Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.” -Rita Pierson

Teaching is all about making connections, connections with your students, connections with other teachers, and connections with your community.

Margaret Muthiga is a senior teacher at the Kilimo Primary School in Nakura County, Kenya. This primary school in Kenya is a government owned school that has an enrollment of 594 with a student-teacher ratio of 42.4 and this means there are 74.3 pupils per classroom in 8 classrooms. Margaret teaches year three this year and has over 50 students. She makes connections not only with her students, but also with her community. She started a “Why Wait Reading Club” which has two children from each class (24 students in all). They act as class librarians and mentors for those in their class that need help with reading. Every year these students help to organize “Orphan’s Day” at the local orphanages. There are a tremendous amount of orphans in her country due HIV and AIDs, negligence, rape, or Female Genital Mutilation.  

Last year, her reading group visited the Haven of Hope Orphanage. Children in this orphanage are two months old and older. “Being connected to a children’s home and thinking about the less fortunate in our society has always given our pupils something to look forward to,” said Margaret. Her group reads with the children and helps to teach them reading skill games and activities. These children are so poor that even taking care of their basic needs is a struggle. They do not have access to reading books so when they see the students from the school, they are overjoyed.

Margaret humbles you. I met Margaret in Chicago at the International Reading Association Convention. She told me about her school and I was truly in awe of everything that she does. Being around Margaret, you feel just how truly special she is.

When Margaret attended the IRA conference in San Antonio the next year, she was sent home with an extra suitcase loaded with pencils, colors, magic markers, erasers and other school supplies for her to use with her students. I also received a grant from the Nebraska State Reading Association to purchase a computer for Margaret to use at her school. They did not have a computer in their school, and they are now using it to record the books in their library.

This year Margaret and her “Why Wait Reading Club” students visited the Lion’s Club Children’s Home, a girls’ orphanage that houses children from 9 to 20 years old. Her school received grant money from Global Operations of the International Reading Association. Children at the home were eager to see and read new books, and have books read to them by the students at Kilimo Primary School.  Pupils brought a few story books, but they also brought donated food and clothes and this year they had a special gift of pencils and erasers from Margaret’s friend in the United States.

Singing and dancing were evident upon their arrival. Margaret’s students love singing and dancing. Pupils greeted and hugged each other and everything was great. The compound and rooms were swept and cleaned, and then they washed the clothes of the younger children. Games were played including football, netball, sliding, and hide and seek. There were so many children that one would wonder where they all came from. Again, the story is the same. They are orphans because their parents have died of HIV/AIDS, were neglectful; the mothers were raped, or other sad cases. Margaret encourages us:

“Life is a journey and if we have to leave a mark of hope in our classes, we must uphold justice for these small ones. Education is the key to their success. That’s why, we the ACT (Advisory Committee of Teachers), with the help of our affiliates, must give our all to these small ones under our care. Laugh with them and cry with them, for the ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity. Individuals play the game, but teams win championships. We have goals and plans to reach them. We are like a ship that has set sail with a destination. Goals are not only absolutely necessary to motivate us. This is why I say; commitment leads to action. Action brings your dream closer. Be born TEACHER!”

We are a literacy experts, and we can make reading connections with others who do not have the ability whether it is a child in your school or half way around the world. But as Rita Pierson said, “…it is not impossible. We can do this. We are educators. We are born to make a difference.”  

Mary Lou Benesch currently teaches Title 1, grade and grade 4 reading, and grade 5-6 social studies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in elementary education from Wayne State College, a media specialist endorsement from the University of Nebraska at Kearney, and a Masters in Educational Reading Specialist from Concordia University.

Margaret Muthiga is a senior teacher at Kilimo Primary School in Nakaru County, Kenya, mmuthigaus@yahoo.com.

Teaching in ACTion is a series from the Advisory Committee of Teachers (ACT), an International Reading Association committee comprised of exemplary reading and literacy teachers from around the world. Educators who best exemplify the mission of IRA are chosen from a pool of applicants to serve a three-year term. Among other responsibilities, the main charge of ACT is to be the conduit between IRA’s members and the board of directors.

ACT invites member to engage in the conversation by sending responses to us. ACT’s goal is to get a feel for how members feel about current hot topics, so that we may better serve members by sharing their concerns with the board of directors.