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Fadzayi Maposah, Correspondent
I was not good at mathematics, but my female teacher was absolutely amazing.
She told us that it was doable!
Even when I wanted to cry, because I had no clue where the equation was going and what it meant, behind the stinging tears, I would tell myself that I needed to concentrate to get it right.
I remember this teacher so well that even as I write I can see her face vividly in my mind.
I remember too, that she only wore two colours at a time. It could be red and black, red and white, black and purple or any other colours that she had, but never was it more than two colours. Even her ear rings would fit into the two colours.
We admired her and wanted to be like her.
In contrast, my second daughter Takudzwanashe never became best friends with Mathematics.
Actually, she developed a great dislike for mathematics as soon as she entered the Ordinary Level classes. Reason being the female teacher that she had.
This female teacher, I hope she has reformed, told the whole class that she was just teaching them as a duty, for she thought they were more inclined to the arts, and was not expecting any outstanding grades for mathematics.
That woman failed to motivate a whole class, but burst their bubbles from day one.
Just for the record, amazing young men and women have come out of that class, despite the mathematics teacher abandoning them. To just show that this teacher had issues with the class, she taught the science classes and devoted much energy to those because of the potential they ‘exhibited’.
People want things that are easy on the surface, and do not demand so much skill from them.
Some potential remains untapped, since no one is willing to go the extra mile. While many have become teachers for reasons best known to themselves, others should really not be allowed to be close to learners.
I say learners because anyone at any age can become a learner. Teaching is a calling that should be respected. Actually all careers are a calling but today I choose to focus on teachers.
There are female mathematics teachers, who have relegated it to be a difficult subject for females. Just where they get this never ceases to amaze me.
They are female, and they are teaching mathematics, but openly or at the back of their minds consider it to be rough terrain for other females. If they were able to navigate the terrain why do they think that other females cannot do it?
Who does not want to be told that they are good? Everyone loves that.
The women in my life who taught me knitting, also in some way contributed to patience lessons. I never understood why some knitting patterns ask someone to knit a piece and then measure it when the time that one spent could have resulted in the actual piece becoming longer.
My mother taught me it was about testing the tension in knitting. If the tension was too loose, it would be longer than expected or shorter if the tension was tight. The lesson from knitting is that a prior test is appropriate just to ascertain that the skill is there.
This takes me to my driving instructor. A wonderful bubbly woman, nicknamed Malaika.
The first time I met her she said, “Hello Malaika. How have you been?”
I turned my head just to have a look at the beauty she meant. She tugged at my clothes and told me that I was Malaika.
I remember being stunned, but managing a smile. There has only been one Zimbabwean to bring the Miss Malaika crown home, Britta Masalethulini, who won the title in 2001, beating 26 others.
The instructor explained that every woman was beautiful in their own right, and the potential within every woman made her more beautiful. That I looked forward to the driving lessons is an understatement.
I loved being called beautiful. Even when I made mistakes, she would gently say, “Let us try again Malaika, you are learning”.
I felt so special being Malaika, and even when I got to know that every female learner driver under her wing was Malaika, it did not blow out or dim the flame that she put in me.
Instructor Malaika was a great picker of people. She also had male learners, and I am not sure how she motivated them, but I always remember the lessons fondly.
Being a woman has its own challenges. Hormones do not make it easy. The female cycles tend to somehow complicate things. The body is always on a roll.
It could be ovulation or a menstrual period; its presence or absence has an effect.
We all need pickers, who keep us motivated to celebrate being women and help us up when need be.
Whether something goes the unexpected way, we should have pickers always ready to inspire us to keep going. It is important to see the beauty and power in being female, and that even without a visible crown, one should always be victorious or be assisted to be victorious.
It is good to also understand that not all of us can teach others about being women, some are best suited to be in the support team. Everyone is important.
We just need to be able to cope with being female without some people not supporting us, because according to them, we have no potential to produce outstanding results. Understanding too, that we cross bridges differently.
Give each woman a chance to exploit the potential within them by allowing them to do a tension run, for nothing can be achieved without learning and even trying.
As women, we need to understand and appreciate that our differences and how we handle womanhood do not make us lesser women. Assess yourself against the examples of teachers I shared.
Which one are you? # Accelerate Action!
Online Reporter