The most inspiring person in the world.

Being a teacher for 15 years, I have met a lot of people:  rich, poor, kind, mean, sad and happy.  I have been blessed to teach in a local public school and private school in my country, and even in an international school in Indonesia.  I am thankful to share with you the most inspiring person I met in my life as a teacher.

I’d like to tell you a story of this one very inspirational person.  So inspiring that people around him feel so lost, sad and weary without him.

When this person was born, his parents never ceased to love him, give him their best love.  If this person gets sick, his parents get so worried that sometimes his parents never sleep until he gets well.

As this person gets older, his parents gets even more inspired knowing that their child is growing up the way they want him to be.

His parents are so inspired to work day and night just to make their child happy and to give their child want he wants.

When his parents saw that he his getting lonely playing alone, they were inspired to give him company by giving him a brother.  A brother to play with him all the time he wants so he will never feel  lonely.

He is also an inspiration to his brother, he mimics the way he speaks, the way he walks even the way he behaves.  He is his brother’s idol. 

When this person started going to school, his parents are even more inspired to attend his school activities, his parents even brag about their child to their family, friends and colleagues.

Then this person gained friends, he became an inspiration to his friends because his friends are happy whenever he is happy, his friends always want to see him smile. 

Whenever this person gets sad, his friends get sad too.  As if they feel the pains that this person is feeling at the moment.

Even his teachers are inspired because of this person.  They always want to give him the best lesson they can give.  They get inspired whenever they see this person listening to class, doing his homework and worksheet.  This child is very inspiring that sometimes his teachers labored until dawn to think of ways on how they can make their lessons easy to understand.

And when needed his teachers would collaborate to this child’s parents and friends just to help him get his marks up or even just to solve his personal worries.

What is amazing about this child is that he doesn’t know how inspiring he is.  How his presence moves people around him.  He always think that he is not special, that he is worthless, he is stupid.

This person is YOU!...  Yes, You!  You are the most inspiring person in this world for those people who love you, who cares for you and who believes in you.  Don’t ever feel that you are nothing, you are useless because you are everything.  Everything that even CHRIST died for you.

Keep being an inspiration to your parents, your brothers and sisters, your friends and your teachers because YOU are the most inspiring person in our lives.

Chestnut Drive Secondary School-Bina Bangsa School Semarang Water Filter project

OVERVIEW:

The project started early July 2011 through the coordination of Ms. Siyun Chen with our principal, Yuliana Puspitasari.  The project is about collaboration between the students of Chestnut Drive Secondary School, Singapore and Bina Bangsa School-Semarang, Indonesia.

The project is to study about water purification and research on areas nearby Semarang who is experiencing difficulty in collecting water.  Students of both schools will exchange research and data regarding their individual projects and comment on each others works through the website set by Ms. Siyun Chen:  watergivesuslife.wikispaces.com.  Through the said website, the students of each schools are able to study and exchange information regarding their projects.

As to our school, the information given to us by the students of CDSS helped a lot in conducting our research and making our MINI WATER TANK WITH FILTER PROJECT:  a solution that our students proposed to a small village nearby the school who is currently experiencing difficulty of collecting water.  The remarks given to our students also helped us in revising our works thus being able to better the plan for our mini water tank.

Our students comprising the Secondary 1 up to the JC1 are members of the Science and Robotics Club of Bina Bangsa School Semarang, their ages vary from 11 to 16.  Most of then have learned the basics of water purification in their Secondary 1 Science lesson with me, (Methods of separation of mixtures), the students are so eager to put into practical purpose what they have learnt.

The team is divided into three groups:  the design group which is tasked to do the designing and building of the mini water tank with filter, the research group, which is tasked to find a location in need of a solution to collect free and clean water, and the documentations group, which is tasked to document the research, and prepare the necessary paper works for the team including uploading the materials to the wiki site.

THE DESIGN

Originally our design, as uploaded in the wikispace site, is made from used and cleaned old pvc pipe, used and cleaned water gallon, plastic tap, old water bottles, activated charcoal, zeolith stones and old metal casing of a dismantled lamp.  After several revisions, the students final design is somewhat similar to the original one, but this time the filters where redesigned from the inside.  Inside the pvc pipe is made from used, ready to use and cheap materials, consisting of clean, old socks.  Inside the socks you will see layers of activated carbon, ziolit stones, and aquarium filter that will serve as the filter.

In this design, we only purchased the ziolit stones and the activated charcoal, which we are sure that the local villagers can find substitute including sand for ziolit and home made activated charcoal, which my students also shared to the villagers on how to do home-made activated charcoal.  So actually, the mini water tank with filter will be easily reproduced.

THE RESEARCH

The research team found a small village nearby the school whom they found out is only using and depending on the water tank, shown in the picture of the website.  The village is composed of approximately 200 adults and children combined.  The research team, found out that the villagers are having a problem with getting water from the tank because the tank is being shared by some 30 families.  When many are using the water especially at night, the villagers find it hard to collect water.  The water they collect is sometimes with residues such as rust and sand.  Aside form that during days with no electricity, the villagers do not have any means of collecting water from the tank.  Though the villagers are not as poor as what we plan for our project to be tested, they were supportive to try the students’ project.

They showed us the tank, and the water that they collect from the tank.  They said that they still need to filter and boil the water that they collect from the tank because the tank is getting rusty and they cannot drink from it directly so some of them use their own water purifiers/filters which is costly and still wont work during no electricity periods.  Most of the villagers buy purified water to be safe.  Basically, according to the villagers, they use the water that they collect from their tank for household use.

After finishing the design, and several revisions, the research team tested the mini water tank with filter and found out that the water we collect from ordinary rain water is filtered and can be used for household use.  There were no foul smell and visible residue after passing through the pipe.  The mini water tank can collect a lot water during a heavy downpour.  All the user needs to do is to open the tap at the bottom of the tank and there they can collect filtered rain water.  The students tested the water using basic physical, biological and chemical methods and the test passed.  Though the students didn’t test the water by a sophisticated chemical analysis, the team recommended that the water still be boiled so that it will be safe for drinking.

The students also collected water from the village water tank and tested our mini water tank with filter.  The result is satisfactory, no large residue was found after the water passed to the filter inside the tank. 

The research team originally planned for the design to be tested by poor local villagers but unfortunately, the research team was not able to conduct the research due to some technical aspects.  After testing the design and after seeing its good results, the team set the project aside thinking that the water collaboration project has ended.  Should the research team was able to conduct the project; the team believes that the project could really help poor local villagers to collect the safe and clean water from the rain.

The team will try to continue to search for a new and needier local village who is more in need of free and clean water, who will also test the water tank and install it their house for collecting rain water, or even using the tank to filter their currently using water supply in their homes.  Although I see the possibility of the continuity of the project next academic year because some of my team members will be focusing on their national assessment exams and IGCSE’s.  

FUTURE:

To date some Secondary 1 Joy students are working on the possibility of integrating a distillation system in our water fillter.  Though the progress is slow, they are still improving and re-improving our water filter.  Hopefully before the school year ends, they will be able to present their water filter with distillation system.

Bina Bangsa School Earth Day 2013

I had a collaboration project before with Ms. Siyun Chen of Chesnut Drive Secondary School in Singapore and we built a water filtration system.  We did that using the exchange of information, comments and suggestions from among the students using wikispaces.  We actually learned a lot with the collaboration not only because my students were able to build a water filter but also by widening their views that learning is not only confined inside the four corners of the classroom.

Hence, I decided to join the Earth Day collaboration with her and the rest of the team from all over the world.

I made a lesson about reducing wastage of electricity with my Secondary 1 students and I integrated it with the earth day celebration.

After the activity, my students have learned a lot.  They were able to learn how to save electricity and how to save the Earth at the same time.

We too can make our class interactive and Earth friendly at the same time.  Let us support the Earth Day and make our world a better place to live.

I AM BEAUTIFUL!

I saw this ad commercial of Dove about how we, women perceive ourselves versus how others perceive us. The result is very dramatic.  It shows how we belittle ourselves when it comes to how we look like.

When a woman is asked a question:  "Are you beautiful?"  Many women would reply:  "I don't know, what do you think?"  or they may reply in a humorous way:  "Yes.  According to my mom."  

You can only hear a few women who can answer the question with a confident reply of "YES!"

WHY?

Because many women are concerned about their looks not because they are concerned about themselves but because they are concerned of what other people will say about them.  Many people go to cosmetic doctors not because they want to look pretty for themselves, but because they want to look pretty for other people.

Not many woman can actually say, "I want to slim down, because I want myself to look good or feel good about myself".  Instead, when asked why do they go to the gym or beauty doctors, they would reply:"because I don't want my friends to say I look old at my age, or I want my husband to be proud of me, that I still look young and  slim at my age."

Beauty is never about what other people see in you, or say about you.  It is about what you see in yourself or feel about yourself.

Being beautiful is not determined by what other people think about a person, but being beautiful is determined by how beautiful a person thinks about herself.

There is nothing wrong about wanting to be beautiful, or being slim; that is if you want it because you want to look better or feel better as a person.  There is also nothing wrong with being chubby or being flat nosed, or unproportioned face as long as you feel good about yourself and you don't care about what other people think about your appearance.  Remember that physical appearnace fades in time, it is the natural way of life, but the way you live your life is what remains in the memories of people who know you.

There is nothing wrong with improving your looks if you think it will add up to your happiness and well being.  But never try to improve your looks because you want other people to say that you look good.

If you think you are beautiful no matter how you look, never care whether other people thinks you are ugly.  Only people who doesn't appreciate a masterpiece would think there is such a thing as being ugly.  

Now I am going to ask you a question... ARE YOU BEAUTIFUL?  

What would your answer be?

http://guyism.com/humor/forensic-artist-draws-women-how-they-see-themselves-with-horrifying-results.html

English Carabao, anyone?

We Filipinos are often offended whenever we are compared to a carabao; that is our English skills for an example.  We get so fussy about people telling the manner of our speaking as "English Carabaos".  But we shouldn't get annoyed actually, instead let us take it as a challenge.

Why?  Because looking at the carabaos attitude, we are compared to an animal who is focused on its craft.  it wakes up earlier than his "partner", the farmer to work from early dawn to dusk at the field, toiling the fields over and over in a very organized manner.  We Filipinos are like that.  We make sure our tasks are done in perfection.  That is why we are all over the world because other nationalities see our "service par exellance" craftsmanship.

Have u looked at a rice field before?  Aren't they so neat?  We owe it to the carabaos.  Farmers would not have done those without a carabaos help.  In my world, at least here, in this place.  If you look at the tables of teachers inside the teachers room, you can have a clear idea which is owned by a Filipino and which is owned by not.  We are the only ones who would make a mess all day in our works, but makes sure that tables are neat before we leave for home.  We never leave our working places messy, we make sure that our working tables for the coming day is neat and organized.

Carabaos are the epitomy of service with obedience.  They won't stop working unless the farmer stops.  They will work continuously without complaining.  Yes I know we can't hear them complain, but have u seen a carabao stop moving in the middle of the field?  Or have u heard of a news that a carabao had a tantrum from its farmer early in the morning before toiling the fields?  NONE!  And Filipinos are like that too.  At least those people that I have worked with.  We work all day and would only stop when we finish our works.  We would blurt out some words of distates, but still we continue to work and comply to our requirements.

Carabaos are diligent, a symbol of hardwork.  We Filipinos are like that too.  Look at every fields of industry all over the wolrd, there will be a Filipino working inside it.  Why?  Because employers believe that we are hardworking people.  We can handle tasks assigned to us.  Yes, in the beginning the carabao maybe whipped once in a while for an error made, but once it gets the hang of its task, the carabaos will do it like its already programmed to its head.  That once it wakes up, its brain will function automatically doing his task until its completion.  We are also like that.  In the beginning they may say, we lack the skill, as all craftsmen experience.  But once we get the hang of our works, we would do it like its just an impulse to us.

So why get angry when they say we speak "english carabaos"?  Look at where it leads us...  We beat all these native english speaking people all over the world in a business English proficiency assessment.  We have proven the world that we Filipinos can peferct our crafts when we put our hearts into it.   We only prove that if we strive, we can achieve what we want.

So when people say, your English is an English carabao, let us proudly say, YES INDEED!  That is why our English improves everyday, that is why our English is grammatically correct, that is why after a year or two, our English is in perfection, because our English is an English Carabao:  The English of skillful, harworking and passionate workers!

picture source: elsiballatong

Class prophesy for BBS-SMG graduating class 2013

YEAR 2040, PHILIPPINES. I am nearing the end of my ephemeral journey.  My grandchild approached me and said; “grandma, you received a mail.” I heard a soft chuckle from her as she whispered to herself; “who uses snail mail at this time?” Being very old with very poor vision, I asked her assistance to open the envelope and read what was inside. Probably excited to open a snail mail for the first time, I didn’t hear any disagreement. She opened the envelope and said in a surprised voice, “grandma! You’re invited to an event.” With a crumpled forehead, I asked myself:“Who would invite an old woman like me who can’t even walk without a stick?” So I asked her “What event?  Where?  When?” and she replied “It’s not stated, but it says “You are cordially invited to attend a once in a lifetime exhibition of the world’s top businesses at Grand Indonesia Hotel on the 15th of March 2040.” And with a more surprised tone, she said “The invitation comes with airplane tickets grandma! Business class!”

When I heard the word Indonesia, I thought that maybe I did somethinggood to one of my students that made him/her invite me to the event.  My grandchild got even more excited when she saw that I could bring one person with me to the event. So she flashed me her puppy eyes and her biggest grin telling me to take her with me. How could I resist such a request? So I told her that I would take her if she promised to tell me everything she will see there and would re-tell me everything that she will hear in the event. She agreed and hushed away to tell her mother the news.

14 March 2040.  We reached the airport and were ready to check-in our baggage.  A man in uniform approached us and told us that he will be taking care of our check-in and that we just had to wait in the executive lounge where a friend of minewas waiting.  I asked him who the man was and he said that Captain Winston Rimas Kanggoana, pilot of Garuda Indonesia flight 233,was awaiting my arrival. I remembered Winston to be a happy-go-lucky student who liked to sleep at the stage during break times. The attendant took us to the lounge where I met the kind Captain. Even with blurry eyes I could still see how dignified he looked in his pilot uniform. He shook my hand and we chatted for a little. He told me that Garuda Indonesia is now owned by the VSMA Corporation, the largest airline corporation in Indonesia and that VSMA stands for Vincent, Steven, Mike, and Alby Corporation. I was really surprised to know how successful our past Bina Bangsa School alumni have become. He bid me goodbye and told me that much surprise was waiting for me.

We landed in Indonesia around 11:45 P.M. We were assisted to the arrival gate where a limousine was waiting for us.  We were escorted in and were taken to the grandest hotel I have ever laid eyes upon.  As a chauffeur opened the car door, the friendly faces of the hotel receptionists welcomed us to Hotel Lie-Tjahjono, owned by our former student Jesslyn and her husband Harris. They took us to the hotel’s presidential suite.As they opened the door, I was overwhelmed by the sheer luxury of the room. It was ornamented with the world renowned Aristo furnitures owned by Bill Aristo.I was nearly blinded by the sparkling chandelier hanging on the living room of the suite designed by the world’s best crystal sculptorChun Jin Seok.

As I plunked down on the sofa, I saw my grandchild gazing at the marvelous cutleries on the dining table.  She ran towards me and said:  “OMG grandma, it’s made of gold!”  She handed me a fork and I instantly flipped it to see the maker.I couldn’t really read it so my grandchild told me, “here granny, let me read it for you. “,  “It says, made in Indonesia by Aldo Chrisanto’s finest gold craft.”

I was still flabbergasted by the golden cutleries when the bell rang. My grandchild opened the door as the room service came in. They asked us to sit down while they served our food. The appetizer was mouth-watering and so was the main dish. The dessert was heavenly and the drinks were very refreshing. I asked the room service who was the chef that prepared my divine dinner.  He smiled and told me, “She is not our chef here; she is also our guest and volunteered to prepare the meal you and for your granddaughter. She is the world famous celebrity chef Felicia Adriana Wijaya.”

I was really surprised at how honored I felt, they treated me as if I was a queen.  The men left us with a very happy stomach. I was about to rest butinstead decided to read some magazines on the rack; I took the one on the very top, as I gazed upon the cover I nearly dropped my dentures, the brothers Samuel Dimitriand Yoshua Aristharkus were pasted across the cover as Indonesia’s oil magnate. I scanned the magazine further and saw another familiar looking face wearing ballerina clothes and the article read:  Jessica Benedicta, Indonesia’s prima ballerina to perform in Broadway with the New York Orchestra, conducted by Devina Wirawan.

I was still thunderstruck by the success of our past students when my eyes caught the brochure on the coffee table.  I saw Korea’s top model school owned by business partners Youne Kyung Eun and Kim Dae Ju; all the models were wearing YEO’S clothing line, owned by Yeo Song Hee, that kicked Calvin Klein and Yves Saint Laurentoff the market and to my surprise I later learnt that the head designer was Stefani Adelia. The brochure also featured world class architectural designs by the world famous architects who designed the world’s tallest and grandest buildings, Hugo William Budhitresno and Kenny Joshua.

I was almost in tears when I finished browsing the brochure. I looked for my grandchild who by now was watching a movie. I sat beside her as she watched a romantic comedyfilm featuring Indonesia’s prime actress Caecillia Joceline Cendra and heartthrob Roberto Priyatna Santoso.  When the movie was finished, we decided to turn in for the day. Before I closed my eyes, I told myself that this trip was getting juicier and juicier by the hour as most of the students I could barely remember are now the big wigs of the world.

I woke up at exactly 7.00 in the morning, I was awaken by the music being played by my granddaughter on the state of the art hologram entertainment center invented by scientists Angelina Jane and Ivan Sunardi Wibobo.  I wanted to scold her for being loud but when I saw the singers on the hologram it wasJessica Lorenzo and Yoseba Joan singer their latest song in their Titanium award winning album.  We ate breakfast immediately when the room service crew came in.  They told us that we were going to a spa around 9:00 in the morning.

We were much rejuvenated after the treatment by the friendly and caring spa attendants. We were served their world renowned tea,hand-picked from the largest tea farm in the world owned by Melia Permata Sari Wijaya. As we sipped our cup of tea, one of the attendants switched the channel to CNN. To my surprise the news anchor was Sabine Sara, who was delivering the news about the success of the release of the newest brand of flying cars designed by Aeronautic engineer Indra Gunawan. After the news we decided to change the channel, I stopped the search when I saw the latest commercial of the newest nicotine free cigarette owned by the cigarette tycoon Joshua Pramono Setia Budhi. The commercial was instantly followed by another commercial, this time about the latest brand of perfume made by Korea’s best perfumery, owned by Ryu Dami.I switched the channel again only to find out that Indonesia’s first space shuttle launch to the moon will happen soon and on it will be astronauts Kristi Megan Kanadi, Wilson Wanarta and Sonia Hermawan.

Then we were taken to the biggest salon inside the hotel owned by the beauty expert and skin doctorSherry Felicia Salim. The salon was so huge and full of state of the art salon gadgets. I felt like a superstar after the hair and make-up session was done.

We thought that it was over, when we were taken to the hotel shop for our choice of clothes. I was ecstatic as I laid my eyes upon the wonderful gowns and designer shoes on display throughout the store. My grandchild chose a simple gown for me made by the famous gown designer Michelle Sardjono and shoes by designer Yessica Indah Sari. Then they took us to the accessories collection where the most expensive and most luxurious jewelries designed by Antoni Mulia Salim were displayed.

I was beginning to cry when they told me that it was almost time for the event. So they took us to the lobby to wait for the limousine. At the lobby, we saw an art exhibition by some famous painters and sculptors from around the world like Hany Lieka and Fely Fanesa Budianto. There was also a chocolate exhibit from top dessert chef Septian Hari Joedono.

The chauffer escorted us in the limousine and told us that the event will be so big that it will be graced by the South Korean Ambassador to Indonesia Soon Gwon Kim, Indonesia’s best microbiologist Sola Garachia Abigail, and the president himself.

I was so excited to hear about the event. As I entered the event’s lobby, I was given a royal treatment. I was surprised to know that I am to be seated in front near the stage. When I got to my seat, I saw many familiar looking faces.I tried to remember where I saw them before and got really shaky when I realized that they were my former co-teachers in BBS and we were all seated in the front row. We shook each other’s hands and started to reminisce our old days in BBS when the MC announced, “ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the president of the Republic of Indonesia, Richard Adrian Budhitresno.”

My jaw literally dropped at the thought when my seatmate and friend Ms. Riris shook my shoulder and said, “Ms. Khaye. Hello!  Earth calling Ms. Khaye?  Hey!  Why are you smiling by yourself?”  Goodness!  I was daydreaming.

Daydreaming or not, the thought of our students making it big in the world made me realize how lucky I am to be a part of their journey towards success.

A teacher's letter

Dear Students,

I know that to you we're monsters, your worst nightmares.  We make your lives hard by giving you too much homework that often times steal your time for doing what you want to do.  But you know what, those homeworks that you do is nothin in comparison to the number of papers we have to check when you and your classmates hand them down to us.  Your 30 mins of homework time is three hours marking time for us.  

We don't just stare on your papers and guess whether to give you a check or an ex, we read your papers carefully, we even think whether your answers are acceptable or not.  So don't get mad when you see a lot of circles in red ink on your papers from your ENGLISH TEACHERS be happy because you know they checked your papers well.  You don't know how many hours they spent just to check COMPOSITION notes, think how many classes your teacher has to mark.  

Don't get angry when your MATH and SCIENCE teachers return your papers a little late because you don't know how much time they spend trying to figure out the workings on your paper, analyzing carefully your HIEROGLYPHIC HANDWRITING and PUZZLE LIKE SOLUTIONS and figuring out which equation comes next just for you to get the marks that you deserve.  

Don't get mad at your teachers when sometimes instead of teaching their subject they preach you things about life because we just can't stand there and pretend that we didn't see your rude actions or hear your foul language. 

Don't even tell us that YOUR PARENTS ARE PAYING FOR US, because you don't know how much sacrifices we do just to be a good teacher to you.

When you are still asleep, we are already awake (some didn't even have time to sleep) preparing ourselves to be available to you, some are even fighting illness just to be present for you, we are already awake making sure we have everything we need for you.

When you are happy having your lunch, we are still working, marking papers or making preparations for you, say a simple program or planning a trip, which often times you ignore, neglect, and comment :  BORING.

When you are busy chatting with your seatmates, our minds are busy thinking how to catch your attention so you can understand what others have already understood because they listened.

When you are comfortably eating with your friends or family, we are shedding our tears thinking about the families we have left back home, thinking whether they are well or not, whether they have eaten or not, or when can we all see each other again or not.

When you are arleady sleeping we are still awake, doing our works for you.  Some are preparing games that you won't even appreciate, lessons that you find boring, visual presentations that you find cheesy, trips that you call lame.  You don't know how much it pains us when all our preparations are wasted because of your lack of appreciation.

When you are happy spending your holidays and weekends out of town we are still at school working, making sure the lessons are all ready for the week, making test, marking papers, reseacrhing for new developments in our subject areas.  We spend weekends at work praying that our sacrifices would in return give good outcomes for you.

So please don't say that YOUR PARENTS ARE PAYING FOR US.  Yes it is a fact that you pay for our wages, but it is also a fact that YOUR PARENTS CANNOT PAY THE DEDICATION AND SACRIFICES THAT WE DO FOR YOU.

ONLY YOU CAN...

A simple appreciation is enough for us.  A simple respect would suffice.  A simple THANK YOU is enough to make us continue what we have vowed for:  that is to be a DEDICATED, HARDWORKING, and LOVING TEACHER to you.

Yours,

Your teacher

Donaire's defeat

I was just watching our Filipino boxer as he fight against a Cuban boxer Rigondeaux.  He started his bout well; he's all focused and from what I've seen it, he could have finished the fight early.  But then Rigondeaux's strategy shifted into running around, evading Donaire's attacks.  He probably felt the strength of Donaire's fist so therefore, his plans shifted to evading a knockout punch.  He was successful.  He was booed by the viewers, but he didn't mind that.  He was fixed to his plan of evading Donaire, and probably tiring him and making him frustrated not to give him his knock out punch.

On that account, Donaire grew impatient.  He became frustrated and forgot about his goal:  TO WIN the match.  SO he followed this fast new boxer around the ring and would eventually be surprised by an attack from Rigondeaux which he didn't anticipated because his strategy went on to chasing him and not to attacking him.  As a result, Donaire lost.

His defeat gave me a clear message when we give in to distractions, we lose our focus, we get frustrated and we lose track of what is our goal.

Life is the same thing.  We would have our goal and we will start it fresh and right, but then distractions will face us that we didn't expect.  We would get distracted and we would get frustrated when we don't meet our goal to the timeframe we set for ourselves.

But meeting the goal is not about racing to reach it.  It is about meeting our goal no matter what and no matter when, what is important is that we reach it.

But we can always meet our goal at the right time if only we will stay focused and not get distracted in the course.  Expect that there would be distractions and we should always have plan B or even up to plan Z.  But we should never lose track of what our purpose is.

If only Donaire stayed with his plan and remain focused, he would have won the battle.  His goal is to win the match, not to chase an evading fighter. We do not want to be another Donaire.  We do not want to say to ourselves, IF ONLY....  In fact, we don't have to.  We just have to stick to our goal.

STAY FOCUS and never give in to distractions in life, DO what you are supposed to do.

Health is Wealth

People who are so engrossed with their works actually take one of the most important things in life for granted:  HEALTH!  Yes.  Health.  

Their work overwhelms them, fully filling their thoughts that even drinking water, eating meals, going to toilet are all set aside to complete and finish their tasks.

Continued practice like this could only lead to one thing:  SICKNESS.  Yes.  Sickness.

Yes it is true that we can accomplish alot when we do a lot.  But we should not take our health for granted because our body needs time to recuperrate from all the sleepless nights and skipping meals routine that we usually we do when there is a deadline to beat.

Adults needs at least 6 hours of sleep so that cells can replenish their lost strength.  And a good amount of water to balance the electrolytes in our bodies and to detoxify us from the acid build up due to stress.

So work work work and no rest is actually bad for us.  Because the moment our body says I NEED A BREAK!!!  we couldn't do anything else.  As a result, days at home mending the sickness and being "unproductive".  

So therefore, if we really want to achieve more in life and in our work, we should balance the hours of work and hours of rest.  Eat when its time to eat, drink when we are thirsty, and sleep when we are tired, even exercise like stretch, walk around to help circulate the blood in our bodies, and pause, talk to your friends when you feel like you're on the verge of exploding with the work that you haven't accomplish.

YES we have deadline, but YES we can die as well if we don't give our bodies what is due to them.  Yes we need to work but YES we need to rest too.

Our body is the only vessel of our GIFTS and SKILLS that GOD gave us.  So if the body gives up, all these will be useless and we can't contribute to HIS purpose anymore.

So before it's too late, let us love our body and pamper it with tender-loving-care... REST!  STOP blaming other people from GIVING you their FLU or COLDS or COUGH because they aren't the one to blame, it's US because if our body is properly rested and if we give our body what it needs, then there'll be no point getting sick.

What are mistakes for?

When I was younger, I used to sulk in solitary because of regrets.  I regret doing this and that, I regret meeting this and that, I regret going here and there.  I regret a lot of things that happened to me in the past because they made me fail, they made me cry, they made me lost, they made me unrighteous, most of all they hurt me.

But after quite sometime.  I realized that I should not be regreting the fact I experienced all those in my past.  I realized I should be thankful that I experienced them and I was able to endure them and I was able to make myself anew upon seeing the LIGHT.

WHY?

Because If I hadn't done those mistake in the past, I have nothing to tell my students that they shouldn't do this and that because this might happen to them.  I have nothing to tell my friends to be strong on this and that because in the end this will happen.  I have nothing to testify to my fellow christian community how GOD let everything happen to us to mold us into the kind of christian that HE wants us to be.  I have nothing to tell the world that life is good no matter how hard life is, life is indeed good because it is only through experiencing all the facets in life that we truly know ourselves, our friends and our GOD.

Had I not committed those errors, I wouldn't be able to tell you how a naughty child is whipped, how a lazy person gets nothing, how a whining student is left behind, how a rude mouth gets justice, how a deceitful lover is humiliated, how an unfaithful friend is picked out, how a disobedient child is punished, how an insensitive,undutiful, overconfident wife gets cheated, how an irresponsible person loses his belongings, and how a hard-hearted lump of clay  is singled-out by the POTTER Himself to be molded by His own hands to become a TEACUP.

Friends... there is nothing in this life that we can regret.  Everything has its own reason.  And one of the reasons that I can think of, is that every mistake that we did in the past, every failure that happened to us, every tear, every pain, every wound happened that we may live and tell the tale to the YOUTH of how all of those made us who we are now, how all those made us a better child, a better friend, a better partner, and a better christian, that they may strive to be the BEST.

And if we are able to do that... our mistakes have served their purpose.

A simple question to parents

A lot of times parents rage into the school principal complaining about why their kids got a C on conduct or being called for a meeting because of their children's misbehavior.  They would burst into anger that they would say that teachers have been mistaken about their children because their children are so tame at home, they are very behaved and their kids couldn't hurt a fly.

So with this, teachers are placed on a hot seat, ending up teachers being confused as to whether they should report a developing misbehavior about their students or just let it go.

With this, I have some few questions for parents.

PARENTS... Do you behave, act, or speak in front of your family the same way in front of your friends?

If your answer is NO... then there is your answer when we, TEACHERS, call you for your child's misbehavior at school.


More often than not, parents are the ones who teach their children to be hypocrites, to hide who they really are, to wear a mask on their faces because they set too much standards for their children, they overlook at how their kids behave with other people because all they look at is how they behave in front of them.  They pretend that they know their kids enough to judge the people around them that they are wrong about their kids.

Have you seen your children play with their friends on a normal pay time?  Have you heard your children speak with their friends over the phone or a regular get together?

Think again.  Have I spent enough time with my kids that I know who are the people they go with when they are not inside the house or I am too busy with my work to know details of the people they go with? Have I talk to my kids enough that I have heard of the things my kids want to express today or I am too busy to even listen to what made them unhappy today?  Have I accepted my childrens' teachers meeting time that I know how my kids do at school or I am too busy with my circle of friends?  Have I listened to my childrens' teacher as to how they behave at school or I am too busy to listen to my childrens' teacher because I know my children?


So PULEAAASE before you rage to our boss that you can't believe your child did this or that, THINK again and assess yourselves: Have I known my child enough?

Doing good

Men's initial reaction when people do them bad is to fight back.  Reciprocate evil with evil.  It is so embarrassing to admit but yes, I was like that.

When people hurt me; through words or deeds, my initial reaction was be angry, raise the red flag up and blast right back at them.  I reciprocate their tone with my equally high notes of howl.  In the end, conflict intensifies.  They feel bad, I feel bad, pain is inflicted on both ends.

Sitting right next to one of the most patient people I have ever met, I slowly realize the value of being slow to anger, and being silent whenever the need arises.  Through her I realized that I should not reciprocate evil with evil, but with kindness.  Though I will be hypocrite if I say that I always have time to control my temper, because sometimes I also slip and slide, often, I am able to pause, think and breathe before I speak and argue.

I realized that it will give them more of my understanding if I will not answer back, if I will not argue back, If I give them more time to blurt out what they want until they have calmed themselves down.  I have learned to control my temper and take time to listen to my heart that tells me not to speak so quickly without thinking what to say.  

I learned that if people do bad to us, it is indeed a victory for us if we reciprocate them with kindness.  Not only that we have proven to them that there is a greater understanding by being calm but also we have proven that there shouldn't be any conflict as long as people are willing to wait until other people are done with their piece.

John wesley said..."let us do all the good that we can, by all the means that we can, in all the ways that we can, in all the places that we can, at all times that we can, to all the people that we can, as long as we ever can."

I know I haven't perfected the art of self control, but I will continue to practice it because I know, it will bring me closer to HIM.  I will continue to try and reciprocate bad deeds with good deeds, hate with love, rage with serenity, impartiality with equality to give honor and glory to THE ONE above.

First Things First

I was tasked to do an unbelievable task:  organize the celebration of the Indonesian Independence, Prefects' Investiture, Awarding of the certificates for primary and secondary students and prepare traditional games for the students.  

WHOA!  That was the first thing that came into my mind.  I thought, is it possible?  Can I do that?  

The preparation is tedious.  The task is arduous.  And I was thinking that the participation from my colleagues wouldn't turn out 100% because some are busy with the musical as well.  

I was sick to my stomach to the sight of a chaotic event because of mismanagement and lack of preparation and coordination.  I am ready to accept that the event would be a mess because it is too much for students' limited time capacity for behaving, and it is too much for me to handle.  

With so many tasks already assigned to me being the prefect mistress, Prefects' Cup every friday, Science-Robotic Club coordinator, a collaboration project with a Singapore-based school about water purification, planning all school events, being in the school committee, form teacher of P5 and having 36 periods a week class with 4 sessions of remedial classes, I was thinking really hard if I really can do this.

I literally cried on the first day of the preparation because there are so many things that I need to attend to and I do not know how will I stretch my 8 hr regular work to accomplish all.  I was thinking that I would compromise my "me" time more than I have compromised since I came back from the holiday.

Then I read about this passage in the Bible  in Luke 12:48 New International Version (NIV)

48 But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.

I reflected on the passage, and I was so ashamed of my self for thinking that I cannot do the task given to me.  God was telling me that He knows I can do this because He knows me.  He knows the talents He gave to me that is why He knows I can accomplish the tasks.  He is telling me that help will be given when I need it, where I need it, If I will ask it.  

So I calmed... but only for a while, because just as the event is getting nearer, so are the trials getting harder.  A teacher is absent and I had to attend her class, such as the time that I should be using for the preparation of the event and some other personal work is "wasted" to a work that is not supposed to be mine.  I took it so negatively that even if I know its just a trial, I succumb to my human emotions of anger.

A week before the event, teachers' tasks are dissiminated. A teacher volunteered his students to help in the games since his kids are not going to be busy.  WHEW!   But just as expected, some will not do their part "with love" because they think that is "just an extra job" for them.  I took it soooooooooooo negatively that I succumb once again to my human emotion of impatience.

On the eve of the event, the greatest blow ever... We forgot about the chinese awards so the chinese department just hand in their "chinese written" certificates an hour before I was supposed to go home and rest.

My jaw dropped.  Not of astonishment but out of frustration... "HOW IN THE WORLD WILL I KNOW WHAT AWARD THE STUDENTS GET BECAUSE THEY ARE WRITTEN IN CHINESE???!!!"  So I succumb for the last time to my human emotion of desperation.  I was near my boiling point.

I looked around and saw some other colleagues who are still around that time.  Though I know that they will be angry for the help that i was going to ask of them, I humbled then asked them anyways.  And they did.  WE RE-SORTED EVERYTHING from scratch.  And a chinese teacher was still there and helped labelled the awards into Bronze, Silver and Gold!

What a relief!!  What a help!

I couldn't eat.  I can't feel hunger.  My mind is racing as to what will happen the next day.  So I went into my room, knelt down and pray my heart out to God and surrendered all to Him.  I told Him that we all did what we can.  Everyone did their share and that I surrender everything to Him.  

D-Day comes and to all our astonishment... The seemingly chaotic event turned out to be a success!  Well, not to my expectations but It still turned out to be quite ok considering that the event is from 7.30 to 12.00.  We managed to get a hold of the students, parents came in for their kids, students including the prefects performance did great.  We manage to do everything according to plan.

In this journey, God showed me that we need to trust everyone in the group that they will do what is assigned to them according to their own pace.  We cannot expect people to work like we do because they are different from us.  He also showed me that when a task is done with great love, everything will turn out right.  He taught me patience and responsibility that we are responsible to our task and that its success or failure will be on us too so either way we should do our best and never give up.  He taught me humility.  I was a proud woman that I don't ask help to people around me in turn making me stressed because I am doing more than what I can handle.  I learned to humble my self and seek help when I need it.  And the most important lesson that God showed me in this journey is that when we seek His kingdom first, all the things we pray for will be showered unto us.  No matter how busy I am, no matter how I tired I am, I make it a point to start the day with HIM and end the day with HIM.  Like telling HIM that I cannot live a day without HIM, that I am completely dependent on HIS grace.

"Apart from HIM we can't do anything, we are nothing.  But with HIM we can do everything!"