There Was a Hunger to Learn

“I was encouraged to see our little school, three months old, being ‘transformational’,” said Tammy Peters, one of TeachBeyond’s teacher-trainers working in Africa. “They are sharing God's light and making a contribution to the needy educational communities right around the corner from them.”

FATEB Kinshasa Academy in the Democratic Republic of Congo recently was the site of a workshop involving its staff as well as teachers and administrators from two neighboring schools. Tammy and Christy Ware, her partner teacher-trainer, led two sessions: what is a worldview and how our worldview affects our teaching methods.

There were 14 teachers and two administrators from other schools attending the workshop. “They were soaking it in. The spirit was sweet and there was a hunger to learn,” Tammy said. “Christy did a great job! Her fun, informative, positive way of engaging with the teachers of other cultures enabled very good interaction, good questions, and was welcome by all.  Our only regret was that it was too short. They didn't want to stop.”

“The time spent observing the FKA teachers at work was encouraging,” Tammy continued. “The progress they are making is very good. They are catching on, showing deeper understanding, and changing some of their old patterns.”

Tammy noted that Heritier Fima Matondo, director of FKA, is also growing. “We saw him lead with humility, reflection and gentleness; but he can also put his foot down when needed,” Tammy said. “He is managing the property and the school staff very well and is starting to connect with the community around the school.”

FKA started with kindergarten this year, and plans to add first grade next fall.