Online Reporter
Latwell Nyangu
A Zimbabwean educator is making an impact away from home after being given a slot as one of the main speakers at the World Congress on Education set for this month in the United States.
Antonette Mutirori, who works for a leading child-centred mental wellness initiative, feels honoured to present this model at the congress.
“I feel honoured to be part of changing the communities.
“My vision is to expand this initiative to Zimbabwe, where I believe it can create the same transformative outcomes for children and youth.
“At the end of the day, home is where the heart is.
“Alongside this, my mental wellness platform is embarking on free services for people back home, which provides free counselling, coaching, and therapeutic services to individuals in disadvantaged backgrounds.
“This will be targeting students, young women, and vulnerable groups who often cannot access such resources.
“The programme is entirely community-based, is based and operates on a first-come, first-served basis.
“As an educator, part of my mission is to break the stigma surrounding mental health and encourage help-seeking behaviours.
“To North and To Heal aims to reduce depression, trauma, suicidal ideation, and emotional isolation by fostering open dialogue and offering accessible care.
“I believe that healthy people make a healthy society, and this project is one way I am contributing to that vision, both locally and internationally.”
Mutirori took a step further by introducing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in her initiatives with a focus on climate action, responsible consumption, and life on land.
“We had open conversations about our role in protecting the environment and how every action, no matter how small, can make a difference.
“Slowly, I saw change. Students began reminding one another to recycle. They took pride in keeping their classrooms tidy.
“The conversations around waste shifted from reluctance to awareness.”
She has also attended the World Bank Group Youth Summit in Washington DC last May.
“I currently serve as the Chief Examining Officer for Africa at the International Teachers Association.
“I have also had the privilege of judging global competitions such as Technovation, where I was selected in 2025 among the Top 20 Judges in North America and Top 20 Judges globally.
“These opportunities have largely stemmed from my work as an educator here in the US”
As a teacher and children’s mental health advocate based in Springfield, Virginia, Mutitori feels children are not too young to learn responsibility.
“In fact, it is at this early stage that values are most powerfully formed. When we “catch them young,” we help them understand that being responsible citizens isn’t about who made the mess, it’s about who is willing to fix it.
“In a world grappling with climate change, pollution, and resource scarcity, raising environmentally conscious children isn’t optional, it’s essential.
“And it starts with simple lessons like picking up litter, sorting trash, and caring for our shared spaces.
“The future belongs to our children, but we shape that future by what we teach them today.”
