When I received the news that I was posted here, in this school, in Pedalaman Dua, I had never contemplate on whether I should go or not.

All I knew was that I needed to go for a few reasons.

First, I believe that this is the time to ‘pay back’ the money that I have spent on travelling, on clothes, on food, on movies, on shoes and many other things in the duration of five and a half years of studying a degree course. I receive a full scholarship, never once that I needed to pay for any school fees or something like that. So this is the time, no matter where , it is time to pay back.

Secondly, if I had declined this or if I didn’t go to the school which I’m posted to, I myself would stick the ‘SELFISH’ label on my forehead. IMHO, sometimes it is not about you and the world does not revolve around you alone, but it is the fact that people in different places may need your help, your guidance and your knowledge to improve, to make something better or to live a better life. In this case, the children needs you  to provide them knowledge that they are lack access of other than from the teachers. The teachers also need you for whatever that you have, to help them in whichever way is possible.

Thirdly, I know that I get paid for teaching and the pay that I received at the end of every month is a reward for what I have gave. But, deep down inside, having to teach in a school situated in a rural area, I knew that this is could be a humanitarian effort. Teaching in a school like this one could limit you from resources and other facilities. However, you’ll make yourself get use to it and you teach yourself to work with what you have. You have to fork your own money, buy books for the children that you teach, have a few pencils handy because you know these children may not even have one.

When I first came here, we were relying on generators which would start at 6pm and ends just before midnight. That’s the only time when we had electricity. Up till today, we still rely on the rain water that we gather in tanks. Sometimes, our skin and our health had to suffer from having to use rain water, but it is better than having nothing at all. Between March and June last year, our solar hybrid had a major failure that we lived in the dark every single day. We were only able to use the solar for Schoolnet and that was very limited. I was lucky that a colleague of mine had already married and his wife stays with him. Every night after Isya’, I would go to their house, had dinner, chatted for a while, slept in the extra room that they have and went back to my place just after Subuh.

It was tough.

Earlier in the year, I planned for a transfer. However as the application for transfer was open, I did not even filled in the form. I did not even applied for it. Partly because I have not been confirmed yet but  I was also telling myself that I wanted to see how my children have improved and how they have progressed.

The children became part of my life. Teaching became something that I enjoyed this year even though I teach around three to four hours every day. No more combined class this year thus I am able to focus on their ability, what they need and what they should know according to their age group. Tiring, but much easier.

One thing that I noticed as I go into my second year of teaching is that children do not show that they have improved in a very short of time. Last year, there were times when I almost gave up teaching them because they just could not obtain what have been taught. At times I asked myself where did I go wrong because it was just painfully hard to make them understand little things. This year, when one boy can actually read and when most of them could recall what they have learnt in the past year, I just knew that my effort have been paid off. These little things surprised me yet it never fails to lit a smile on my face.

I was called to write about this after watching ‘We are The World’ by Artists for Haiti. It was a collaboration by various artist for the children of Haiti, to boost their spirits after the unfortunate event that had happened to them.

The lyrics gave me shivers. As I listened to the song, I could very much relate to our roles as teachers.

We are the world
We are the children
We are the ones who make a brighter day
So let’s start giving
There’s a choice we’re making
We’re saving our own lives
It’s true we’ll make a better day
Just you and me

We are wherever we are because we need to ‘give’ to the children in whichever place that we are in now.  The knowledge that we have and we provide them, the the guidance that we have to lead them, the hope that we have in them, the feeling of care and love that we have for them will shape our children to become a better person and lead a better life.

Seeing our children pass a test, seeing them being able to count, to read and write or even utter a few simple words in English will definitely make a teacher’s day.

So let’s start giving because it is true that we will make a better day.

🙂