Children braces a TFU Fellow to embrace challenges

 I can't clearly define the level of uncertainty I was filled up with immediately after the Teach For Uganda's training institute. I might have had the vision to transform lives but not the required resilience to work in the deep end of a local setting.  I was depressed, confused and totally discouraged upon checking my school of placement.

I bore the dusty and terrible roads but the long distance broke me. In the taxi, I convinced myself that I would handle this come what. The last thread of hope I had tore on seeing my designated accommodation – a noisy crowded area void of privacy and serenity, the two things desired by all, more so teachers. I second guessed my choice for embarking on the fellowship journey. I questioned why I was even here of all the places I could be, the thoughts of tailoring a resignation crossed my mind several times. The poor network reception for both voice and internet compounded my worries. I wondered if it was a calling for a different type of people other than myself. I felt totally lost to a cause I thought I knew.

“There's nothing fulfilling like helping young souls discover their purpose and direction in life”

A few days down the road, desspite the challenges, I witnessed groups of children come with smiles wide as the moon, some carrying mangoes and premature avocados, giving it to me with indescribable love. The following day they came along with a new friend who had not been to school before and by every week’s end, the class grew big and bigger. Moving within the village humbled me as parents receptively started expressing how great a teacher I was to their children, confessing how their children woke up every day with great excitement to rush to school because of a one madam Atto.

The children, little by little, were consuming my soul and consequently got me to stay. Oftentimes as I laid my head to rest, I’d be struck with ideas and before I know it, I’d be up designing a chart for them to learn from the following day.  I hated the noise amidst the crowded school environment but I lately can't tell why I get so lonely and bored when the pupils are off for the weekend and no one is making noise. I had never taught before but every brand-new day made me a great teacher. Imagine the joy of a child telling you how s/he can now ably write her/his name on their own, read A-C or even to G because they learnt it from you – very fulfilling, isn’t it? When I take my occasional evening walk in the village, the thought that I may not return to my residence sits heavy on my forehead, every parent you meet wants you to visit them, at least take a glass of water or have a conversation about their child's education. They’ve become cognizant of the future they want for their children, a wave of breath to a definite future.

What more can I add to this? It’s not the feeling of being stuck that lingers now, it’s the joy of service to my country for a generation to come, the feeling of an overwhelming love for these children.  There's nothing fulfilling like helping young souls discover their purpose and direction in life.


Sheila Atto

Teach for Uganda Fellow

Cohort 5 

Nabuganyi R/C Primary School

Kayunga District.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/ShiellaAtto

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