Childminder’s profile Marie Andre Anacoura: “I love this job because it allows me to have a balance between my personal life and work” |20 July 2019
Marie Andre Anacoura
Her mother’s passing changed her direction in life. After spending years caring for her mother, she now finds pleasure in caring for a group at the other end of the age spectrum, which she has done for thirteen years.
“I love this job because it allows me to have a balance between my personal life and work. When you are employed, you tend to focus predominantly on the job to the detriment of your personal and home life,” says Marie Andre Anacoura.
“I was working with my mother as a home carer. After she passed away I took care of my brother’s child. Soon more people came asking me to care for their children; at one point I had thirteen children in my care.”
When Marie Andre registered in April 2017 and completed all the training, she complied with the National Standard requirements and reduced the maximum number of children to ten and took on an assistant.
“IECD acts as a great support for child minders but I feel it can be more flexible. I think that for those who have the space, they could let us take more children because if one knows how to manage their time they can take care of more than ten. Furthermore, it could help boost our income because we have monthly pension, staff payments and healthy foods to buy. It would really help as finance can be tight, e.g. I used my start-up money to renew toys, equipment and tests as stipulated by IECD Standards,” Marie Andre explains.
“The daily activities I offer include water playing in a pool which I put outdoors except when the weather is not ideal. I sometimes take them for visits in the village and let them explore their surroundings, showing them colours, flowers, leaves and their general environment,” adds Marie Andre.
She again emphasises that she welcomes the implementation of the different standards and has benefited a lot from the trainings.
“I’ve realised the importance of play for children and teaching them educational topics that prepare them for school. Among other useful things I also learned about nutrition, fire safety and first aid. My only reservation is that IECD should pay more attention to the minder’s human needs,” Marie Andre says.
She feels appreciated by the parents. “I take into consideration that parents are tired after a long day at work. Unlike most day cares, I wash up all the children’s snack boxes and bottles and bathe them in the afternoon. So when parents pick them up, they don’t have much to do at home,” she explains.
Marie Andre believes that there are many factors to take into consideration but expresses her profound desire to stay in this field.
“Whether I remain in this profession or not depends a lot on what more IECD has to offer us. I hope that our individual needs are taken into account.”
Contributed by IECD