At 67, Mama Musu from Sierra Leone learns to write

Mama Musu, a grandmother from Sierre Leone, has taken up the challenge of learning how to read and write so she can offer better care to her seven grandchildren.

"My grandchildren make fun of me when I sit with them in the evening to do my homework", says 67-year-old Mama Musu, who has recently enrolled in an adult literacy class being run by the SOS Social Centre in Goderich, on the outskirts of Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown. Caring for seven grandchildren aged six to 16, Mama Musu knows that to improve the care she offers to her little ones she has to take action.

Mama Musu says that she has never been to school in her life because her parents did not believe that girls should go to school, as tradition dictates. Early marriage was the answer and the guaranteed future for a girl child. "I was very young when my parents gave my hand in marriage to my present husband. I could not say no to their plans, so I went to my husband's home", she says.

Last January, one of the social workers from the SOS Social Centre in Goderich came to her and told her about the adult literacy classes and how these could improve her business and basic management skills. "I asked myself if I could cope, since I never went to school, but I was determined to prove to people that my age cannot stop me from learning something new in my life! So, I went for it,!" she says. "When I told my grandchildren that I was going to go to school, the youngest one, six-year-old Emma, said: "Grandma is going to school without a uniform!"

Despite her age, Mama Musu continues to strive hard to support herself, her husband and the seven grandchildren in her care. She does so by selling fish and firewood in the market. When asked how she copes with doing business at the same time as attending classes three days a week, she says: "When I go for classes, I close my business and after I finish I come back to do my business. I lose some money but I do extra time selling in the market until it is dark. It is not easy!"

Mama Musu's family was identified by the SOS Family Strengthening Programme's team in January. Though she was trying hard to make ends meet, taking care of seven grandchildren is not always easy. Six of her grandchildren have lost their fathers [two of Mama Musu's sons]. Their mothers got remarried and left them in the care of Mama Musu. Emma, the youngest of Mama Musu's grandchildren, was not registered in school when the SOS Children's Village team first met with the family to assess their needs. Though Emma's father [Mama Musu's only surviving child] is still alive, he's looking for a job and barely sees her. The little girl's mother is nowhere to be found. Ever since the family joined the programme, it has been receiving a monthly food package composed of beans, rice and cooking oil to improve the nutrition of the family. Emma is now attending one of the community schools in Goderich, but unlike her grandmother, she has to wear a uniform!

Now, Mama Musu looks forward to expanding her business so that her income will increase. Once she has finished the basic training she's doing at the SOS Social Centre, Mama Musu will receive material support and regular advice on how to develop her business. She explains that so far she has learnt "how to save her profits in the bank and sign my signature", she says proudly! She also admits that for now the profit she makes is just going to the family's basic survival [some food]. Nothing is left to expand the business. She strongly believes that if she is provided with some business support and if she plans well, she could soon be independent and care for her grandchildren on her own, without the support of SOS Children's Villages Sierra Leone.