Celebrating Society’s Unsung Heroes and Heroines

{jcomments on}Walking through the streets of Yaounde, there is a unique spectacle. Men and women all clad in beautiful Cicam African wears of various styles in commemoration of Teachers’ Day.

5th October each year means different things to different people. But to a segment of a country’s productive force, it is a very special day for them. A day set aside to honor them. Never mind that many Cameroonian teachers follow the footsteps of Baruch. It is after all their day.

A teacher means different things to different people. For some, it is that someone who isalways with a cane, a ‘mulongo’ ready to thrash theliving daylights out of them if they misbehave. To others, especially girls, it is that someone who fails them constantly

because they refused to trade marks for sexual favours. Yet still for others, it is someone who mystifies education.

To the vast majority of individuals  however, teachers are those who sacrifice a life of opulence so that they could impart knowledge and groom billionaires, statesmen, doctors, engineers, nurses, writers, technicians, accountants you name it.

They are the ones through whom everyone today owe their efficiency in life. Be they professional trained teachers or those parents, aunties or uncles who took it upon themselves to impart knowledge, they are the greatest of mankind’s professionals and yet, they have remained among the least appreciated, the unsung heroes and sheroes heroines of our generation.

There are those who have remained passionate and dedicated to their jobs no matter how many years they have been in the classroom with sometimes rowdy children. Not too long ago, I chatted with Ms Natalie Cabinda, a veteran teacher with more than 20 years experience. She told me she was in school a whole 1 hour ahead of her first class, waiting to assist any struggling student before classes start. (Check out her website here…  www.regrouprefocusrebuild.com). I was like wow talk about dedication, passion and commitment! They really don’t make such anymore. These are the kind of people who truly have that calling to be teachers. Those who make teaching a truly noble profession.

Unfortunately, the nobility of this most noble profession is being threatened by charlatans. Those who are there not because they have the desire to impact knowledge but simply because they see it as a means to an end. Under qualified and less passionate teachers are more and more invading our classrooms, making the real dedicated ones stand out like relics.

The relics are those I choose to celebrate today. From my primary school teacher who was the first to instill a love of school and learning in me, to those other teachers who have added building blocks over the years, moulding me to the person I am today.  And others like my literature and history teachers who saw more than my sickly self and encouraged me in more ways than one. It is because of them that I could today perfect my skill in writing. A skill inherited from my very first teachers my dad and of course my mum. The list is quite long. One way or the other, there is no iota of doubt that these dedicated relics impacted my life and contributed greatly to who I am today.

Teachers still struggle under the burden of peanut pay for all their labours of love in imparting knowledge and direction without which, human society could probably be a mass of chaos. Nevertheless, they are truly rich. In choosing serve to humanity over material gain, they remain the epitome of what true nobility is.

Join me in celebrating the teachers who impacted your life and those who continue to impact the lives of millions worldwide.

Please drop a comment and share your stories about your teachers.

ARREY E. AGBOR-NDAKAW.

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