Toka Mohagheghzadeh Davani
English teacher
Toka was born in Iran during a time of deep political unrest, which led her parents to flee to Europe with her before her first birthday. She spent her early childhood in Denmark, and her family then moved to the UK when she was 12 years old. There she received the majority of her formal education. She holds a BA in Social Policy from The University of Leeds, and an MSc in Social Policy and Development from The London School of Economics and Political Science.
Before eventually moving to Colombia long term, Toka volunteered with NGOs in Latin America on two occasions. First for six months in Ecuador, and then for eight months here in Colombia, where she worked with a small foundation in Soacha that aims to assist and protect displaced people and refugees. As part of this last volunteer placement, she would also spend a few hours per week assisting the English teacher at a severely under-resourced local school.
These experiences were instrumental in creating in her a soft spot for the beautiful cultures, landscapes and people of Latin America, a strong desire to strengthen her Spanish, and an interest in helping young people develop their English language skills.
In 2016, Toka moved to Bogot permanently and obtained her CELTA. She taught both general and business English at International House for about two years, before starting at Externado University in early 2018.
In her free time Toka loves to read, listen to music, dance, watch films and series, cook, eat, and travel. As may be expected on account of her background, she speaks English, Danish, Farsi and Spanish, with varying levels of proficiency.