TRUTH BE TOLD
KAMALA JEAN-GOPIE’S MISSION OF LOVE
Kamala Jean-Gopie with primary students in Malawi.
By DR VICKI BISMILLA
I recently met a colleague, Kamala-Jean Gopie, with whom I had worked at the Ministry of Education 30 years ago.
At the time she was a teacher on secondment to the Ministry. Her teaching career spanned roles as elementary and high school teacher, librarian, equity-curriculum consultant, university lecturer and education officer in the Anti-racism and Ethnocultural Equity branch of the ministry.
Upon retiring from a life in education in 1998, she was appointed to the Immigration and Refugee Board where, for eight years, she made decisions which affected the lives of hundreds of refugee claimants.
She was appointed a part-time Ontario Human Rights Commissioner in 2006, a position in which she served for two years.
As a result of working with immigrant students, Kamala-Jean began to understand some of the challenges faced by the students and their families.
This led to her involvement in a number of community organizations like Jamaican Canadian Association, Metropolitan Toronto Children’s Aid Society, Ontario Housing Corporation, International Social Service (Canada), the Urban Alliance on Race Relations, and Beatrice House.
Her interest in the arts also steered her into volunteer or fundraising activity with a number of arts organizations such as Harbourfront Corporation, National Ballet of Canada, Roy Thomson and Massey Hall, Toronto Arts Council, the Royal Ontario Museum, Canadian Stage Theatre, Tarragon Theatre, Obsidian Theatre, Stratford Festival Theatre and Reaching Out Through Music.
She currently serves on the boards of Unity Health Toronto and Canada Ballet Jurgen.
But this story is about Kamala-Jean’s inspiring volunteer work in Africa. In 2016 she met a young man named Happy Mussa in a market in Cape Town, South Africa. Struck by his work ethic she talked to him and learned that he was from Malawi, working in South Africa to support his family back home and to support his potential secondary and post-secondary education to become a teacher.
She did her homework and with the help of a relative, was able to check the veracity of this young man’s story and decided to sponsor his studies.
Kamala-Jean’s first visit to Malawi was in June-July 2017. She went to see Happy Mussa and his family. He had returned to Malawi to study through her sponsorship.
In Happy’s village she saw many young children who seemed keen to learn. Happy told her there was no school for these children.
So, on her return to Canada, she shared her concerns with her friend Diana Burke, and with donations from family and friends she decided to build a school. Thus began the Malawi project with the help of donations that she and her friends have continued to seek.
Apart from 2020 (because of COVID 19), Kamala-Jean has made annual visits to Malawi. Each year, the project has expanded, based on the needs and requests of the community.
There are now two classrooms for over 110 pre-schoolers, who get a daily lunch.
Happy graduated from Machinga Teacher Training College in 2021.
Houses in the village have been rebuilt, (using cement) after the 2018 hurricane.
Six sewing machines and carpentry tools have been provided so that young people can learn skills.
A maize (corn) mill was provided, and a few young people operate it as a business.
A bore well has been dug and secondary education is now being sponsored for some of the students whose parents are not able to pay school fees.
In 2022 Kamala-Jean and fellow donors began to support primary school children whose parents could not afford the registration fee.
The team installed a solar panel during COVID 19 to provide energy and light. Now the young children are able to use tablets in English and in the Malawian language, Chechewa, which Kamala-Jean and her volunteer team purchased to encourage and support literacy and numeracy. As well, the community has a phone charging station.
Recently her friend and teaching colleague, Charis Newton-Thompson, accompanied her, for Charis’ second time, to Malawi. Dr. Gagan Bhalla, a generous supporter, provided school supplies which they took with them to Malawi. They spent several very busy days in the community.
Kamala-Jean, always a teacher at heart, interacted with the pre-school children, teaching them and singing action songs with them at the original school site. Happy saw the need to expand this program because there are so many young children in the general area who would have to walk a distance to get to the team’s school. So now there are two more sites (Gopie 2 and 3) with 76 and 56 children registered. At one site, the children sit under a tree on a tarpaulin, while at the other site they sit on the ground under a tree. At each site two young women instruct the children.
Kamala Jean-Gopie with Happy Mussa.
The primary school children, dressed in their new uniforms, (with material bought by Kamala-Jean through her charity and sewn by community volunteers) were very patient and well-behaved as they waited for Kamala-Jean and Charis to arrive, after their visit to Gopie 2 and 3 sites. Their parents were also in attendance. At Charis’ suggestion, a primary school support program began in 2022 with 45 students and this year it has expanded to 60 to ensure that any child who attended the pre-school program, would be able to continue their education in primary school.
Secondary school students took the initiative to go and see Kamala- Jean and her local volunteers to discuss future plans. The volunteers were very pleased to see Alepha, Harrison and Yohanne who did well in the National Form 4 examination (Malawi Certificate of Secondary Education). They presented their plan to go on to tertiary education to study nursing, teaching and law.
The desire for education is very strong.
Many students and parents, mostly mothers, came to request help so that their children could attend secondary school. Kamala-Jean says, “It was truly an emotional time for me as I listened to their stories and requests for help. I went out on a limb by expanding the number of secondary students we support from 30 in 2022-23 to 36 in 2023-24. Additionally, we will support the two instructors, Amos and Memory, to complete their secondary education in an after-school program as well as support Janet, an instructor in the pre-school program, who has been accepted into Teacher Training College in Blantyre.”
Several tribal chiefs came to see Kamala-Jean. The others were attending a meeting, organized at the same time. The chiefs expressed deep appreciation for the project and suggested their community has grown in stature because of the number of children attending school as well as the services now in the community – maize mill, sewing machines, carpentry tools, water-well and energy provided by solar panel. Last year, a number of women requested a water pump to help them water their crops during the dry season. They had to go to the river to obtain water which they conveyed in buckets on their heads. Charis provided funds for the water pump which was presented to the women. Quite a surprise and their joy was boundless with singing, dancing and laughter!
Together Kamala-Jean and Charis visited Mawilo Private Secondary School, where many of the girls attend. In addition to school fees, supplies, and uniforms, Kamala-Jean and her team also provide room and board secured in the nearby area for 16 girls. The team also provides bicycles for a number of boys who have to travel long distances to school.
As a reward for two of the students who did well in their examination, Kamala-Jean and Charis took them to Liwonde National Park, but unfortunately were not able to gain entry. They needed to have a tour guide accompany them but they had no space in the car. So they went to Lake Malawi instead. Alepha and Harrison were excited to see the lake! And lunch at a hotel on Lake Malawi was quite a new experience for the students.
How you can support Kamala-Jean’s cause:
• Secondary school student tuition, books and exam fees: $400 per year, per student (a few more sponsors are needed).
• Primary school student registration: $10 per year, per student.
• Pre-schooler daily meal: $200 per year, per student.
• Meals for secondary school girls: $50 per month, per student.
• Salary for instructors /teacher (3) of pre-schoolers: $400 per month.
If you wish to donate, please visit www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/the-people-bridge-charitable-foundation. All donations are tax receiptable. Also visit namwera.com.