A Promise Made, A Journey Begun

Four years ago, I made a promise. It was simple in words, weighty in meaning: to tell my mother’s story. Not as a monument in marble, but as something alive, a memorial that breathes, grows, and still gives light.

Her name was Jacoba Johanna (Viljoen) du Toit. Her faith shaped her life; her love shaped ours. And now, as we draw near to her birthday on 10 October, I begin to keep that promise.

This week marks the start of what I call a living memorial: not a site of closure, but a space of continuation. It will hold her words, her work, her witness, and invite others to carry them forward.

My mother believed that our lives are not endpoints but launchpads, that every act of care or teaching ripples beyond us. In that spirit, this memorial is not only for her; it is for those she taught, raised, and inspired, and for the generations still to come.

Over the next few days, leading up to her birthday, I’ll share fragments of that journey: how her legacy found its way here, to Ukraine; how her calling as a teacher became my own; and how remembrance can become renewal.

It begins here, with a promise made, and a journey begun.

Deo Gloria Christian School - Founded by Jacoba and Leon du Toit in 1988 in Napier, South Africa.