Childminder’s profile |22 July 2019

Marina Joseph

Marina Joseph: “Passion allows me to overcome obstacles and give unconditional care to children”

Previously, in her youth, Marina Joseph was a child care assistant but six years ago after exploring other fields, she went back to her heart driven profession.

“I started by taking care of one child and slowly I had more kids coming into my care.

“I was taking care of a grandfather and his grandchild who is now 16 years old but when the grandfather passed away, I was left with the grandchild and she ‘opened the door’ for me to take care of more kids,” says Marina.

“I heard of the registration campaign by IECD, I joined and they quickly came to visit,” Marina adds.

Marina explains that she does not have a limit on what she offers her children and this is a plus that parents have with her childminding service.

“Normally most child care services offer only lunch but if a parent brings the child one day without their breakfast – some parents truly don’t have the means, some are negligent, some bring very unhealthy snacks – in those circumstances I provide the kid with breakfast,” she explains.

To date, Marina and an assistant take care of nine children with two below one year of age.

“The start-up grant of R10,000 helped me a lot, I was able to upgrade my toys and educational tools by buying new books, charts and more. Luckily I did not have to make any structural modifications to my place,” she says.

Her day starts as early as 6am because some parents start work much earlier. She makes sure her children have a healthy lunch, they shower after lunch and do different activities in accordance with the IECD curriculum.

“I teach them nursery rhymes, numbers, shapes, difference between boys and girls and even basic values such as saying good morning/afternoon and thank you. I make sure I answer all their many questions and teach them the names of things around the house,” Marina says.

Marina tells us that the biggest challenge of her job is lack of cooperation from certain parents. “Some parents don’t even pay up at the end of the month. You have to call them several times before they do so, sometimes they still don’t pay but I never take it out on the kids.”

Marina understands the purpose of the IECD standards despite difficulties in implementing some recommendations.

“Last year I did my pest control spray but now they want me to do another and keep records of my receipts. I also have to redo another medical test,” she explains anxiously.

She remains very committed to the IECD training programmes which she finds very useful and enriching but wishes that some of the starting times for the training could be more convenient.

Marina, now 59 years old, believes that it is passion that allows her overcome the obstacles to give unconditional care to children. However, she believes that despite her great love for children if some parents don’t cooperate more she may not be able to stay in the child care field for long.

Contributed by IECD