Amplifying Underrepresented Voices: Vanessa Macamo's Journey in Education

📖 In a world where education shapes futures, the stories of those who break barriers are vital. I see myself as one of those individuals. My journey in education is not just about personal success; it is about amplifying the voices of those who often go unheard. My experiences highlight the importance of representation and the power of education to transform lives, not only mine but also the lives of children, particularly children with disabilities, youths with disabilities, youths, and girls, as well as families and communities I work with.

👩‍👧 Being a woman and a mother, I have also had to challenge the stereotypes that limit so many women’s futures. I dreamed of furthering my education, and I was willing to step outside of my comfort zone, beyond my country of Mozambique and my continent of Africa. Through scholarships and determination, I studied in Europe and now in America. This means that my education has been shaped by the cultures of three continents, Africa, Europe, and America, giving me a unique perspective on inclusion and leadership. In Mozambique, where nearly half of women (about 49%) remain illiterate, I want my journey to serve as a message of possibility. I want women and girls to know that their lives are not limited to marriage, childcare, or working in the fields. They, too, can pursue education, build careers, and transform communities. Because when you educate a woman, you are truly educating a nation.

🌱 Early Life and Challenges

I grew up in Mozambique with the privilege of attending school from preschool onward. This early start was not the reality for many children in my country, particularly those living in suburban and rural areas, where access to education is limited and full of barriers. Witnessing these inequities made me deeply value the importance of early childhood education, and it remains one of the reasons I advocate so strongly for inclusive preschool education today.

While I personally did not face the long walks to school that many Mozambican children endure, I was aware that for the majority, education meant long and difficult daily journeys. I recognized early on that the effort required for children in rural communities just to reach school shaped their entire educational experience.

As a young professional, I also had the opportunity to work as a project coordinator in a UNICEF-sponsored initiative aimed at promoting life skills and children’s rights. This project allowed me to travel across Mozambique, helping establish school clubs for children between the ages of 8 and 12 or 14. The goal of these clubs was to empower students to develop life skills while identifying problems in their communities and creating their own solutions.

These travels opened my eyes even further. While I often traveled by plane to reach provincial capitals, journeys to districts and villages were made by car, sometimes by bicycle, and occasionally even on foot. Mozambique is vast, and in many areas, infrastructure is limited. What I found was that the conditions in which rural children pursued education were drastically different from those in urban areas. Families living in Maputo province, the capital, often struggle to imagine the daily challenges faced by children in rural provinces. That experience taught me that for the majority of children in Mozambique, life, and especially schooling, is extremely challenging.

From the beginning, I was drawn not to math or science, but to the social sciences, law, justice, and the humanities. These areas fed my curiosity and inspired me to explore the intersections of psychology, pedagogy, public health, law, and later special education. This multidisciplinary foundation continues to influence my approach as a scholar and advocate for inclusive education.

🌍 The Turning Point

The turning point in my academic and professional journey came even before I traveled abroad. In Mozambique, I opened my own preschool, Centro Infantil O Cantinho da Sissi, in Matola Rio. From the start, I made it inclusive, ensuring that children with and without disabilities could learn together.

At the same time, I had the opportunity to serve as principal of Centro Infantil do Banco de Moçambique, a private preschool in Maputo sponsored by one of the country’s largest banks. It was considered a prestigious school for middle- and high-class families in the capital city. Yet even in that privileged context, I saw firsthand the barriers children with disabilities faced in accessing education. The realization that inclusion was not guaranteed, even in well-resourced schools, marked a profound turning point for me. It confirmed that disability is not an issue confined to poverty or rurality; it is a systemic challenge across social classes.

Soon after, I received my first major scholarship, an award that took me to Ireland to pursue a Master of Law in International and Comparative Disability Law and Policy. That experience expanded my horizons and placed me in international spaces where I could bring lessons from Mozambique into dialogue with global perspectives.

In Ireland, I was surrounded by diverse peers and mentors who broadened my understanding of disability rights and education. I quickly realized that my presence in those academic spaces was rare for someone from my background. This fueled my determination to advocate for equity and ensure that underrepresented voices, especially those from the global South, were included in international conversations.

Later, as a Fulbright PhD student in Special Education at the University of Arizona, I expanded this mission. The combination of my legal background, preschool leadership experience, and ongoing work in education has enabled me to address systemic barriers from multiple perspectives, legal, pedagogical, and social.

🤝 Advocacy and Leadership

My advocacy began in Mozambique with life-skills clubs in schools, expanded to preschools, and continues today through research, teaching, and media. As a preschool principal and founder, I saw how policy and practice often excluded children with disabilities, and I used those spaces to model what inclusion could look like in real classrooms.

Now, in Arizona, I am building new relationships to learn how inclusive care and education are addressed in other contexts. For example, I am exploring partnerships with PPEP Integrated Care in Tucson, Arizona, which works with programs such as group home living environments, individualized residential services, adult day programs, and vocational training for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Although these services are primarily designed for adults, I want to study how such approaches might be adapted to Mozambique, so that inclusive practices extend beyond schools and into the community and lifelong support.

These connections enable me to integrate lessons from various systems, always with the goal of enhancing inclusive education and services in my community.

🌟 Celebrating Successes

Looking back, I see how my early work, whether creating Centro Infantil O Cantinho da Sissi or leading Centro Infantil do Banco de Moçambique, laid the foundation for everything I do today. Those experiences showed me that inclusion must begin at the earliest levels of education and must also be sustained across every stage of life.

Today, through my educational podcast Inclusive Voices in Action and my youth TV program O Cantinho da Sissi, I continue to amplify voices that are too often marginalized. One of the most powerful examples of this ripple effect is the increasing number of women and girls who attend my podcast sessions when I share opportunities for scholarships and international education. I recall my very first meeting, which was attended by only one person. She was a young woman whose dream was to study abroad. We worked together in a one-on-one mentorship session, and months later, she told me she had been selected for interviews for a Fulbright scholarship. Stories like hers remind me that even the smallest beginnings can create life-changing opportunities.

Their successes are my greatest reward. They show that advocacy and representation truly open doors, and that when women and girls are empowered to dream beyond their limits, entire communities benefit.

🎯 Looking Ahead

Today, as a PhD student, educator, and media host, I remain deeply committed to my mission. I continue to pursue professional development to become an even stronger advocate for equity in education.

My focus is not just on my own growth but on building pathways for others, ensuring that the next generation of children, youth, girls, and persons with disabilities in Mozambique and beyond have access to opportunities and representation. I want to take the lessons I am learning from models like PPEP in Arizona and develop Mozambique-based inclusive service systems that bridge early childhood, family, and adult disability services, ensuring that inclusion is lifelong and sustainable.

🌊 The Ripple Effect of Advocacy

The work I began as a young girl in Mozambique, leading life-skills clubs and later building inclusive preschools, continues to grow. What started as small efforts to promote inclusion in my own community has now expanded into classrooms, podcasts, TV programs, and international advocacy platforms.

My story is one, but it is connected to many others. Advocacy is never about one voice alone; it is about creating a chorus of voices that together demand equity and inclusion.

✨ Final Thoughts

My journey in education has been one of resilience, advocacy, and hope. From opening an inclusive preschool in Mozambique to now amplifying underrepresented voices through global platforms, I remain driven by the conviction that education should be accessible to everyone.

By continuing to build inclusive spaces, amplify marginalized voices, and challenge systems of inequity, I hope to inspire others to do the same. Together, we can create an education system where every voice is heard, every child is valued, and every dream has space to grow.

Vanessa Presenting in a Roundtable discussion, AERA 2025 - Denver - Colorado