Former TEA Alum nominated for prestigious award

In 2018, Trust Mutekwa, spent six weeks at Mason as part of a US Department of State and IREX-funded project called Teaching Excellence and Achievement program. Today, we congratulate him on placement within the top 50 finalists of the Global Teacher Prize, a $1 million award sponsored by the Varkey Foundation. Trust works at the St. Giles Special School in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he is a specialist teacher of students with visual impairment. He is being recognized for his innovative methods for teaching computer skills by first teaching the children to play a musical keyboard instrument called the Mbira. Trust, presents his approach at workshops and conferences for teachers and as well as on tv and radio.

A proponent of arts integration within learning, Trust has taught the children to play a variety of instruments and to perform in arts festivals, competitions, and commemorative events. When his students entered high school and the opportunities to perform dwindled, Trust established an annual arts festival to encourage children with disabilities to participate in a manner of their choosing. After running The Special Schools Arts Festival for three years, the event evolved in the national Disability Expo, and Trust is a member of the organizing committee.

Trust has now expanded his teaching and projects to include green solutions to everyday challenges. During his time as a TEA Fellow at George Mason University, Trust toured Mason’s hydroponic greenhouse and acquired an understanding of the potential of hydroponic approaches. He shared, “The garden experience that day went on to inspire a tree-planting project with all students at my school when I returned home. The tree-planting project opened doors for more networks in my work. I was identified for a capacity building program on SDG 11 with Lund University in 2019. The same earned me a Swedish Institute scholarship to attend the 2019 Nobel Prize Teacher Summit in Stockholm as one of the teachers addressing Climate Change issues in their work. We are a year into the Tree Planting Project, and the nursery has young avocado, mango, and lemon plants. We are selling these for those who are developing backyard orchards. So far, we have raised enough to kick-start activity in Beading Crafts- one of our several Arts Clubs at the school.”

We would like to congratulate Trust on his placement within this prestigious competition and to recognize his inspirational efforts to improve educational opportunities for children with disabilities. Trust is now competing for a top ten placement with the Global Teacher Prize. We wish him well and hope he receives this much-deserved recognition.