Factors and Multiples

Did fit in some breathing space yesterday which ended up being much needed as I had to go in and sub at school today. Went to visit someone not doing so well with depression and then headed to the quiz at Reps (we did fairly well in the first couple of rounds but fell apart a bit in the last round to our detriment). A friend came round for tea and to chat to two friends who work in NGOs that deal with human rights and justice here in Zim. It was interesting to listen to the work that is being done and their take on how things will pan out in these sectors with elections and their aftermath. The one person rightly said Zimbabwe is a country that has not really known nonviolence and there is a lot of trauma from this to deal with. Tree of Life does some great holistic therapy with victims of torture and abuse and they use ecological models to help people identify and deal with trauma.

Went to pick up the friend I was house sitting for. She was lucky she wasn't on the early morning flight on Wednesday as apparently when the plane landed in Joburg it had to immediately take off again due to wind or the runway being occupied - pretty hairy for all on board and according to a friend of a colleague at school, even those who were not at all religious were saying an Our Father for good measure.

The teacher I will be taking over from led assembly at school this morning and she did a great topic of growth mentality - very apt as they were getting their assessment grades back today. She gave the example of Michael Jordan and this quote

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Michael Jordan

to try show how failure can be built on and you should never give up. She also said there is no magic wand to replace hard work. It was really good and she got the students thinking. I will have to do some research and serious preparation when it is my turn. She had most of the children's attention, except one child who decided to lie prostrate on the floor and and then proceeded to do rolly pollies to the door. In the interest of time he was left to do so.