Passion they say can take you to greater heights. As for Dr. Rachel Butiko, her journey to a successful career started at a young age, and for 60 years, she has relentlessly followed her dream.
Dr Butiko, an English teacher at the Hodges Bend Middle School in the US is a celebrated educator who was recognised for her contribution to the school.
She recently told a local TV station that her dream of becoming an English teacher started at an early age and was nurtured by people around her.
Houston Life TV crew surprised her in the middle of a class and gifted for exemplary work.
Dr Butiko recalled that as a young girl, she would be paid with a banana to read love letters from husbands to their wives in the village.
"At the time, most men moved from the villages to go to work in the cities. So, they would write letters to their wives who can't read. So once in a while a woman would be like, 'hey, come, I’ll give you a banana, read this for me.’ My pay was a banana," the teacher reminisced.
She described the time after independence in 1963 when most women were not educated and relied on her to translate letters sent back.
"At that early age, I decided I want to be a teacher and not just teach science, chemistry, what? No. I wanted to teach people how to read and write. It makes me complete," Dr. Butiko revealed.
Dr Butiko started as a teacher in Kenya before migrating to the US where she has been working for 15 years.
Her move to the US was however not seamless, Dr Butiko had to relearn being a teacher to a new audience. She was determined to teach literacy in a new country and her efforts have bore fruits.
At her current school, she deals with students who cannot speak English, and the key lesson she teaches them is how to ask for help.
"This is a blessing, but these people (students) make me great," she stated.
The enthusiastic educator explains that her goal is to create a learning environment where all students can take risks, challenge themselves to realise their potential, and be equipped with skills for life.
She graduated from Kenyatta University in Kenya with a Bachelor of Education degree in secondary education, Dominican University with an M.Ed. in Curriculum Instruction (ESL), and Walden University with a doctorate degree in Leadership in Literacy and Reading.
