Feeling inspired

Inspiration that hits you out of the blue is the best kind.

One of our school parents started working for us unofficially a year ago. She started as a feeding scheme assistant and running the aftercare. She is a lovely lady, who helps with everything. No task is too menial for her hands. She is such a team player, and when one of our caretakers retired at the end of last year, we retained her in that capacity.

A few weeks ago, we applied to our education department to make her a permanent employee, which would mean a very positive change in her earnings, as well as job security. Today, our principal called us both into his office. He handed me a camera and asked me to take a picture of the two of them as he handed her her first official department payslip. My heart burst at this moment!

She started out as a parent volunteer, who wanted to assist the school in some way to compensate for the fact that she couldn't afford to pay the school fees. Through her determination and work ethic, this is the rewards she is now reaping.

I am sooo proud of you Aunty Fay!!

Teacher's Day

On Saturday, 5 October, South Africa celebrated Teacher's Day.
The headmaster of the school I work for always arranges a workshop of some kind for his educators on the day. This year, however, we had to bring it forward two days.
In addition to the motivational speaker he obtained, each educator was presented with a gift bag, filled with gifts from himself as well as gifts from the learners of the school.
Naturally, some educators received more than others, and as I only teach two classes, I did not expect anything from my students.

I was surprised to discover two handmade letters: one from a current student and one from a former student. My heart melted...and nearly combusted when I read the end of one of the letters: "You are my inspiration"
Those four words made all my tribulation with them worth it. It is after all why I entered this profession - I wanted to be to someone what my educators were to me.

Thanks for the inspiration

People come into your life for a reason. Good ones, bad ones, they serve a purpose, and sometimes it's not clear to us what their purpose is.

There is a particular person in my life for whom I am profoundly grateful.

Our personalities are very different, and I'm pretty sure that when people see us together, it must confuse them as to how exactly we came to be friends. And when I myself think about it, it is odd - a random piece of fiction was the birth of our friendship and I am happy to say that although we have such different personalities, our friendship has matured and blossomed way past that bit of fiction.

I am grateful for her for many things, but the latest thing she is responsible for is the improvement of my health. I've been lucky this Ramadaan past, as it is the first year I have lost a significant amount of weight. To date, it is about 9kg (for you americans, thats almost 20 pounds).
How did I manage this?
By simply following a diet that she is forced to follow for health reasons (this friend of mine is deathly allergic to ALOT of things).

So, Anu, thanks a lot.
You were my inspiration for this and it has yielded results wayyyy beyond my expectations.