Retired teacher giving her life to children

If it were not for a retired teacher’s love, care and resilience, a group of children in the Fochville area would likely be stuck without the help and care they need.

“We started in 2016 when I was still a teacher at Reakgona Primary School (in Kokosi). At athletics, I identified two very dirty boys I did not know from school. I asked the learners, and they directed me to where the boys lived. When I got to their home, I found a real disaster; both parents were alcoholics and would not let the boys go to school,” says Ms Angie Mosala, who runs a safe house for children in Fochville.

Mosala asked her then-principal, and the boys became learners, but not without a fight from the parents. She sourced their birth certificates through a relative.

Since then, Mosala has taken numerous severely neglected children under her wing and works with authorities to give them the best upbringing possible. She is well known for her selfless work among social workers, who motivated her to apply to register her facility as a “cluster”, so she could take in more children after retiring. The Department of Social Services, however, did not help her find a suitable larger venue, but continued to refer more children to her home. Some of the children that Mosala has helped through the years include a girl with autism, who is still living with her, and another whose parents allowed her ante-retroviral treatment to lapse.

Despite this, she never gave up hope.

“I have worked with children for 40 years and recognise when they are needy. I do not mind making sacrifices for them,” she says.

Mosala managed to secure a house near the Fochville Traffic Department, but cannot secure a bond for it because she is too old. Her friend, Pastor Maleruo Ramaisa of the Tabernacle of Glory Mission Church in Kokosi, also helped look after some of the children she could not accommodate there. The children living in Mosala’s home are between five and 16.

Although some concerned Fochville residents and businesses have heard of Mosala’s excellent work and have started to help her, she has depleted her pension and hoped to secure the house she currently rents as a permanent facility.

“She does wonderful work. These children did not ask to be in this situation, and she is the only one helping them,” says one of these do-gooders.

Anyone who thinks they could assist Mosala, including with things like a table and chairs where the children can sit and learn, can contact her at 083 678 2568.