From dust to digital

I am Phuti Ragophala. I grew up where the roads were sand and the wind carried red dust into everything we owned. Today I teach children, teachers and grandmothers alike how to reach the whole world from a small screen. This is how that journey went.

I was raised in Limpopo, in a village where children walked barefoot to fetch water and the evening light was the only light we studied by. We had very little, but we were rich in stories, in neighbours, and in the belief that a child who reads is a child who travels.

My mother taught me discipline and my grandmother taught me patience. Both of them taught me that a woman who knows something must pass it on. Nothing I have done since is separate from that lesson

School was where I first felt powerful. A blackboard, chalk, and a teacher who believed in me were more than enough to convince me that I would one day stand in front of a class myself. I loved languages and I loved order — the two things that later made me a principal.

Later I trained as an educator and kept studying long after my first qualification, including technology training at the MASTEC institution, initiated by the former MEC for education, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi. That course quietly changed the direction of my entire career.

In 2005 I was appointed principal of Pula Madibogo Primary School in Mankweng, Polokwane. I began by studying my own community: what work existed, what resources the village held, and what skills our learners would actually need to eat one day.

Then I brought in technology. Cellphones were not allowed in the schoolyard, so I started with one phone for a class of sixty-five learners. It was stressful and it was worth it. I partnered with the nearby University of Limpopo to use their tech lab on weekends and school holidays, and support came from Microsoft, SchoolNet SA and Coza Cares.

My colleagues and I went on to train other principals and teachers. I have always believed leadership should be bottom-up: shared decisions produce better schools than instructions passed down from above.

Some of my educational journeys were made by aero plane and some by internet connection using Skype. Both counted. Both brought something back to Limpopo. I visited about 14 countries of which 6 of them were made virtually through Skype

Service above self

Beside educational matters, I serve as a leader in the Rotary E Club of Baobab in South Africa, a club that gathers online so members across the country can act together. Rotary's focus on Basic Education and Literacy is the reason I feel at home there: it matches everything I have tried to do since I first stood in front of a class.

Through the club I help organise literacy drives, reading-aloud events, and digital skills support for schools that still have no library and no computer lab. We do not wait for perfect conditions. We start with one book, one device, one child — the same way I started at Pula Madibogo.

Rotary calls it "Service Above Self." In my village we would say a person who knows something must pass it on. The words are different, but the value is the same.

"Techno granny honored with Rotary award"

My story was published in Bonus | Community, 14–20 May 2026. The Paul Harris Fellowship — Rotary International's highest honor — was presented at a ceremony hosted by the Rotary E-Club of Baobab. I dedicated it to the community that supported me, and to my mother's legacy: titles do not make leaders, actions do

The coding club, in my own home

I introduced coding and robotics in my own home for community children, local teachers and parebt to access technology rseurces and upskill themselves.

My lounge became the classroom. Coffee tables became coding tables. These are the children of my village learning the skills the world is asking for.

Besides that i am a part-time creative coding and robotics facilitator at the university of Johannesburg, community builder and a grandmother to all.

Recognition along the way

These are some of them:

Paul Harris Fellowship — Rotary International

1. Rotary's highest recognition for outstanding service, awarded for leadership in education and community upliftment.

Order of the Baobab — The Presidency, South Africa

1. A national honour conferred by the President of the country, Hon Cyril Ramaphosa, for exceptional contribution to education and community development that I made.

Microsoft Innovative Educator Expert & Fellow

1. Recognised for pioneering technology integration in a under-resourced public school.

Global Teacher Prize community voice

1. Invited to write and speak on autonomous school leadership for a worldwide audience.

Selected delegate, E2 Education Exchange

1. One of eleven South African teachers chosen to represent the country in Singapore, 2018.

Partner recognition — SchoolNet SA, Coza Cares

1. Honoured for training principals and teachers across Limpopo in digital practice.

Retirement, but not rest

When I retired from the principalship, I saw a digital gap among the youth and educators in my community, and I could not simply sit down. From my own home I now reach schools nationally and internationally, sharing free tools and free knowledge.

I have been a guest speaker to a class in Texas, spoken to children at the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, joined global collaborative projects on climate action and on supporting survivors of sexual abuse, and presented at Microsoft events and webinars. Retirement gave me time; it did not give me an excuse.

TechnoGranny

This is the name the internet gave me, and the one I am proudest of. It began as a description and became a mission: proof that a grandmother from a dusty village can stand in a global classroom and teach, hence this topic: from dust to digital.

"Every great story happened when someone decided not to give up."

Phuti Ragophala · Mankweng, Polokwane, Limpopo, South Africa