WASHINGTON, May 10 (OneWorld.net) - Single mother of three Doris Mashego is also founder, teacher, and headmaster of the local nursery school in Uta, South Africa, working to reverse the area's longstanding trends of low literacy and high unemployment.

  • Fifteen years ago, Mashego created the Uta Creche (nursery school), where children learn alphabet skills, counting, and basic Xitsonga and English. "Her selfless acts and determination have created one of the most successful nursery schools in Manyeleti where hundreds of local children learn and play daily," explains the Student Movement for Real Change (SMRC), a U.S-based non-profit group that supports community development projects around the world. (See Mashego's full story below.) SMRC is paying tribute to exceptional women and mothers throughout the world in honor of Mother's Day.

  • "South Africa has 12.3 million learners, some 386,600 teachers, and 26,292 schools, including 1,098 registered independent or private schools," states a South African government-sponsored Web site, SouthAfrica.info. However, "nearly 15 years after the advent of democracy in South Africa, thousands of schools across the country still have no sanitation, water, electricity, science laboratories, or sports facilities, despite the education department having an annual budget allocation larger than any other government department," reports the humanitarian news service IRIN.

  • Investing in early childhood is one of the most effective ways to ensure children succeed in school and increase families' economic well-being, says the "State of the World's Mothers" report issued last week by the international humanitarian group Save the Children. "Early childhood care and development is a proven and powerful investment in national well-being and future economic prosperity," but millions of children around the world do not have access to the quality early learning and development programs that would help them excel later in life, says the report. The report "shows that tools and resources exist to keep all children healthy, safe, and learning, but that these resources are not reaching the mothers and children who need them most." At the report's launch, Save the Children President and CEO Charles MacCormack focused on the opportunity: "Comprehensive early childhood development programs, starting in infancy, can put millions of children worldwide on the path to school success."

  • In Mashego's village of Uta, there is no industry and no farming, explains Claire Bristow, a British student returning to the region this year to help construct a community center for women. "Very few people have jobs and of those that do, they are hours away and people will live at the jobs. Many women are out of work and live at home, alone with their children, while their husbands work away from Uta. Women who don't have jobs still have a huge responsibility to complete domestic work and raise their children. Those women that do have jobs have the double burden of the domestic work while also earning money. This means that women in Uta are often overworked retrieving water, cooking for their families, looking after their children -- and with the added stress of poverty this is something to recognize and commend." Working through SMRC, Bristow is expecting the community center to provide a place for some of the village's informal women's groups to hold meetings; organize workshops on AIDS prevention, nutrition, and other subjects; and take part in microfinance projects to help build the local economy.

Tribute to Women

From: Student Movement for Real Change

May 6, 2009 

Doris Mashego is from Uta, South Africa. She has raised 3 children as a single mother while managing the community's nursery school and fulfilling her role as its headmaster and teacher. The story of a single, working mother of 3 has become common for our generation; however, Doris' story is unique.

Doris' proud heart and educated mind taught her children the value of a proper education and put them on a path to one day attend university - a magnificent achievement for a student from Uta. Her selfless acts and determination have created one of the most successful nursery schools in Manyeleti where hundreds of local children learn and play daily. Doris welcomes SMRC global development interns into her home every year with a smile and spends extra time helping us understand the complexities of the local culture. Visit our special Tribute to Women website.

Mother's Day tribute to Doris Mashego, single mother of three and founder, teacher, and headmaster of a nursery school in the village of Uta, South Africa   

studentmovement1

 

We are excited to honor Doris today and wish her a happy mother's day. Above is a beautiful video about Doris, her family and her work with children in Uta. We hope you enjoy it.

OneWorld.net: Latest News, Groups Working on South Africa