A retirement message from sister Lydia

Have I been really here for 17 years? That sounds like a long time. Since the year 2002, I have been privileged to have had in my classroom, many fine young boys. 17 years ago, at St. Paul’s Gekano boys high school, some of the learners began to teach me how to teach. They helped me build the first bridges. From them I learned that true teaching is a special partnership. It only really works when the teacher reaches beyond the outer image, looks into the heart, understands and respects what they see. The students’ role is to allow themselves to be seen, not just for who they are, or have been, but also for what they could be.

I look back with gratitude. I entered a profession dedicated to assisting young people achieve their potential, to revealing or finding their best selves. As I leave it, I am taking many of you with me. You will live in my memories. I will always remember the things we achieved together.

I have been asked what I’m going to do now. I am going to do lot of things and very few of them conform to the nation of retirement as a time of waiting for the inevitable end. I am going to travel to places visiting other Christians, consoling the sick, the faint-hearted and the less fortunate in the society. Basically, I will continue doing God’s work here on earth.

I would wish to pay tribute to my colleagues for their support, friendship and exemplars of what it is to serve faithfully and with humility. I will always remember our shared laughter, our joys as well as our struggles.

And lastly, to the dear parents of this young learners, the teachers of this great school that we love so much and our dear young boys, I leave you with this thought. We are unique. We are neither better nor less than anybody else but rather the best or the least of ourselves. I am still working on finding the best of me. Thank-you for being my travelling companions along a large and important part of my way. I am forever grateful for your stimulating company and enormous collection of shared experiences indelibly printed on my mind.

	Thank-you. Happy holidays