Beatrice is still spunky after 12 years in the classroom. Teaching has not been an easy journey for her–it’s not a glamorous job to begin with, she has worked long hours with little pay, suffered verbal abuse from her Head Teacher, been discouraged by her family and friends–she has had to endure and something inside of her keeps her going.

Born in Rwanda, she fled to the Congo with her family when she was just a young girl. Tragically, all of her extended family who stayed in Rwanda were killed during the genocide. Even so, Beatrice came back to Rwanda just one year after the war finished because “this is my country.” In Congo, she and her family had been tormented, “All of you Rwandese go back to your country or we will cut your necks!” Somehow a com- pletely war-torn Rwanda seemed like a more friendly place to be.

When Beatrice came back to Rwanda she had just completed her secondary school studies and was hoping to go on to University. However, since it was very difficult to get enough money and no scholarships were available, Beatrice got a job as a teacher. She remembers thinking that she was wasting her time in her first year as a teacher. “While others were counting money, I was spending my time with chalk!” But soon she grew to like her job and she stayed with it up to the time she came to work for Wellspring.

For Beatrice, “teaching is the most important job. Our work is so important because we are developing people, just like Jesus did. There is nothing more significant than invest- ing into people... into the future of a country.”

Click here to find out how you can multiply your impact by supporting a Wellspring Teacher Trainer like Beatrice on a monthly basis.