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Jane Smyth
"Maybe they think I'm half cracked and daft but that doesn't matter, I'll still smile anyway."
The Story
In 1979 Jane Smyth was a young teacher at a new school. The weather had been miserable for the last couple of weeks so she asked her pupils to bring things in to cheer up the classroom. One child brought in a poster of a smiling face with a message underneath that has resonated with Jane ever since.
My View
I am attaching photo of myself, which of course is awful, but at least I am still able to smile! In my experience, the best smiles I have ever seen, are the smiles of the pupils I taught in Zambia many years ago - in spite of all the poverty and hardship, they still had the brightest, broadest smiles! Now that the sun is shining here too, it gives us all more reason to smile!
Sadly, most of my photos from Zambia were lost by Agfa all those years ago, and the ones I have are of poor quality. No digital cameras in those days! Only the memories are clear! I got involved because, from a very young age, we subscribed as a family to missionary magazines called Africa and African Mission. I used to sell them also when I was in primary school. Those were the days of the "black babies" and it had an impact on me, so much so that as soon as I qualified as a teacher, I was off anywhere they would have me in Africa.
As it happened, my friend had a contact in Zambia - a Capuchin priest who was involved in running a parish in Western Province. So she and I cut out the middle men and went straight there, with a little support from the Irish government. Our official title was Lay Missionary Associate Teachers! Meanwhile, I had been offered a teaching job in Cork, but the lure of foreign lands was too strong and I declined the offer and went to "the bush" instead, where I spent several very happy, busy and exciting years.
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