Getting to know our staff – Interview with Marie-Louise Nkwaya
When I visited Kangirsuk in September 2022, I was told I absolutely had to meet Marie-Louise Nkwaya. She is a high school math and science teacher (French sector) and the recipient of the Evie Ikidluak Award for her 11 years of service.
And just when I thought I had found the perfect time to meet her, Marie-Louise was very busy…in the kitchen!
“That busy? It was just sushi. It’s less than when I would prepare 3 different meals. Yes, sometimes I would have to prepare 3 different meals. […] I try to make as many meals as possible so that when people from the village come, each has what to eat.”
Food for the soul and nurturing motivation
Coming from a big family, Marie-Louise is used to big meals and being well taken care of. Cooking is obviously a passion of hers. Without saying it openly, I would say that this passion is a good metaphor of her vision for education.
“My grandmother used to say, “when the belly is full, we only say good things” – Marie-Louis Nkwaya, high school math and science teacher at Sautjuit School in Kangirsuk.
Just as she feeds her students food she prepares with her own hands, Marie-Louise wishes to fuel their motivation and contribute to the success of her students through her teaching.
My students are very smart and so talented. They have this resource that nature gave them. And just like a light switch, I would love to turn on that switch in them.
For Marie-Louise, doing everything possible to contribute to the success of her students, her “little ones” as she calls them, is a personal matter, and there is no shortage of ambition, ideas and projects.
She would like to organize a trip to Cameroon for her students and volunteers from the village.
“When I told my students my story, they were so motivated! […] I would like to bring them to Cameroon to see other realities. How children fight… suffer…just to go to school.”
But why invest so much energy in motivating her students?
“I’d love to come back one day, when I’m older and walking with a cane, to see my students standing where I once stood as their teacher. […] I want my students to reach for the stars. I would like them to become government officials, lawyers, business owners… Why not? I hope they no longer have to go to Montreal.
The sense of community and sharing (and a love of fish) is why Marie-Louise fell in love with Kangirsuk and is reminiscent of her home country of Cameroon…a country she hopes to return to one day.
I don’t know how I’m ever gonna leave. My students often ask me if I still want to leave. I tell them, “Yes, I want to go back to Cameroon.” They beg me to wait until after they graduate. I tell them, “Ok, I will wait till then”.