From despair to strength, peace Alana’s an inspiration

From: Trinidad Guardian
Published: Sunday, November 11, 2012
– Michelle Loubon

It was 9 am at Swaha Hindu College, Coalmine Road, Sangre Grande, on October 30. Wheelchair-bound business teacher Alana Gajadhar was teaching a group of Form Three students. Gajadhar shot to national prominence when she graduated with a postgraduate diploma (Dip Ed with distinction) at UWI Spec Auditorium, from St Augustine Campus, on October 27.
Sitting serenely, Gajadhar cut a beautiful picture with her well-coiffed hair and almost perfect makeup. Pausing from her lecture, Gajadhar, 37, spoke of overcoming the disability sustained in an accident (September 30,1991) to pursue a successful career in teaching. Gajadhar was attending St Augustine Girls’ High School when, at age 16, following the accident, she lost all sensation in her legs and became a paraplegic.
Her charges listened with rapt attention. They were drawn from rural catchment areas like Toco, Manzanilla and her hometown Sangre Grande. Gajadhar’s students made the trek to the designated Business class on the ground floor. In 2001, she first taught English at Swaha.

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