My 1 Million Teachers Journey - Mouline Otieno
A colleague Principal forwarded me a piece to read about 1 Million Teachers and in the piece was Ostin Oduor's number. Her main reason was that at the school I work in we look for sponsors for our learners, and she expected me to talk to Ostin, the first Kenyan Coordinator, about sponsorship of a girl at Mara Girls Leadership School.
When I contacted Ostin, he gave me a brief about 1 Million Teachers, added me to the Kenyan WhatsApp group, and on the same day my dashboard got activated. My first course was Girl Rising, this was because I am in a girls' school and needed to know what content it had and if it would be beneficial to my learners.
Immediately after I completed that, I went to the first belt and one belt led to another non-stop. Many times I would sleep at 4 am just for a few hours and wake up to continue. I remember we were ending the term, meaning I had a two-week break. I doubled down and used my two-week break to complete all the belts. I kept learning and within two weeks, I qualified as a Blackbelt. I also completed the HP Mentorship course.
Within a short period, I was a Mentee and graduated as one in June 2022 while still waiting for the Blackbelt graduation (which was held in December 2022). There were only two Mentees from Kenya during that period. It was a great honor to be in the first cohort of Blackbelts graduating in Kenya. This also put me among the first mentors to graduate in the country.
Being a 1 Million Teachers alumni in 2023 when our humble CEO, Hakeem visited Kenya, I was among the team that received him. I learned a lot from his visit to Kenya, resilience, commitment, humility, and passion for work among others. During the second cohort graduation, I got invited by our dear and hardworking Kenyan Coordinator, Harriet Sarjeto, to give an insight into 1 Million Teachers and HP Mentorship to the graduates.
The 1 million teachers program gives teachers a great learning platform, assists us in leadership, and has made so many breakthroughs in job interviews. It is a journey or a learning process that builds confidence because the materials are of great benefit.
