Teaching at a farmschool without running water and electricity is not always a walk in the park. Travelling on a dirt road that looks like a footpath is not easy either.
But every day I see thirsty, eager, happy faces awaiting me at Middelwater Primary in the Somerset East area of the Western Cape. I love and respect my learners and they me.
Sometimes a teacher gets a wonderful reward when parents thank you for your dedication and love for their children. Sometimes you get a verbal gift from the learners themselves. It is those gifts that a teacher remembers and embraces.
Many of my learners are very poor. Things other learners take for granted — like food, clothes and shoes — are luxury items to them.
One icy cold morning, the day before the June holidays were about to start, the learners and I sat in a circle (that being much warmer), and one learner stood up and prayed: ‘Lord, please don’t let it be school holidays tomorrow. We want to come to school because we love our school and teacher. We are safe and happy here. Amen.”
This gift made me feel proud to be a teacher.
Jacqueline Lombard
Somerset East