Hussein Jiva graduated from the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa in 2009 after what he feels was a transformative journey.  

If he is adamant about one thing, it is the notion that having an open mind allows for an individual’s personal and professional growth. The willingness to consider new ideas and listen to people whose thoughts may be different from one’s own allows one to embrace new possibilities to solve societal problems.

Originally a resident of Mombasa, Hussein says it was his time at the Academy that forced him to examine his old thinking and rewrite a new chapter in his life.  

“I remain a proud alumnus of the Aga Khan Academy Mombasa,” he states unwaveringly. “Given that the institution has had a huge impact in shaping my formative years.” Convinced that the Academy’s International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum played a key role in his growth and personal development, he postulates it is the rigor of the curriculum that made him the person he is today. 

“The IB curriculum education provided me with a well-rounded experience, anchored by values such as diversity, ethics, pluralism, leadership and open mindedness. On a social and cultural front, the pluralistic approach to education embraced by the Academy provided a strong foundation for me to build upon. It helped me in my journey to greater cultural understanding and tolerance, as I grew to appreciate differences in people from various backgrounds.” 

Hussein has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Communication Studies, with a focus on Digital Media at the United States International University–Africa in Nairobi. 

Ruminating about his years at the Academy, Hussein recently spoke about how the Academy places enormous importance on its public service curriculum requisite. He feels this requirement gives students a higher purpose in life a belief that they can make a difference in the communities in which the live. Hussein’s cosmopolitan citizen-of-the-world way of thinking was borne out of this requisite. 

“I recall participating in creativity, activity, service projects, one of the prerequisites to graduate from the Academy. On the surface, the concept is but a mere requirement. However, the esoteric essence of the practice provides for the development of a well-rounded individual who would ultimately contribute to the betterment of society beyond the academic sphere.” 

As a journalist, Hussein has covered various local and international events including the Cannes International Film Festival from 2013 to 2016, the International Indian Film Academy Awards in 2017 and 2018 and the ICC Cricket World Cup in 2015 and ICC World T20 2016. He has also reported on momentous occasions such as Pope Francis’s visit to Kenya in 2015 and the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit also to Kenya in 2016. 

In addition, for almost eight years, Hussein worked at The Asian Weekly, a publication based in Nairobi with an East African circulation. He contributed to the Weekly as a Writer, Photographer and Sub-Editor. He later led the Sports Desk, and covering sports remains his passion.

“Sports commentary has been my area of interest, with football dominating my preferences. As such, I have written on both local and international sports, for media outlets beyond Kenya. My work has been published on portals in Nigeria, the United States and the United Kingdom. I have also been on a local television football show as a guest commentator.” 

Asked what he would like to see happen in societies to make them more stable and better functioning, Hussien stated, 

“Let us become instruments of change and alter the realities we face; let not challenges be viewed as obstacles to success but stepping stones toward it. After all, when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will ultimately change.”

Throughout the course of her teaching journey, Adilia Cabral has valued the importance of inclusivity in creating an engaging and fruitful environment in the classroom. She shares details of her evolution during her time at Aga Khan Academy Maputo. 

For the Aga Khan Academy Maputo teacher, Adilia Denise Aly Guedes Evaristo Cabral, mutual trust between teachers and students, as well as between students themselves, is of paramount importance for a thriving classroom. It is a crucial factor for any successful learning experience. And how does Adilia ensure this flourishing environment persists in her classroom in Maputo, Mozambique? By supporting students and ensuring they support and respect each other.  

“I teach with love because I want to gain the trust and friendship of students. I am always available to listen to them and I want them to feel comfortable sharing their problems with me. I always try to look students in the eye and read their body language, because that's what dictates how I should react with a particular student that day,” she says, adding, “I also make sure there is a spirit of cooperation between students in the classroom.”

Listening to Adilia and the details of her background, education and experience, one feels she chose the perfect career for herself.

“When I was a young student in school, one of my aunts, who was an educator herself, told me that I should follow the teaching profession because she saw I had a passion for that calling. I am glad I listened to her. I love to teach and want to inspire and empower my students to excel in whatever they choose to do.”

Adilia was born in Mozambique in the province of Beira. She has a degree in French teaching from the Pedagogical University in Maputo, Mozambique. After graduating in 2004, she taught in private schools around the cities of Maputo and Matola. She joined the Academy in 2017 where she teaches French Language Acquisition and Portuguese Language and Literature. 

The Academy’s International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum is interwoven with the rich Aga Khan Curricular Strands of ethics, pluralism, economics for development, cultures, governance and civil society. These play a vital role in Adilia’s instruction as she incorporates them in her lessons.

“One way to ensure that in a pluralistic environment there is no discrimination or bullying is to make students respect each other regardless of colour, race or background. This is an aspect that is always reinforced within the Academy through the Aga Khan Academies' Learner Profile, in the classrooms and the way our units are designed.”

Making certain students respect each other and work together is important to Adilia. But so is independent learning. As she explains, “During my class, I prioritise teamwork, group work and peer work as well. All students must respect each other regardless of disagreements. As for training small leaders, the activities are designed so that each student takes action in the units. I always give students opportunities to become independent and look for solutions to overcome problems and obstacles. In my classes, each student contributes to the success of the group.”

Joining the Academy has been a transformative journey for Adilia. It has helped her in her personal and professional growth and has made it possible for her to become a more effective educator. 

“The Academy has made me a better instructor by giving me feedback on my teaching,” she states and adds, “also, the institution offers ongoing training courses to make teachers more effective and more successful.”

Reflecting on her time at the institution, Adilia says a day that was especially rewarding and memorable for her was the day she graduated from the Academy’s Teachers Preparation Programme (TPP).

“I felt special,” she recounts with pride. “I felt recognised for what I was doing and it made me aware of how important the training was and how important the teaching profession was. The Academy was placing great trust in me. And I had to work hard for not only for myself, but for my students and for my country. That day was the beginning and not the end of a long journey.”

To state that Idah Khan O’Neill, a Primary Years Programme (PYP) Teacher Coach, at the Aga Khan Academy in Maputo, Mozambique has had a flourishing international career as an educator and teacher coach is an understatement. Originally from Singapore, Idah’s latest educator engagement was at the International School of Billund in Denmark where she taught and also coordinated professional teacher development. She was also a PYP Coordinator.

Always an innovator, Idah and a colleague at the school incorporated playful learning in the school’s rigorous International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum in their Primary 2 classrooms. According to the school’s newsletter, this pioneering method created “a rich environment where playful learning flourished in the school’s IB Curriculum.”

Reflecting back on a play unit in her classroom on family finances, Idah said what made it such a successful unit was that the children were not only learning curricular concepts and skills but were also deeply engaged in the process and were motivated to learn more. She added, “I think inquiry is most powerful when it is current and instant. So, when kids have an idea and you are feeling that idea, you cannot quite wait for next week for it to happen. You have got to give it your all for it to really take hold.”

Idah’s involvement as an educator started in Singapore where she was a Montessori school teacher for a number of years before moving to Jakarta, Indonesia where she opened a Montessori school. Having run the school for four years, Idah decided to move back to Singapore to work at the German European School as a Kindergarten teacher. Here she was assigned the role of PYP Coordinator for Kindergarten and was part of a guided management and teaching team.

Armed with a Bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Studies from the University of Monash in Australia and an advanced diploma in Montessori Education, Idah is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Education at the online University of the People.

Highly self-motivated, Idah is fluent in English, Malay and Bahasa Indonesia. Additionally, she has good conversational proficiency in Mandarin and Danish. Now that she is in Mozambique, Idah says she is looking forward to learning Portuguese.

She relishes the IB programme and cherishes its effectiveness. She is a member of the International Baccalaureate Educator Network, a PYP School Visiting Team Member, PYP Curriculum Connections Service Provider, a PYP Curriculum Reviewer, and a PYP Workshop Leader. 

Her volunteer work reflects her compassion and her caring for others. She was a volunteer teacher in Sumatra, Indonesia, and the United Kingdom. She also travelled to rural India looking at water conservation projects under the Aga Khan Foundation and developed a Unit of Inquiry On Water Use in the Aga Khan Academies and also in local schools.

Idah feels that with her new appointment at the Academy, she is getting closer to attaining her “reason for being” or her Ikigai. Ikigai, she explains, is a Japanese concept that is usually used to indicate the purpose in one's life or the things that make one's life worthwhile. She states that she would very much like to be part of His Highness the Aga Khan’s vision of the Academies, who on June 2004 said in Mozambique, “above all, it is my hope that these schools will stimulate creativity, intellectual curiosity and honest inquiry so that their students can adapt and thrive in a world of rapid change; can make informed judgments on life’s daily challenges, and place those judgments in an ethical framework.”

She feels she is very fortunate to be given this opportunity. “It is my mission, in my capacity as a Teacher Coach, to be able to help realize this goal through play and creativity with regards to the way we teach and learn.”