UP CLOSE with… Janine Henriette, primary school teacher and authorpreneur |03 September 2019

The mother of two gets inspired to write her poems when walking among flowers and admiring their beauty

‘Everything is possible if you believe in yourself and have faith in your dreams’ 

By Marie-Anne Lepathy

She has just published her first book and is in the process of marketing and selling it. It was no surprise therefore that Janine Henriette, who writes under the pseudonym Ritah, came to this newspaper in her quest to make people know her better. 

A chat with her last week revealed a calm, serene, confident and easy to talk to person determined to share her life story with others through a book of 40 poems which she has published to coincide with her 40th birthday celebrated last year. She is also determined to pursue her childhood dreams of becoming a successful writer. The book entitled 40 Years is but the start of what she can do and will continue to do now that she has started and has wind under her wings, as we say, so there is no turning back for her. 

An inhabitant of Bel Ombre where she lives and has always lived, Janine has always enjoyed reading and writing from since a very young age.  

“I remember when very young I wrote about my feelings on different issues and I put my thoughts in poems,” Janine recalled. 

For the book itself Janine said it was carefully thought and planned. “I started to plan it sometime before my 40th birthday last year. I said why not put together 40 poems to coincide with my 40th birthday. Everyone takes time to reflect and look back on life but I believe when you reach 40 you are more mature and you have lived life long enough to take a moment to trace your life journey step by step. All the good things that have happened to me and all the good memories and souvenirs that I cherish, the not so good things and the painful moments and other challenges, I decided that I want to share my life journey,” Janine recounted. 

She said it was not easy to put so many things on paper but then she decided to try and summarise her life journey in 40 different poems to coincide with such a momentous celebration. 

“So here in the book are pieces of my life from childhood, the years as a teenager, my romantic life, world of work, motherhood, travel experience, the journey to discover and connect with God… and more,” Janine explained. 

Inspiration, career, personal development 

A primary school teacher at Beau Vallon and teaching at primary five (P5) and P6 levels for the past year only, Janine worked for eight years as a policy analyst at the Central Bank of Seychelles (CBS). 

“I freely chose to leave my job at the CBS to pursue my childhood dream of becoming a writer. I really enjoyed my office work at the CBS where I learned and gained a lot in terms of experience, skills, confidence, but I believe there comes a point in your life when you strongly want to reconnect with your childhood passion and work to make something out of it,” Janine said pensively. 

Working at CBS, Janine said, was really a learning experience for her. “There are lots of opportunities for learning and developing your capacity and skills in numerous areas and I would strongly recommend the CBS as a place with opportunities to any young people wanting to make a career in finance, economics and any related fields.”

As for her present career as a teacher, Janine said she is enjoying it. 

“In spite of all its challenges, a lot of satisfaction can be derived from the teaching profession,” Janine affirmed. 

“I believe this is why some teachers stay in the profession for so many years in spite of everything,” Janine said. 

Janine is also of the view that being a teacher also provides her with ample time to further develop and concentrate on her writing, especially during the holidays. 

“With an eight to four job it was impossible to dedicate enough time to writing,” she remarked. 

Her book of poems  

As for writing, Janine has been doing it continuously and whenever she feels inspired. She said some of her poems date back several years while others are more recent. 

“I can write something now and then leave it there to come back later to add to it.”   

Inspiration for Janine to write her poems can come from different sources such as sitting quietly on the beach and admiring nature’s creation and gift to humanity, walking among flowers and admiring their beauty and taking in their scent, at home during the day, before going to bed or at any other place and  time. 

Janine admits that the poems she writes, other than depicting the different stages of her life, strongly touch on love in its different forms. 

“In fact, love features everywhere in my work but it is for different people, in different relationships. The first one I wrote was for my mother, followed by one for my grandparents and the third dedicated to the work my mother did to feed and clothe us. She was a waitress,” Jeanine revealed. 

Choosing the 40 poems to feature in the book, Janine said she took her time to do the selection and did not rush, and the whole process went smoothly as she is used to work to achieve her goals. She knows that perseverance is the key to succeed. 

“I felt I was well prepared and ready to launch into this process so there was no struggle as my heart was fully into it,” she said.  

To print her work Janine said that she turned to an international print house on the advice of somebody who had gone through the process before her. Her book 40 Years is presently on sale online but is expected to be available in book shops before the end of this month and this is something she is working on at present. She is selling it herself for the time being as she awaits a response from selling outlets. 

Janine is optimistic her work will do well. “I took it one step at a time and I have faith that things will turn out well. Everything is possible if you believe in yourself and have faith and trust in your dreams and I am optimistic that all will go well even though it will take some time to see the results,” Janine stated. 

With regards to the book’s presentation and quality of the work done, Janine is really satisfied with the end product. And looking at it she says she is very much encouraged to continue with similar projects in the future.  

Life, leisure time 

Janine loves the beach which she considers as her second home as she lives close to the sea. She enjoys swimming, sitting on the beach, walking, running in the sand or just sitting and enjoying the beauty of the sea and the beach. 

She loves and enjoys all music genre but prefers rhythmic tunes when it comes to dancing. 

At home, Janine is not a typical housewife but she says she does the basic and what needs to be done. A single mother, Janine lives with her two sons aged 15 and 13 years old, with whom she shares a very strong bond. They too love nature and enjoy spending time with her on the beach close to their home.   

As she looks forward to the outcome of this first piece of work Janine is also thinking of the future as a seed has germinated and she is determined to nurture it to make it grow into something big. Janine the authorpreneur is determined to pursue her dreams and to succeed.