Tegitu's story: Mark's Sparks
Updated: Aug 30, 2021
Our world will prosper as more and more children go to school and have the opportunity to learn.
That's because education opens doors and changes lives.
Tegitu experienced the joy of education early as a child, and she dreamed of one day becoming a teacher in order to give back.
After attending primary and secondary school, she was excited to continue into grades 11 and 12.
But she couldn’t.
In Ethiopia, most women and men do not attend university and instead enter the workforce.
Bright young women like Tegitu have incredible potential and it’s frustrating to hear stories of wasted potential.
Luckily, Legatum’s Luminos Fund has had great success recruiting and training local young adults with at least a 10th grade education to serve as teachers in our Second Chance classrooms across Africa.
In a Luminos classroom in the Sidama region of southern Ethiopia, Tegitu was able to find her own second chance to pursue her love for education and became a Luminos teacher four years ago.
Tegitu and many incredible women like her are integral to Legatum’s mission of providing transformative education programs to thousands of out-of-school children.
In fact, the Luminos ‘Second Chance’ teachers have made it possible for us to reach 152,051 children with joyful, quality learning.
Better still, 49% of our students in Ethiopia are girls this year.
And last year when classrooms were closed from COVID, inspirational women like Tegitu taught micro-classes comprised of five students outdoors.
Education is a critical way to counter structural marginalisation in countries like Ethiopia.
If girls have a good education, they can stand up for themselves and lead successful lives.
I’m so proud to have inspiring, empathetic teachers like Tegitu in our Luminos Second Chance classrooms.
Their tireless efforts transform the lives of some of the most vulnerable children around the world, unlocking the light of learning to create the conditions that allow them to flourish once again – giving them bigger, broader, happier lives.