in five children receives pre-primary schooling. A new ECE teacher training curriculum, developed with the support of VSO is being embedded with the help of VSO volunteers on the EQUECER-II project. Volunteers work in teacher training colleges as well as with in-service teachers like Josephine, many of whom had never had any professional training in early childhood development beforehand.

Before I was a teacher, children in this community could not go to school because schools are very far located. I had graduated from Urugero [Rwanda’s national voluntary service] after secondary school. This room had been built by local parents who asked me to help them teach their children. That was three years ago.

Where I am teaching, there are only children from very poor families. Those are well to do take their children to better schools. Most families do not even send their children to pre-primary school as they can’t afford to provide school food and fees.

The number of children in my class has steadily increased. Today it is 58.

It is very difficult. Every parent should pay 500RWF per month. But when it is the end of the month, it is very possible that only one parent has brought this money.

Each month I earn 12,000RWF [£12] at most. When I get a little money I can buy sugar or soap. I can’t say it is enough because I don’t have enough money to buy shoes. I am always patient and hopeful that things will change.

I keep going because I have passion for teaching. This is a noble position and I like it. Sometimes you ask yourself why the government doesn’t support us more. Even some parents seem not to give it much value.

But some parents do come to thank me. Those are the ones that have noticed the difference between the performance of their children that I have taught, and those who have not got this basic education.

VSO volunteers showed me how to create locally made teaching and learning materials. Before this training I had to ask the head teacher to borrow books. Sometimes I would only have one book for the whole class so I would draw pictures.

Now we know how to teach with these local materials and to make learning corners. I like thinking of things I can make for the children using these discarded materials. Some bottle tops can be a counting game. A rice sack can become the costume for a moto driver. The button helps develop fine motor skills, and the role play helps with socialising and introducing concepts of counting and money.

Before starting class, I have to motivate the children using a song. I make them my best friends so that they can respect my instructions.

My teaching has improved because now students are learning by doing, which makes them better understand the lesson. The children are very active and involved. They study reading, mathematics and social studies.

I use songs to motivate them, and make them my best friends so that they can respect my instructions. We have a great team spirit. The change in my students’ performance is super, so I feel good.

This story is published in partnership with VSO International for #WorldTeachersDay. It was originally published on VSO International's website.

Grace Chigwechokha, 41, is a dedicated Standard 2 teacher at Chiuzimbi Primary School in Lilongwe, Malawi. She loves teaching – but struggles with the impossible task of educating a class of 84 children ranging in age from six to 14 years old.  She is frustrated by the challenge of trying to deliver quality education in a context of huge class sizes, scant resources and rampant absenteeism.

Grace explains what it’s really like to work as a teacher in Malawi, and her experiences since becoming involved in VSO’s Unlocking Talent project. She is responsible for the running of a solar-powered learning centre, equipped with special digital education software, provided as part of the scheme.

When I was at school my favourite teacher was Mrs Mmangeni. I remember it was easy to learn with her and that she wore very beautiful clothes. She was like a role model for me. Now that is what I try to be for my learners.

I love teaching. I do this work because I want to build up Malawian children to be all they can be, but it’s difficult because I have so many learners in the class. Last term I had 84 in standard 2, ranging in age from six to 14 years old.

Sometimes as you are trying to teach some children are beating each other, others are standing, or moving around.  It’s a tough job. The children all have different abilities. Being the only teacher in the class is a very big problem, because I can’t give every child individual help.

I am trying my best. For example, I have one boy in the class with hearing difficulties. I try to keep him at the front of the class so he has a better chance of hearing and seeing everything. But I know that not every child is receiving the best education – I don’t feel good about that. I want my learners to do well.

Many children repeat class because they do not do well in exams. To progress to the next grade, they have to get at least 50% of the marks on an exam. Last time only 49 out of 84 got enough questions right to continue. The rest are back in my class again this year.

There is also the problem of absenteeism in the school. Some parents keep their older children at home when they go away on business, asking them to stay behind to take care of their sisters and brothers. Teachers too are sometimes missing. When teachers are sick or absent, there is no one to take over their class while they are away.

That’s why I’m so happy about being part of Unlocking Talent. I can see my learners are able to read and write, and the absenteeism has also been reduced – they don’t want to miss the classes. Even those with troublesome behaviour have changed.

As Unlocking Talent co-ordinator it’s my responsibility to look after the maintenance of the learning centres [purpose-built rooms equipped with tablet computers with special digital education software]. I make sure they are kept clean and tidy, that the children use it correctly and that the materials are well looked after.

It is good to learn from VSO volunteers. To be a teacher I had two years of training. One year in a teacher training college and a year of theory – that was in 1994 and I haven’t had training since. Though I have been teaching for more than 20 years I am still on the first grade of being a teacher. The salary for my grade is 79,000 Kwacha (£81) per month. It is not a lot of money – living in Lilongwe is expensive. It can cost 50,000 kwacha to rent a house.

Of course I would like to be promoted to the next grade and earn more. Since 2015 I am the head of the theology department. That should qualify me for the next grade, but I would need to complete my education to degree-level first. The fees for that are 350,000 Kwacha (£364).

I am married and have three children of my own, aged 21, 17 and 14. My youngest is now in Senior Form 2. I am sending him to a private school. I want my children to have the best. School fees are 90,000 Kwacha (£93) per term, the uniform is another 40,000 (£41), and there are registration fees. So you see my salary does not go very far. As I am trying to do what’s best for my children, I decided it is better to fund their education and stop mine.

My first born is now a journalist. She has completed a diploma and is doing a work placement with a multimedia organisation. She has not yet completed a degree – again fees are a challenge. I am proud of her.

I love the children in my class. It is my role to talk to them, to encourage them to work extra hard so they can become better people. I’m proud of that.

I encourage each and every person to become a teacher, or to support us in our work. This is a good job. We build up children to be important people so they can go work in companies, organisations and government. It is a big role.

This story in published in partnership with VSO International. This story was originally published on VSO International's website.