A Portrait of Faith

It wasn’t easy for Ilovea Levy to decide to leave the security of a teaching job she loved in order to start a non-profit to help the children of Savai’i, Samoa. However, as she noted, “Doing something hard is easier to do when you know that God wants you to do it!”

After a couple years of teaching, Levy realised that many of her year eight students in Savaii, Samoa either struggled to read or were not able to read at all. Knowing that their families haven’t the resources to get their kids any help, she got the nagging feeling that she needed to do something.

The students were in desperate need of tutors, but Levy couldn’t see a way to mentor so many young people while teaching all day and raising her own child as a single mother. So, Levy began detailing a plan to open tutoring centres and to start a non-profit organisation to fund it.

She recalls, “I knew that I couldn’t both teach and run a tutoring centre so I had to find a way.”

For several years Illovea Levy worked at the nation’s Parliament in Apia. For some reason, she felt drawn to both Savai’i and to teaching a few years ago. “Teaching is in my blood. My father was a wonderful teacher and his family roots are here in Savai’i. I felt guided to come to Savai’i to find family and to teach.”

After making the move, Levy also found young people in great need.

“My vision is to lift the kids. It became clear that I would need to resign my full-time job to do it. That was a terribly difficult decision to make, but I knew I would still be educating children, especially the children who are struggling and need it the most.”

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Giving up her job and starting a not-for-profit tutoring service was and continues to be a formidable task. Levy has gone to the Apia Samoa temple many times to pray for direction and reassurance that she is on the right track.

She said, “I tried to tell God that I didn’t want to do this, but every time I went to the temple to pray for clarity, it became louder and clearer that this is what I am supposed to do.”

Using personal funds and money donated by her siblings and others, Levy is aiming to open a centre to 20 youngsters by the end of July. Levy also hopes to raise additional funds to keep improving it and to make it a genuine place of learning. She has found willing teachers who want to help and who have committed to donating their time to assisting the young people who have fallen behind. The long-term goal is to open several centres.

“I continue to have the feeling that this is what I need to do,” Levy states. “I have a promise from President Ezra Taft Benson hanging on my wall that says, ‘When we put God first, all other things fall into their proper place or drop out of our lives.’ That has been my mantra and I have proven it to be true. This is about giving what I have to God.”