Barbra Kowa

This week I was lucky enough to meet up with Barbra to talk about the work that she does at Kawama School. Barbra is the Senior Teacher, and has ambitions to be a headteacher herself in the future. As senior teacher, Barbra works closely with Mary, the headteacher. Barbra explained to me that as part of her role, she monitors the teachers’ planning books and monitors lessons which she enjoys doing. When Mary isn’t in school, the teachers are happy to talk to Barbra about any issues, knowing that she is always willing to help them. 

Barbra has always lived in the area, being born in Chimwemwe, the next village to Kawama. Like many of our teachers, living in the community means that she understands the many challenges that many people face, and which impacts on the children in class. However, Barbra knows that value of education and makes sure that the children learn to work hard and learn as much as they can while they are at school.

Barbra has not always been a teacher. At one time she started selling second hand clothes. However, her heart has always been in teaching and so she quickly returned to the job she loves. Barbra explained that she started working in a private school, where she learned a lot, but in 2012 moved to Kawama so that she could work with children who were more vulnerable. Barbra said that she particularly enjoys teaching younger children so that she can help to ‘lay foundations in their lives.’

Recently Barbra attended a workshop run by the government on how to incorporate moral, spiritual and health teaching into every lesson. This has inspired her to make sure that as well as teaching the academic subjects, the children are learning how to behave and make good decisions in their lives. Barbra is a role model for the children as she continues to study. She has already completed her Diploma in early Childhood and is panning on taking her ‘O’ level maths next year, as this has recently become a compulsory qualification for all teachers.

As Barbra lives with her sister who has four children, she is always busy but in her spare time she loves to read. Barbra told me that she likes to read Christian books rather than novels and that her favourite author is Benny Hinn.

Barbra is always very busy in school, so I really appreciated her spending time with me talking about her interesting life.