Precious Time

Day 5: Book Week

On the last day of Book Week we arranged for a local author to come and speak to the primary school children. She explained to them how characters are developed in a story through the comments of other characters and that you need a bad character to play off a good character. Some good tips for young writers.

The highlight of the day for me was listening to the motivational speaker who came to speak to the High School. Daughter T has been trying to convince our principal to bring this speaker to the school since last year and finally convinced her that he would be a perfect fit for their youth day assembly!

Allan Heyl is the only surviving member of the infamous Stander Gang who were involved in some daring bank robberies in South Africa in the eighties. Please go to this link or try this one here if you are interested in reading more about them.

After 27 years in jail here and in England, Allan is now a reformed man who feels blessed that he was able to live through all these experiences and can now face the world with a positive message. He was able to speak to the students on their level telling them about how different he was when he committed those crimes. He explained that it was only while in jail that he was able to confront the demons inside him and work through all the issues that had helped him make bad choices in his early years.

Mr G has always been fascinated with the story of the Stander Gang and always wanted to meet Allan. He also came to the assembly today and was able to spend time with Allan. The two of them went for a meal after the assembly and Mr G was able to ask him many questions about his days on the run from the police and his time in prison. Imagine living most of your adult life behind bars? Time seems even more precious when you think how long 27 years really is.

It turned out to be quite an interesting day. On the Grade One front I was blown away by the children's wonderful art paintings and am looking forward to going back to school next week as their colourful paintings are hanging in the classroom!