Mama Maseko: My South African Hero

There are times in your life when you meet someone who brings you such faith and hope for humanity, the giddy joys of possibility, and the inspiration to do more. In my South African life, that woman is Ma’am (or often, Mama) Maseko.

Ma'am Maseko and I at Heritage Day 2014

I first knew that Ma’am Maseko was someone special when, while making conversation with educators at my school, more than one of them cited her as their inspiration for teaching. One said, “I knew I wanted to do something good with my life, but I didn’t know where to start. Ma’am Maseko convinced me to start volunteering at the school crèche to gain experience; I loved it so much I just kept teaching.” I made a mental note to get to know this influential person better.

Over the last year and a half, I continue to be inspired by this loving, thoughtful, and passionate friend and colleague. I wanted to honour her work and our friendship by telling a bit more about her and her story with you all.

To start, I want to provide just a snapshot of her work, both at home and in the community:

• Full-time teacher in grade R (kindergarten) at my school
• Works 3 Saturdays each month as a trainer for Universal College Outcomes (UCO); trainees are current and future teachers through the Early Childhood Development certification program.
• Diligently works to secure donations, sponsorship, and funding for her own community crèche.
• Occasional Sunday school teacher
• Occasional guest speaker at education-related events
• Mother of two teenage girls, one of whom should be off to college this year
• In her little remaining time, she volunteers to support and cook for family and church functions, does beadwork and other crafts (usually items for use in her classroom or in her future crèche), connecting with neighbours, reading, and listening to the radio.

Ma'am Maseko and all her grade R babies!

Mama Maseko: In Her Own Words

Michelle (Me): How old were you when you realized that you had a passion for working with children?

Maseko: In high school, I started teaching Sunday school in my church (African Evangelical Church). I would teach them songs, bible verses, and dramas so that every Sunday they could perform something for the parents during the church service. When I finished my matric (high school), I went to my nearest crèche and asked to volunteer. From 1998 they gave me a chance to work full-time with the small children.

Michelle: In your opinion, what are the most important aspects of Early Childhood Development?

Maseko: It is so important for children to go to school early to learn. A school or crèche must be suited to provide for the whole development of the child: intellectual, moral or ethical, physical, and spiritual development. We are teaching them not only the foundation for maths and languages, but also how to live their lives in a good way.

Michelle: Is that why it is your dream to open your own crèche?

Maseko: Yes. You must start when they are young to learn these things. Some people think that we are just playing in the crèche or in grade R, but even our games have a teaching purpose. The other reason why a crèche is important is to help the parents. In our area we are facing this challenge of teenage pregnancy. A 14-year old girl may be at home having a child, when she herself is also a learner in high school. As we are in a rural area, there are fewer job opportunities. So these young parents need to have an option for child care so that they can stay in school. Some of our parents are used to going to the fields and work from morning to sunset, while carrying babies on their backs. These early years are the times in the child’s life to try and help all children, especially those who are neglected due to the challenges to take care of them, by opening a place where they can be safe, secure and fed accordingly. The other reason why I want to open my own crèche is because I stay in a place where the nearest crèche is more than 3-4 km away. Most of our parents don’t have their own transportation, so if the crèche is too far, the children will not go.

Michelle: If money were no object, what would your ideal crèche look like?

Maseko: (With a huge smile) My ideal crèche would have two classrooms, one for younger children and one for the older children. It would have a kitchen area with cooking supplies and utensils, two toilets, a bathing room, and a sick bay. It would be good to have a small jungle gym outside with tires, balls, and skipping ropes for playing.

Michelle: How many learners and educators would you have?

Maseko: I think with this size it would be good to have up to 25 children. The educators must be able to teach the children well and take care of them so they are safe. When we split the children by their ages, we would need one educator for the older kids and two educators for the younger ones. We would also need a cook and a gardener or security guard. I have two educators who could come and at least 15 children already interested. The problem is that we have not been able to find or build the space. I started a crèche last year just using the carport of a neighbor’s house, but there were some issues with making the space available so we have since closed down. I still want to find some sponsorship to open a crèche permanently.

Michelle: Tell me more about the courses you teach on Saturdays.

Maseko: I work through UCO (Universal College Outcomes) to teach certification courses for Early Childhood Development (ECD). I mostly teach courses for ECD Practitioner Assistants (level 1) and ECD Practitioners seeking certification (level 4). I show them strategies for teaching the whole child through activities and play. We discuss what we must do to create a safe space for children to learn and how to encourage them to be successful. It can be difficult to get access to these courses in the rural area, so having a local facilitator is really important for training our teachers in the area. 

Ma'am Maseko, her co-teacher Ma'am Mcineka, and I dressed as learners for Hello Summer 2015

Who is Maseko to me?

Ma’am Maseko is my light and joy. Her excitement and love for her work is contagious. She and her co-teacher, Mrs. Mcineka, have created an exciting student-centered environment that is creative and resourceful. They have made caterpillars and crocodiles out of egg cartons. They have collected hundreds of bottle caps to teach counting and sorting. They have built bookshelves from found materials and empty milk cartons. They use group work and songs to teach teamwork, confidence, and language skills. In short, they are the type of educator that most educators aspire to be.

Even though she is exceptionally qualified and talented, Maseko is always eager to learn and grow. When I said I could help with computer lessons, she was the first person to show up saying, “I want to make an email address and I want to learn to type faster. But I don’t want you to do it for me, I want to learn.” When I started teaching remedial lessons, she was the first person to ask to sit in and observe a lesson.

When the children laughed at me because I mispronounced their names, she hugged me and wiped my tears. When I am excited about a new project or idea, she is the first person I want to tell. We talk excitedly about learning styles, learner confidence, and self-esteem. I taught her the word “nerd,” and now she laughs and says we are nerds together. Her friends and mentor describe her as dedicated, compassionate, a woman who truly understands the importance of our children and values her community. If I were her student, I would love coming to school every day! I love her dearly, and I thought you all should know her.

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Help her out:

Our Peace Corps grant options are limited when it comes to building buildings. This hurts my heart because if I would put my faith  any educator/school administrator, it would be her. She has solicited donations from local businesses but have not been able to yield the fundamental construction items. She has asked for help in identifying other grant options to which she may apply.

I would love you forever if you could research just one grant resource that might be willing to support a small, educationally focused construction project. Comment or email me with details and we will check it out!