THE MIDWIVES - Mentors, Teachers, Coaches
“A 24-year-old being mentored by a 40 year old gives the 24 year old an opportunity to know at 24 what his or her mentor only got to know at 40.” Pr. Gladys Paswani (Paraphrased)
From first grade to fourth grade I was an average student in my class. My mother taught at a government school in a small town in Zambia called Kabwe. She saw it fit that me and my kid sister should be enrolled there and we were. Government schools were sadly not the best of schools for pupils desiring to excel academically back in my days. I struggled academically through my first years in school because I was surrounded by playful kids. There was never a time I had exceptional results in the end of term or end of year exam. The best result I remember was me coming out in 8th position overall. I’m sure that 8th position was being shared by many others in my class, really nothing to write home about.
Things were bound to change though. My father noticed the rate at which I was moving academically and I think he was a little concerned. The best I could do was read and do the times table, most of which I learnt from him. In fourth grade, I could hardly speak a sentence let alone properly communicate in English.
Dad decided to move me from the government school and opted to take me to one of the most expensive private schools in town. I remember at the time it was K30, 000 per term (which is now K30), in 1994/95 that was a lot of money. I had to sit for written interviews before being accepted into the private school. My performance was not very impressive so the school said if I was going to be accepted then it would mean I’d have to repeat 4th grade, instead of starting in 5th grade I’d have to re-do the grade 4 syllabus. My parents were determined to get me in and so they obliged. Little did I know that my mother had a back-up plan to compensate for the 1year I was going to lose.
The first term in that school was one of my most difficult times for me growing up. The sudden shift from a government school to a private school full of rich and very intelligent kids was a little too much to handle. To make it worse my teacher was quite elderly and was the type that would pick his favourite pupils based mostly on whether they came from a wealthy family or not. I noticed that these kids would often receive praise for almost anything they did.
Despite all that, it looked like my parents’ plan was working after all. I started picking up academically and was beginning to gradually learn how to communicate in English. At the end of the second term I however still went home with a report card showing 8th position. I remember feeling very discouraged and not knowing what my dad would say. To my shock, dad was very supportive. As far as he was concerned, 8th position in a private school and 8th position in a government school were miles apart and so he encouraged me to “pull my stockings up” like they used to say back in the day.
Something significant happened when we were given a new teacher. This was still 4th grade in the 3rd term. To my surprise this man actually noticed me. As a matter of fact he noticed every pupil in class. He never picked favourites and always made sure he gave us personalized attention. All of a sudden the ‘rich’ kids were not as popular anymore because they could not get away with shoddy work anymore, they had to prove themselves worthy of his red pen.
This man made me realize my strengths and revived everything that had been killed by the government school experience. I looked forward to going to school every morning. My performance was shooting higher and higher until I was competing with the best in class. At the end of the 3rd term we were given our sealed envelopes with report cards to be taken to our parents. I was quite positive that my results would be far much better than the last. I was however not ready for what I was about to see. My class mates were in the habit of fidgeting with the envelopes to check their positions because the envelopes then were the type with a small transparent window by the side.
There was anxiety and excitement all over the school as kids managed to check a thing or two. I wouldn’t be bothered to do that because the last thing I wanted to do is risk ripping my envelope because the rule was that it was to be opened by our parents or guardians only.
One of my friends however managed to fidget with my envelope and the only thing he managed to see was something close to ‘…sition 1’ and when he told me I had come top of the class I shut him up and said I had to see for myself. Lo and behold it was a fact. I had come out top of the class. I grabbed that envelope, held it hard in my hands and ran through the town center screaming “Number one, number one, number one” on top of my voice like a soccer player who had just scored a crucial winning goal. I could not wait to show my parents my results.
Parents, guardians, mentors, teachers and life coaches are all a vital part of our journey in life. Without them, life would be way much more difficult to navigate through. They give us visibility into the future because they see much clearer through the eyes of experience. They provide accountability that keeps us in check so we do not make decisions that will work against us. Timothy had Paul, Elisha had Elijah and the twelve apostles had Jesus. We all need mentors, coaches and teachers to provoke the greatness in us to manifestation. They not mere cheer leaders screaming from the sideline-they plan the strategy of the game with us, they are mentally with us on the field fully engaged. They keep a close eye on us to cheer us on when we’re making the right moves, but they also jeer at us when we don’t follow their instructions to the letter until we get it right. They are the ready midwives that rally us on to keep pushing until we birth destiny. When we win they win too and our loss is as good as theirs. Without those midwives many dreams will be aborted and destinies will die premature deaths. May you locate your midwives and may they locate you. MOVE