Welcome to my new abode! This is where I have been spending much of my working hours hanging out with the boys and girls in my school. I think I have been extremely possessive of this room tucked away in a corner of my new school, where I started work more than a month ago as the full-time counsellor. I think I am especially proud of it as I "fought" to have the room, inherited a room full of boxes and tables, evacuated it entirely and went to IKEA, given full reign to decorate it any way I wanted.
As a result, I do feel a good sense of peace and satisfaction stepping into the room. The kids love coming to see me and sinking into the comfy sofa or drawing on the blackboard easel. They love the cheery colours of the rug and pillows. I wanted it to be a safe place, a place they can come to from respite from the world outside, an often stressful and threatening place for a child from a broken family or one just trying to cope with the many pressures children nowadays have to face. The kids who come to my room often have been treated with little respect from the world outside. Their self esteem has been battered on every side, and it can take me several sessions with some of them before they can finally admit that there is some hope, a spark of cleverness or uniqueness in themselves.
I have been enjoying myself in my new school. Yes, often tired, sometimes overwhelmed by the intensity of the cases I have to handle, but grateful to God for such a warm environment, supportive school management, lovely colleagues. I am much blessed :). In time I hope to grow this little room to be a real helping place, a place of healing - the healing that only God can bring to broken hearts and broken lives.
