Dr Maria Kamm is overwhelmed with joy during a symposium for Weruweru alumni. PHOTO | FIDELIS FELIX
By Songa wa Songa, The Citizen Reporter
(email the author)
Posted Saturday, September 14 2013 at 07:11
Posted Saturday, September 14 2013 at 07:11
In Summary
All these women passed through the magical hands of
Maria Josephine Kamm, the larger-than-life headmistress of the
Moshi-based Weruweru Girls’ secondary school from 1970 to 1992. And,
yes, they called her Mama and she addressed and treated them as her
daughters.
Dar es Salaam. They are Tanzania’s power
women—well read. connected and respected. The members of this club of
achievers include Dr Asha-Rose Migiro, Dr Mary Nagu, Dr Mwele Malecela,
Dr Helen Kijo-Bisimba, Dr Julie Makani, Ambassador Mwanaidi Maajar,
Zuhura Muro, Anne Kilango-Malecela, Ananilea Nkya and many others. And
then there is a battalion of ministers, permanent secretaries, members
of parliament, diplomats, judges, activists and entrepreneurs who have
made a mark.
All these women passed through the magical hands
of Maria Josephine Kamm, the larger-than-life headmistress of the
Moshi-based Weruweru Girls’ secondary school from 1970 to 1992. And,
yes, they called her Mama and she addressed and treated them as her
daughters.
In her 22 years at the helm, Mrs Kamm accomplished
what none of her contemporaries came close to. Now 76, she is in
control of her faculties and has a razor-sharp memory. At the school
formerly known as Assumpta College, almost every child she mentored
became somebody in life.
Speaking at a symposium on Thursday to celebrate
“Weruweru Girls Golden Jubilee: 50 years of living the dream”, Mama Kamm
opened up on the tricks of trade that put her in her own league.
In 1964, after completing her Bachelor’s degree in
the United States, she returned home to do what she loved
most—teaching. She also taught at the Bukoba-based Rugambwa Girls
Secondary School and the Moshi-based Machame Girls Secondary School.
She turned down a job offer from the University of
Dar es Salaam to remain with her girls as was the case in 1978 when she
was appointed the chief inspector of schools. “I had a deep, true love
for the girls,” she says. “I gave my life to the youth of this country.”
Mrs Kamm was a woman on a mission with passion. By
1954, she was one of only nine girls who had completed Form Two in
Tanganyika. So when in 1965 she started working as a teacher in girls’
schools, she knew that was exactly where she was needed most.
But what did she know that other school
administrators did not? At the height of the education for self-reliance
policy, Mrs Kamm concentrated on mentorship and shunned teaching for
the purpose of passing exams. She was bent on producing future mothers
and leaders of the nation.
To achieve that, Mrs Kamm made herself “mother” to
every child who went to Weruweru. In this role, she worked tirelessly
to unleash the best in every girl and erase all the traditional
stereotypes against women.
A five-minute inspirational talk at the assembly
every morning and one-to-one talk with every girl who needed help worked
magic. And she knew everyone by name and character—along with their
parents or guardians.
Tasked by the nation to interpret and implement
education for self-reliance policy, Mrs Kamm chose work ethic as the
benchmark, discipline as the only channel and excellence as dictum. At
the school, equality was essential.
Self-reliance would be achieved via
entrepreneurship which, at the school, meant physical labour. And so
Weruweru chicken fed the University of Dar es Salaam in those days and
maize from the school shamba produced an average of 1,000 sacks every
season, which earned the school lots of money.
She recalls how, for years, she pleaded with the government to
expand the school to Advanced Level in vain. The government argued that
the meagre resources were being spent on districts that had fewer or no
secondary schools at all.
When she said the school could build the
additional classes and dormitories with its own money, the government
gave a quick nod and the construction was completed within nine months.
“Girls, you did that with your own sweat,” she announced at the alumni
meeting amid thunderous applause.
She continued: “I know some of you regarded the
strict rules and hard work as torture. But I knew you would later
remember me for that. I am very proud of you.”
At a time when Tanzania’s education system is
under scrutiny after last year’s disturbing 60 per cent failure rate in
the national secondary school exams, Maria Kamm’s success story is worth
telling. Dr Mwele Malecela, distinguished researcher and
director-general of the National Institute for Medical Research,
believes that Mama Kamm’s secret was recognising that human beings will
excel where and when they feel accepted, loved and appreciated.
“There were daughters of ministers, me included,
daughters of peasants from the remotest corners of the country and even
Rosemary Nyerere—daughter of the president,” she adds. “But you couldn’t
tell the difference as we all felt equal.”
According to Dr Helen Kijo-Bisimba, a human rights
activist and the executive director of Legal and Human Rights Centre,
one-to-one counselling sessions with Mama Kamm, disciplined teachers who
loved their job, strict orders, cleanliness and a can-do attitude bred
confident, assertive, determined and responsible citizens.
“She was a teacher in the full sense of the word,”
said Justice Patricia Neema of the High Court, who also served for
seven years as a trial attorney at the United Nations International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. “We all had to
wear school-made uniforms even during outings. No one looked superior
or inferior. I came to appreciate this later in life after learning how
destructive the socio-economic-driven ego can be if it is not
controlled.”
That is Dr Maria Kamm for you—teacher, mentor,
inspirer, entrepreneur and a politician who served in the Tanganyika
Legislative Assembly and went on to be a Member of Parliament from 1990
to 2000.
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
SOURCE: THE CITIZEN
