“Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges..."

“Teachers can change lives with just the right mix of chalk and challenges.”

-Joyce Meyer

Close your eyes and try to picture yourself as a four- or five-year-old. What do you see or remember? While most of the details are blurry, I bet many of you can vividly remember your first teachers, what they looked like, how they treated you, and their names. I can remember all my teachers from Pre-K to 8th grade; high school gets a bit more challenging to remember as there were so many different teachers for each subject, but I think I can recall most of them!

Former U.S. President Bill Clinton told the Global Teacher Prize in 2016, “I still remember my favorite teachers from grade school and high school. I wrote about them in my memoirs; what I learned and the experience and inspiration they provided. That’s how important my teachers were in my life. I’ll never forget them.”

Tuesday was World Teachers’ Day, a day to celebrate teachers all around the globe. This year, the day focused on the support teachers need to fully contribute to the COVID-19 recovery process under the theme “Teachers at the heart of education recovery.” Teachers are some of the world’s heroes over the last 18 months, from pivoting to remote learning, to returning to the classroom, and everything in between. In Zambia, our teachers are thrilled to be back with our students again. Impact Network has almost 200 teachers and is one of the largest employers of teachers in Zambia. To celebrate the week, we asked a few of them why the work they do is important.

“Because we want to make our country better through the knowledge that we impact in our learners.” – Ezekiel Banda

“It’s important because it helps us earn a living, develop our country at large and we are educating our future leaders.” – Solomon Phiri

“I can help my fellow young ones to go to another level and its important because I am able to help others and earn a living.” Delia Mwaza

“I was born into a family of teachers. It’s important because I educate the children and it’s my passion.” Lenia Banda

So whether you are a current teacher, past teacher or teacher anywhere around the world – Happy World Teachers’ Day and thank you for the work you do!

-Katie