'Thank you teacher for all that you have taught me!'...that is what the student wrote on the handmade card. This was the last class of the International Education Program for children refugees for the year 2011, in which I had the privilege to participate in. The card was to be given to their school teachers as a way to show their gratitude to them.
Throughout the program, we volunteers have to come up with ways to convey the message of a chosen aphorism about gratitude, respect & love through story telling, sketches & many more. I learned just as much as the students at the end of each class!
The students are ever so enthusiastic! Whenever I come around with a camera on my hand, they will grin from ear to ear & show me the victory sign, all ready to pose for me. And when the rest of the students saw what was happening, they will then jump in & start posing! But when it is time for class, they will obediently sit down & listen to what we have to teach.
There was once, a student came up to us and asked for a copy of the day's aphorism because he wants to memorize it at home. The teacher then told him that he doesn't need to memorize it word by word, the most important is for him to practice it from the heart. Their eagerness to learn never fails to put a smile on my face.
Ah well... all good things comes to an end anyway.. I might not see them again next year as some of them will move on to another school & hopefully, get relocated to start a new life. But good memories shall remain forever with me. Perhaps, I should be the one to say... 'Thank you teachers for all that you have taught me!'
