Staff Stories

Fred, a Save the Children staff member, guides Dorothy on how to write a letter.

“With my training as a teacher, I’m able to advise teachers how to make learning fun for kids. Together, we’re always looking for exciting new ways make sure children are participating and engaged in learning.”

Meet Fred

A year ago, Fred’s passion for helping children led him to join our sponsorship team in Uganda. If you were to ask Fred what his favorite part of his job is, he’d tell you it’s helping girls and boys write letters to their sponsors. What’s even better? Helping children read their sponsors’ replies.

“When I deliver the letters, I encourage the children to read out loud and help them if a word is new to them,” Fred says. “As a trained teacher himself, Fred knows that exchanging letters is an amazing opportunity for sponsored kids to improve their reading and writing skills beyond the classroom.

Teacher Mira stands in front of a class teaching in Nepal.

"Through teacher training sessions, I’ve come to see that educators play such an important role in shaping children's futures. Young learners depend on so many things, but one of the biggest factors is how teachers engage students in their lessons,” Mira says.

Meet Mira

According to Mira, when sponsored programs were introduced at the primary school in Nepal where she teaches, it made a huge difference for students and teachers alike.

During sponsored training sessions, Mira learned about new teaching approaches for topics like early reading, child-friendly learning strategies and first-aid treatment.

When Mira began practicing the strategies she learned in her training sessions, she noticed that more and more children were eager to come to school and learn. “I became more knowledgeable about my role with each training,” says Mira. “I learned something new every time, which helped me reach more students.”

Smiling portrait of Naquihe, a teacher in Mozambique.

“I may be the teacher, but I also like to learn with the students,” says Naquihe. “That’s why before the lessons, I ask the children to tell a story and sometimes I learn about new things going on around them. This helps me get to know what’s happening in the community where they live.”

Meet Naquihe

As a child, when Naquihe played school with his siblings, he always wanted to be the teacher. When he grew up, his dream came true, he’s been teaching in Mozambique for nearly 10 years.

When Naquihe joined the Save the Children team, he participated in Literacy Boost trainings and now helps create reading camps and child friendly learning spaces, where young readers and writers can gather to boost their skills.

Today, as principal of the school in Nakapa where he teaches, Naquihe is one of the most active educators in the community. He devotes much of his time to building clean water sources and mobilizing community members to pitch in to build new classrooms.

4-year-olds Julisa, left, and Valentina, center, embrace Save the Children staff member Victoria Zeger during a reading club for kindergarden students in the Sonsonate region of El Salvador.. Photo Credit: Save the Children, July 2018

“When I’m able to form a bond with a sponsored child, it allows me to capture authentic moments, raw emotion and impactful stories that I can then share with our sponsors,” says Victoria.

Meet Victoria

When Victoria says, “seeing is believing,” she means it. Her job is to travel to places where sponsored girls and boys live to tell their stories through the lens of her camera. Whether she’s visiting a kindergarten classroom in El Salvador or a refugee camp in Egypt, she says it’s a privilege to see up close the life-changing difference sponsorship is making for the world’s most vulnerable children.

“I feel incredibly honored to help be the voice of children by sharing both their struggles and triumphs within our programs,” explains Victoria. “As a sponsor myself, I know how important it is to see the impact being made in that child’s life.”

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