Through literacy training in schools and teacher development conferences, Education In Africa (EIA), a ministry of OM, is helping make learning possible and supporting teachers both personally and spiritually.
In rural Africa, many children have little or no access to education. Through literacy training in schools and teacher development conferences, Education In Africa (EIA), a ministry of OM, is helping make learning possible and supporting teachers both personally and spiritually.
Education within reach
How far would you be willing to walk to school? 1km? 3km? In Mkushi, Zambia, the nearest school was 12km away, making it impossible for many children to attend.
In 2015, Anna* and her husband Daniel* moved to the village with their young child to serve the community. However, their child faced the same challenge as many others in the village: the long walk to school. Some of the older children managed it, but it was impossible for the younger children. One night, Anna had a dream where she was teaching many children at the OM base in Mkushi. Inspired by this vision, she shared it with Daniel the next morning.
Together, they decided to act. Anna asked her husband to accompany her to the neighbouring homes, where she requested permission for the children to join her own child for learning sessions at their centre. Initially, they found two children, and, with the parents' consent, they began their learning.
As word spread throughout the village, more children joined, eager to learn. Anna’s dream had become a reality, providing access to education for those who needed it most. Now, for so many young children, school is just a short walk away.
The new school is supported by EIA, which has run literacy training to introduce a new teaching method to the school.
Learning brings joy
Eight-year-old Chimwemwe*, a grade 3 student at a rural school in Malawi, is one student who has benefited from EIA’s training.
Imagine being eight years old and unable to read a single word. You see the others around you reading, and you know you should be able to as well, but the letters just don’t make sense.
That was Chimwemwe’s reality. She was very shy and struggled to even say the letter sounds the teacher was teaching them. She looked at her books with a blank expression. Her teacher, Monica*, was frustrated and sad. Nothing she was doing was helping, and she had tried every method she knew.
Teacher training in Malawi is often rushed and inadequate when it comes to teaching reading and writing. Teachers leave college without the skills or resources to teach reading and writing effectively, particularly if a child struggles. Frustrated, many teachers resort to physical punishment, thinking it must be the child who is being defiant, and many children simply give up, believing they will never learn to read.
When EIA travels to Malawi for teacher training, it helps fill in gaps and lets teachers know they are loved and supported. Monica was excited to hear that an EIA trainer was going to visit her school. Over a few days, the trainer introduced the Jolly Phonics method of teaching reading and writing.
Back in her classroom, Monica changed the way she taught sounds and the students caught on quickly. But Chimwemwe was still quiet and seemed to be struggling to say the sounds. Monica found time to sit with her one-on-one to work through the sounds with her. The moment Chimwemwe correctly read the first sounds, her face lit up! She was no longer the eight-year-old who couldn’t read.
Called to love
Dorothy* had not been teaching long at a school when her husband died. She spun into depression and loneliness, feeling like she was all alone in the world. She continued to go to school and teach the children, even running devotions and prayers with them, but it was all done automatically.
A month after her husband died, she received a call from the school coordinator asking her to attend a conference run by EIA in another town. She would be travelling with a group of teacher trainers who had been helping to run training at her school. At first, she didn’t want to go, but finally agreed. She didn’t know that God had something special for her at the conference.
“The day came when we travelled to the conference. The facilitators started unpacking what they came to teach us. It was at that moment that I realised that God is my comforter and the bread of life. That He was with me – had always been with me. I realised that the same God that I was sharing with my learners was the same God who was taking care of me now, even as I mourned. I thank God that I attended the conference because it changed the way I see things.
“So, I want to now pray for direction and persistence like in Acts 12:5 ("So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him" (NIV)). These are the things we are missing out on as Christian teachers. Mostly, we just focus on the academics and the grades the students are getting, but we forget that each student is an individual we are called to love and bring out the best in.
“But more than that. The love that we share with the children is a love that is there for us in our difficult times too. God has become more real to me in this time.”
*name changed