Cheikh Darou Seck

Mr. Cheikh Seck, English teacher (drawn by Fatimata Binta Diallo)

In the last three years I can say that I learnt far more things than I have learned in my entire young life. I have been exposed to so many programs that permitted me to see the world and the people living in it in different ways. During the last three years I met with different people outside school programs, got exposed to their great knowledge and learned a lot from them. Mr. Seck is one of these people and I have been greatly influenced by him. He taught me a lot with the MY HERO Project. In fact, I never thought that one day I would be able to film using a camcorder, let alone edit. This is why Mr. Seck is my hero.

Cheikh Darou Seck was born in 1964 in Thies, 70 km away from Dakar. After graduating from The Thies Malick Sy high school. He attended the Cheikh Anta Diop University and specialised in English. After his Masters 4 years later, he passed his exam for the teacher training school and got posted in the South a year later.

I always marvel at the difference of approach between Mr. Seck and the other teachers in my school. He is always ready to help students, even when they are not in his class. He is so easy to deal with that some students initiated a Fan Club to honor him. One day I asked him the question that has been preying on my mind for a long time. How come he knew so much and was so positive and so willing to share what he knew? He laughed before answering my question. He said, "It all comes from my being lucky to travel round the world and my meeting with people from different social and cultural backgrounds, mainly people from the MY HERO Project. I learnt all I know from them." There it was. The source of his easiness and open-mindedness was in his dealing with other people when he travels, exchanging and sharing, thus learning.

I will never forget the first thing he told us when he entered our classroom for the first time: "Don't be surprised if you ask me a question and I tell you I don't know. I do not know everything. But I will check the answer with you to know." This is something I really value in Mr. Seck because many teachers will not admit their ignorance. They always want students to believe they know everything, which is not true. Why teachers want to behave like that I don't know. Mr. Seck is always talking about being humble and acknowledging your own mistakes.

President Abraham Lincoln (as seen by Fatimata Binta Diallo)

After reading President Lincoln's story, I wondered whether Mr. Seck did not get inspired by Abraham Lincoln in many ways. For example, he is very good at telling us his objectives at the beginning of every year through programs he will develop during the year. I read that President Lincoln was very good at this too. Especially during elections and campaign periods.

Doris Kearns Goodwin stated that Lincoln had a "remarkable ability to communicate his goals to his countrymen." He made concepts simple and communicated with an understanding of the concerns of the citizens. When the war ended and he won reelection, Lincoln did not focus on his achievements said Kearns Goodwin. Rather, in his second inaugural speech, Lincoln focused on bringing the country together as expressed in the following excerpt:

"With malice toward none, with charity for all, - let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations."

Kearns Goodwin ended this keynote address with the following words from Leo Tolstoy about Abraham Lincoln. His greatness consisted of the "integrity of his character and moral fiber of his being."

Just like Abraham Lincoln, Mr. Seck has got a rare ability to learn many things from his activities while doing them. Once he told me he never learnt to write a film. He just understood that being like a story, a film must be made of different chapters. He told me that there are many things about editing he learnt just practicing. This is a kind of adventurous aspect of his personality that I really like and admire about him. He is always telling us that making a difference lies in a strong desire to do so. Real heroes are not extraordinary people. They are just like you and me.