6 my life’s journey
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My Life’s JourneyThe road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination. Don Williams Jr.
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Moshi, Tanzania, East Africa
Born in Africa
I was born in a small town with two streets parallel to each other: Dusty dirt roads, corn fields, bean fields, springs with crystal clear water, mosquitoes, one school, one neighborhood…with the slopes of Kilimanjaro as my oasis
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• Elementary school: local schools that the British left behind and we faithfully continued
• Secondary school: Founder student for the school built by Irvin Mortenson [father of the author of “Three Cups of Tea”, Greg Mortenson]
• I had teachers from all over the world, from Australia to the United States
• Why is this important? my foundation was colorful, strong and memorable
British EducationMoshi, Tanzania, East Africa
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The Influence from Montessori
• I couldn’t get a college education due to political and cultural constraints
• My choices: a nurse or a teacher
• I chose a teacher – my mother was a teacher
• Montessori’s philosophies meshed with mine and I made them mine when I became the administrator for a k-3 school that I attended when I was 3
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Moshi Kindergarten• Built the school and connected us to the
local schools, making us a collaborative educational community
• Personally and physically renovated the building: painted murals that were synchronized with the landscapes and history of the town; designed an outdoor stage for theater; created a landscape with the school staff and children, and by the school staff and children
• We were the first school that dared to teach children with special needs: they taught us and we taught them
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Kenya• Curriculum design and helping colleagues understand learning is a two-
way traffic highway became my calling• Created strong literacy and mathematical foundations for all students• Developed science kits for k-12 which evolved into working with a
colleague designing and implementing a science handbook for teachers to understand and perform more effective laboratory exercises for students
• Established a school band from 3 participants to 24. Personally wrote the music and transposed the music to incorporate harmony
• Wrote custom-made plays that were appropriate for our students pulling together diverse cultures and the geo-dynamics of the country
• Participated in the development of the Nairobi Museum inaugurating the African-Indian [people of India] section
• Participated in several charities in several ways• Received my first degree while married into a joint family and being the
proud mother of two children
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United States• Received my second degree and now my third• The dots began to connect: my educational
experiences and philosophies were given a theoretical framework by which I was practicing
• My learning ‘curve’ was a straight line in a positive direction
• My work ethic allowed me to be given a wide variety of experiences because I built trust among my colleagues and administrators
• My humorous side found a home• My creative side took a leave of absence as I
focused on family, career and just taking in the new country
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Whatever we think about and think about we bring about - John Demartini
Shaping my career through pure experiences
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My early exposure to individuals with challenges• My father changed one
man’s life [the town ‘fool’] simultaneously teaching me how to be cognizant of people’s differences: ‘Everyone has a gift – find it’
• His funeral had so many individuals with challenges thanking my mother – of whom we knew none: They were all his ‘sons’ and ‘daughters’
• My mother made me do community service every evening and most weekends at an orphanage and thalidomide-victim home run by missionaries. She too volunteered her time and money
• Her funeral had all her ‘sons’ and ‘daughters’ thanking us for giving them a second chance in life
•
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Share my experiences through academia, professional and where appropriate personal.Teach my experiences as tools to better teach any student
My Final Calling