Inspire Children’s Academy
By Mubita C. Nawa
My eight year stay in the USA was very enlightening. My best moments came during the times I spent talking to children. The first time I stood in front of American children to speak, I was frightened by their audacity and ability to express their feelings. Americans are trained from a young age not to be afraid.
I would stand in class and they would say, “You speak funny.” After introducing myself, they would say “Mu…what?” In the beginning it was a struggle. Through persistence and determination, I won them over. When Americans love and trust you, then it is done.
I worked as a motivator for Clay Academy a school founded by Bishop T D Jakes. My job would mean going to the school every Wednesday morning and speaking to the children. I would answer their academic needs and also their spiritual needs. I was also a Sunday school teacher at The Potters House Church which has a membership of over 30,000 members. Eventually, Bishop Jakes took note of my passion for children and promoted me to be the Educational Coordinator at the entire Potters House and Clay Academy.
When my wife and I came back to Zambia after years in the USA, it was only natural that one of our businesses would be a school. But we did not just want another school. So I decided that our school was going to be called Inspire Children’s Academy- a Leadership School for Children. We started the school in January of 2009 with only six children. The beginning was hard. But slowly parents began to hear about the developments in their children’s lives.
Today, our school has all the grades from two years to grade seven. My wife and I are the directors. But we have a full complement of staff. We have hired competent people from drivers and gardeners to teachers and also consultants. We even have a teacher of French and are looking to hire a few more teachers this month as the school has grown.
So what is so special about Inspire Children’s Academy? We teach leadership. We teach children how to know their destiny in life. We ask them to memories a leadership pledge which they recite three or four times a day. We also equip children with debate and writing skills. Communication determines success. So we believe children must speak confidently. As a man who earns his living from effective use of words, I know I am the right candidate for this.
Often times children go to school get a degree but fail to even find their purpose and mission in life. Our aim as a school is to develop children and to motivate them and help them realize their potential. Our mission statement is very simple: “To Introduce Children to leadership concepts at an early age while at the same time bringing education and fun to their lives.”
Let me tell you about a few children at our school. There are many children who attend our school but I will talk about a few. There is a young man by the name of MJ. MJ will always be remembered as the child who cried the most. When he came to our school he had barely turned 2. Today he is nearly three. He loves to attend school. He enjoys being on our school bus. He also loves our warm meals that we serve daily. Another student is Praise. Praise is from Malawi. When her parents brought her to Inspire, she hardly spoke English to us. She spoke to us in deep Chewa. Praise is always punctual and almost always the first to arrive. Today praise is a glowing light of confidence.
I can’t end without speaking about the America twins Lila and Lela at our school. When we heard that Americans would be attending our school we were a little intimidated. But soon we realized that we had what it takes to impress them. We now have a total of four Americans, I Malawian, I Congolese, and many Zambians.
We have wonderful teachers. We have had to let go of a few teachers in line with our pursuit for excellence. But one teacher stands out. He is our first grade teacher. Teacher Darius is loved by our students because of his passion, discipline and commitment to duty. He does not segregate; he simply coaches for academic growth. He is early to arrive at school. But above all, he loves to teach.
We serve warm meals at our school and they are prepared by Chisenga. She is becoming so busy now and I have to hire some more people. But Chisenga cooks great meals. I eat there every Wednesday because that is when I teach debate and writing plus leadership. The children love that class and I can tell you right now I don’t know another school that teachers that class.
Next year we have great plans. We want to start building a school that is bigger than where we are. We are currently situated in Woodlands extension Chalala near where all the three major schools are in Chalala. We are neighbors with two other schools which we do not see as competitors but friends. When you call me or my wife, I will set up an appointment for you to come and see our leadership academy.
May be one day, a child will lead this world from that school that graduates leaders. God bless and see you when you come to Inspire Children’s Academy in Chalala Lusaka. Don’t forget we can even pick you up in one of our buses if you need us to.
INSPIRE CHILDREN’S ACADEMY
PLOT #29561 WOODLANDS EXTENSION CHALALA LUSAKA
TEL- 0978730723/ 0978117920
