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True Tales; The Students And The Teacher

Once upon a time, I was first posted in the huge forest choked island of Borneo (Google it, will you?). The school I first taught in was in a very rural area, and can only be contacted by river boats and satellite phone. It was a beautiful school, (mainly because I had many modifications and beautifying projects made using the backbones of many students during my reign of terror (during my few last years there). But this post is not about that.

The teachers of the school, my colleagues were young, as only junior and capable civil servants will be sent that far into the middle of nowhere. The students were mostly of indigenous people who lives around the area, but ALL were housed in the boarding hostels provided. This is to ensure EVERYBODY attend school on time and to have control over discipline (and for the parents' peace of mind, not having to send their children to school, so far and difficult from home). 

Now, this friend of mine, a kindly man, was a sort of a welfare-organisation-on-legs. He was always giving help, mainly to the poorer students, indiscriminately. As a person who cared a lot less, I told him that his actions would be thankless, yet he only smiled and said that there were too few of people helping. I think he believes in the great rewards at the hereafter (which is a good thing, I hope many people are like this actually, believing in cause and effect).

So there were this couple of siblings; a girl and her younger brother. They came from a very poor family (same as the rest) and were average in everything; looks, academics, etc. My friend decided to have this two as his personal goodwill project. Meaning; he helped these two a lot more than the rest. Where he rained money and love to the rest, for these two, it POURED! The other colleagues only shook their heads at this aggressive act of kindness.

He's a good soul, this friend of mine.
Fast forward a couple of years later....
One afternoon, somebody told me that this particular friend of mine was seen crying as he arrived from the nearest town, by boat (an hour journey). This seemed odd, as he never cried and was always smiling to his throngs of students. I went to his quarters, and he was indeed crying, and after threatening to sever all ties of friendship, he finally told me why.

Remember the two students; the girl and her brother? The girl had finished school two years earlier, and the younger brother was still studying in his final year at the school. 

My friend met the two of them by accident at the small town, as he was buying supplies. The two young people were sitting at an eating stall, just finishing their breakfast and was enjoying the morning air.
My friend saw them and decided to join the table as he hadn't seen the girl for quite a while. But as he approached....

The girl stood up and left, his brother followed suit. They saw him coming and decided to leave.
Not only that, from the face of the girl - it showed disgust.

Now, please kindly tell me WHAT kind of people are we dealing with? (And as you at it, which special hell would you put these two in?)

My friend was heartbroken. And I was livid with anger (this is one turning point in my life; never put your full trust in a student). If I was there, I'd rip their ungrateful hearts out (one of the reasons many dare not cross me, I was a terror back then).

You might say that this only happens rarely, but in this new era, this modern world - it happened again and again. Children lie and hurt, yet when reprimanded, cried foul. Where is the respect for the elderly today?

A good and caring teacher was scarred emotionally, maybe for life. By having him faulty, a lot of students will lost the chance of having a meaningful relationship with a nice man as he.      

I am not saying I suspect EVERY child to be evil and prone to hurt feelings. It is just nowadays teachers have to be more careful to help those in need. Being a naturally bad person, I am sorry to say that I only help those who wish to better themselves. I told you people I am not nice before, right? :v

This is the entry I promised Grayquill :)

p.s. - as for those two, the girl married young and was divorced much later, with a baby. As for her ungrateful younger brother, he faced hell in school - the collective wrath of all teachers who heard and sympathized our colleague. You do not wish to be a student every teacher hates. He did badly for exams and then was never seen again.  

11 comments:

Aizan Suhaira said...

I believe when you do good you should never expect anything in return.

But I understand how your friend must have felt. I've experienced that scenario before.

It left a very bitter taste in my mouth indeed.

Rock Chef said...

Sadly this happens all the time.

My wife and I have often gone out of our way to help others for little or no thanks in return.

SSQuo said...

It is harsh...especially when it breaks someones lifelong attitude of kindness. Seeing dissapointment in someone who believes so much in people is difficult. I agree with Aizan though, though it may hurt to receive no thanks, you have to think prior, 'Am I OK to do it, or do I still want to do it whether I receive thanks or not'.

Grayquill said...

Thank you for the post!!
Now...let's talk.
I want to hear the other side of the story, the one from the kids perspective. Also, I believe in the prinicple (usually): never do anything for a kid that they are capable of doing for themselves. Principle number two: Something for nothing is rarely appreciated. Principle number three: Young people are stupid and reamaing that way untill they are at least 30 years of age - I am beginning to thing that age might actually be 40. Princple number 4: If you do something for another with strings attached - it is not a gift it is wages. Be sure the terms are spelled out in the beginning, ie., "If I do this nice thing for you and I see you at a resturant, you must run and give me a hug." Principle number 5: Don't approach students in public if you are geeky teacher - they will run everytime. Princple number 6: This is actually not a principle - tell us more about this time of working in such a remote place and the boat ride - i am so curious.
WOW what an experience.

Eveline said...

I was so happy after reading the first part of your post - I should have stopped there. It made me believe in humanity again, well, till I got to the end. That just raised my blood pressure.
I think all of us, somewhere along the line, have had a selfless friend like yours in our lives. Perhaps it's something we all need to do - remember to be vocal about our gratitude.
I'm so sorry about what happened to your friend. Definitely not fair.

James said...

A program of recovery we use is Codependent's Anonymous, in which we've learned that trading respect for approval (in this case time and money) is a sickness that is often deadly, spiritually and emotionally. TechnoBabe and I have worked this program for several years and it's a blessing for sure. Your story hit the mark.

Grayquill said...

Here's the deal - co-dependent no more - I think that is a book. Do you not comment on our comments. I thought my comment would get some kind of reaction. :) :( :O

FairulFaizal said...

Bad things happen to good people. Fewh!

Unknown said...

Hello you guys :)

I am so sorry if I don't have time to comment here, or put a new entry.
You see, it's the end of the year and this is the last week of school, so I am so swamped with work now. I promise I will put up a new entry and comment when all this is done.

And Mr Grayquill, I WILL be back to continue our discussion. Don't you dare think I will just go down silently, ha ha ha!

So wait for it, will you people?
I might post some pictures of my old school, in the middle of no where :)

Anonymous said...

Interesting....

I have seen what your friend experienced and worse...
And I agree with Grayquill's comment... (I cannot believe I just typed that!!!)..right down to the point where he wanted to know more about the place and the people there. :)

Grayquill said...

Ahhh...life is good. Choco agreed with me - YES! It's a good day.

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