Narok teacher sews pupil's torn uniform, warms hearts on Internet

A primary school teacher whose photo went viral after she was captured sewing the torn uniform of her eight-year-old Grade Two pupil, warming the hearts of Kenyans on social media, has broken her silence on the incident.

Nation.Africa caught up with Ms Joyce Malit, 56, at Siyapei Primary School in Narok North on Tuesday as she went about her usual activities and she was elated to talk about the incident.

She says the photo that started trending on various social media platforms on Sunday as schools were set to reopen was actually taken on March 7 this year.

Ms Malit says she was in school on the day in question when she spotted the little girl with her dress torn on the side, leaving her half-naked.

"The girl had just returned from the break after playing with her classmates. I was concerned and together with another teacher we took off her dress and covered her with a shuka before finding a needle and thread and started to mend her dress," she explains.

She says her experience with lower primary school children has taught her to always carry a needle and thread to deal with such emergencies.

"It was nothing new to me. It just happened that while I was busy sewing the dress, one of my colleagues innocently took the photo and sent it to me. As usual, I shared it on my Facebook page and at that time I received very few appreciative comments," she says.

However, she was stunned when the photo resurfaced online, this time causing a stir on social media, with many Kenyans praising her.

Ms Malit, who has been teaching for 34 years, marvels that since 1989 when she joined the teaching profession, she has never been appreciated as much as she has been in the past two days, despite her exemplary performance.

"I have received hundreds of phone calls from friends, relatives, and even strangers congratulating me and I was even forced to switch off my phone as my ears were buzzing from all the calls," she says.

She reveals that she prefers sewing her pupils'' torn clothes rather than sending them home.

The girl's home, she says, is two kilometres away, and it would not make sense to send her half-naked all that way.

Ms Malit, who is also the Kenya National Union of Teachers (Knut) women's representative, says she loves children.

Being three years away from retirement, Ms Malit describes her new fame as a last-minute blessing.

The mother of three grown daughters took the opportunity to call on President William Ruto, whom she described as her "age mate", to consider offering her a promotion before she calls it a day in the noble profession.

She says teaching is a calling and that teachers should first love the children as their own.

Ms Malit cites a special bond with the little girl, identified as Saiton Saipiri, who, she says, comes from a humble background and lives with her grandparents.

"She is a bright girl. Since that day, she is my great friend. This morning she brought me a flower as a token of appreciation, she moved me to tears," the teacher tells the Nation.

Ms Sabina Esho, who took the photo, says she never imagined it would go viral months later.

"I was just impressed and I took out my phone and took some pictures and later sent them to her (Ms Malit), she shared them on her Facebook page and that was it, but I was surprised that the same photo is now the subject of a positive debate online," says Ms Esho.

She describes Ms Malit as a passionate and emotional teacher who has the children's interests at heart.