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Take Me to Your Leader: Tesfay Hagos
With thick Harry Potter-esque glasses constantly sliding down his nose and a shy disposition Tesfay Hagos is a teacher that’s been there. After 19 years at the front of a classroom – three of which have been in the “dass” open-air classroom at Laelay Wukro – Mr. Hagos knows what it takes for students to truly succeed and for teachers to help them achieve their dreams.
We caught up with Mr. Hagos a few days ago when we visited Laelay Wukro to check in on the construction progress of their new imagine1day Grade 1-4 School.
i1d: What are some of the biggest challenges you face on a daily basis, Mr. Hagos?
TH: One of the things is simply a lack of resources. Everything I have to teach these children with fits in my head or in my carry bag. I teach each day under the sun or in the rain and I give the students my best. I expect their best but I have a hard time understanding truly what their best is when they are uncomfortable and are distracted by their environment.
i1d: What inspires you to continue teaching under such difficult conditions?
TH: I am proud to be a teacher and no matter what type of conditions I could be put in I would not give this up. I hope to not leave Laelay Wukro – I was born and raised here and it is the dream of raising my little brothers and little sisters in this community that inspires me to continue on.
i1d: What are creative solutions you employ to overcome the challenges your teaching environment presents?
TH: I have no extra resources for material things to help the students. But I was raised by parents with strong morals and values and I do my best to pass these along to my students. School is not just about learning to read and write – it is about learning to be a good person and how to treat other people well. I know that I understand that so I do everything I can to share it with my students.
i1d: What aspect of the new school do you think will have the greatest impact on yourself as well as your students?
TH: Because of the limited supporting resources in our [“dass” open-air] school I only teach orally. I am looking forward to being able to teach the students about something and then engage them with other things like drawings, charts, pictures, books…there are so many things that will help. I am also very excited about the different teacher capacity building exercises I will get to participate in. I know that I am doing well as a teacher but I know I can also be better. I am teaching from everything I have learned up until today but there’s so much I still don’t know. I hope that these training courses will teach me that.
As for the students, I am looking forward to having their full attention. No longer with their discomfort from their environment take their attention from me and their studies. I am happy that they will also simply experience the change. They will understand the before and after and will see a change in themselves.
Mr. Hagos is just one of countless remarkable, talented teachers that imagine1day works alongside. To learn more about how we develop Quality Classrooms in all of our schools through capacity building and teacher training, and to read about some extraordinary things teachers are doing in their classrooms visit http://www.imagine1day.org/hintalo-update.htm#hintalo-january-2010.
