Daniel has been dedicated to his calling as a teacher at UWC RCN since the College opened in 1995. How many individuals and generations have benefited from his generous presence on campus!
Hope is what I call ‘the oxygen of life’. This is what the College provides. I’m looking at some of my students now who came here last year. When they came they hardly spoke any English – you should see some of them today in class! If you and I, as English speakers, were taken to Cambodia or Laos and asked to do Economics, Philosophy or Development Studies in Khmer – Oh gee, I would be on the next flight home! These people are my heroes. I mean people who write in different scripts, in different directions on the page. Did you know that some languages don’t have punctuation? It took me some time to learn that. I know a student who came here with who could barely speak English and now he is a neuroscientist. There are so many stories; you see so many students’ lives change in just a matter of two years. That’s what I think people need. They need hope; they need to believe that they can do the right things, have faith in themselves and in humanity. We need to restore faith in humanity.
The father of my wife, Barbara, said something I will always remember. He was one of the top architects on the African continent. He said, “When I die, I will not be buried with any of my buildings; none of my models will be on my death bed, I have to remember that I came to this world naked; God opened up opportunities to me and look at what I have become. Look at how many lives I have touched.”
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