The anonymous teacher in Mozambique
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Schoolchildren and their teacher in Mozambique
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This is the real magician.
It can only be considered magic that
a human being
With little or no training
With little support or professional guidance
Who lives in a thatched hut, badly ventilated and scarcely illuminated
With no shops close by, and water miles away
At five or ten kilometres from school, that she or he will have
to walk
Two times a day (in the morning and the afternoon)
Who receives a salary just enough to buy a week's food, how many
times paid late
And that doesn't even buy clothes or furniture
… Is able to make a child …
Who walked five to ten kilometres to get to
school
After a night sleeping on a ragged mat
In a hut with many cracks and roaming cold
Not having eaten much
After having had to complete diverse domestic chores
… Learn to read, write and count
…
In the shadow of a tree
Sitting on the ground
In groups of 70 children
With no chalk or didactic means
With no books or notebooks
With no pens or pencils.
It's magic, for the esoteric; a miracle,
for the religious. Heroism, for the people and for each child
who, from that nothing, acquires knowledge and develops skills.
These are the anonymous heroes of
each nation. They are not heroes of war. Their only weapons are
a tremendous love for children and a tenacious desire to contribute
to a better world. They are the heroes of peace.
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(From UNICEF country office Mozambique)
Translated from the original Portuguese
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