The Mt Kenya Times 
Winnie Motsokono – Author Lea’s Secret/ Educator
By: Winnie Motsokono – Author Lea’s Secret/ Educator
Worth Noting:
- To be completely honest, I do not think we put in that much effort at first. My responses were flavoured with defenses like attributing poor performance to environmental factors and cultural dynamics. I was too quick to focus on the socioeconomic angle and cling to it as the reason why my students are failing.
- Also, I added that parents forfeit their parental responsibilities as they spend time in the bush during the grass thatching, berry picking, and salt gathering seasons, and they do not participate in Parents Teachers Association meetings, so that is why our performance was so dismal. It was very easy to hide behind that fact. It was comfortable, and it absolved me of taking responsibility for the poor performance.
When I wrote a letter to the authorities at the Education Central Region office in 2011, asking for redirection to Nata Senior Secondary School, it was not out of love for the village. It was a move geared towards saving my son’s life. I was not prepared to risk my son’s health because he had chronic asthma, and I was certain that the proximity of the BCL mine at Selebi Phikwe would significantly worsen his condition. I was given the option of Mmadinare Senior Secondary School, but I turned it down. So, when I suggested Nata SSS, it was like I was a solution to the officers’ prayers; the truck to ferry me to my new place of abode arrived within two days of submitting my proposal.
Due to technical issues with the Botswana Power Corporation power lines, we lost the perishable food in our refrigerators during the three-day power outage that preceded our move to Nata Village in July 2011. The harsh reality set in, and when my son tried to take responsibility for our misfortune, I reassured him that God had a purpose for bringing us to Nata.
I got to meet the staff and students. To be honest, our students are the best in the whole country; they might be from the village, but character-wise, they have strong morals, are humble, and are able to endure challenging circumstances without complaining. There are days when there is a prolonged lack of water in the school, but our students are able to handle these situations with a level of tolerance that far exceeds anything I have ever seen anywhere in the world. For that, they have earned my respect. Only someone who had experience working here would be able to appreciate how severely the odds were against them.
To be completely honest, I do not think we put in that much effort at first. My responses were flavoured with defenses like attributing poor performance to environmental factors and cultural dynamics. I was too quick to focus on the socioeconomic angle and cling to it as the reason why my students are failing.
Also, I added that parents forfeit their parental responsibilities as they spend time in the bush during the grass thatching, berry picking, and salt gathering seasons, and they do not participate in Parents Teachers Association meetings, so that is why our performance was so dismal. It was very easy to hide behind that fact. It was comfortable, and it absolved me of taking responsibility for the poor performance.
However, I grew to love the students in this school. I saw the lack in their souls, not their physical lack, because that one can be rectified quickly with food, toiletries, clothing, or money. I came to see the silent pain in their actions; I came to decipher the silent songs in their hearts and connect with the yearning in their subconscious. I came to appreciate the silent battles they are facing in their lives and made a silent vow in my heart that I would be a beacon of hope in their lives.
Some of them need a mother figure that they can look up to; they need more than academic education. They need someone to model admirable attributes; they need to know what it means to be progressive. So, in my own little space, inside my haven—my classrooms—on top of the curriculum delivery, I find time to show them that they are bundles of opportunities. I model what it means to display ethical conduct, and I model what it means to dress appropriately. I model what it means to use excellent speech because words can build, and they can also destroy. It is a conscious and deliberate action because I know that accolades aside and academic achievement aside, character education is the best legacy we can bestow on our children.
Teaching in Nata SSS has been a divine assignment from God; the wins, the failures, and the defeats are all a tapestry of a bigger calling. I have learned the power of resilience by observing my students. Their smiles every morning, their enthusiasm, and their zeal to change their lives give me the drive to be a better person, for them and for other students that are going to pass through my hands.
Our fortune has been turning since 2021; we moved from the most embarrassing position in the country to the most admirable one. That goes to show that the reasons I used to use when justifying poor performance were invalid. These kids showed me that they are just like students from environments littered with all kinds of amenities. Their pleasant disposition in the face of trials gives us the drive to up our games.
We were blessed to be one of the schools to be connected to the internet, and all our students were given laptops. The move to digitalization is a move that is going to enhance our performance, refine our processes, and bring our students closer to the world they have long aspired to be closer to. All avenues for advancement are now at the tips of their fingers. The joy when they cradled the devices for the first time was a sight to behold.
Nata SSS has been a learning experience for me. I have been teaching since 1996, but the indomitable spirit I saw in my students is incomparable. They are far from developments, but they have proven beyond doubt that it is not about the environment one grew up in but about the fire burning inside. I believe they have realised that what Maya Angelou said in her beautiful quote is very truthful and is about life; she said, “You may not control all the events that happen to you. But you can decide not to be reduced by them.”
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