TEACH Ambassador Profile: Nwabisa Magopeni (21)

Nwabisa was born and raised and Cape Town and became a TEACH Ambassador in January 2010. She teaches English to Grade 9, 10 and 11 students at Siphamandla Senior Secondary School, an experience she says has been life-changing.

Nwabisa became a TEACH Ambassador because she wanted to use the opportunities she has been given to equip others less fortunate than she is to become the best that they can be.

“There are many challenges and a lot still needs to be done, but giving up is not an option,” says Nwabisa. She is determined to focus and work hard at achieving her goals and see an increase in learner achievement.

Her advice to other TEACH Ambassadors is to “Do things that are within your power” and not to overexert themselves and burn out. She says she has remained focused on the positive changes she has witnessed within the English department at her school.

In addition to her service in education, Nwabisa also has plans for Mandela Day on July 18. “I will visit a local hospital with my church and hand out items we have been collecting for sick and poor kids.”

However, Nwabisa says she will not stop there. She will continue to interact with local communities and find other ways in which she can give back to honour the legacy of Nelson Mandela.

The legacy she would like to leave behind is a changed attitude toward education in the teachers and learners in her school. She says that the creation of “atmospheres and environments that are conducive to learning will increase teacher morale at a basic level.”

Nwabisa chaperoned learners from the Western Cape to the enke Youth Forum at the African Leadership Academy in Honeydew, Johannesburg, held from July 4 - 10.