International Day of Older Persons: A day in the life of Maureen Champion

When the hard lockdown forced businesses to close during Covid-19, a Kuils River woman's early childhood development (ECD) centre was not spared. And it has been five long years of despair for Maureen Champion since the centre shut its doors for good.

Wednesday, October 1, marked International Day of Older Persons. The day aims to promote the rights of elderly citizens. Northern News spoke to Ms Champion about how her life changed after the closure of her ECD. 

Her dream of reopening the Rainbow Kids Daycare centre after the pandemic subsided was hindered by the fact that many parents could not afford to re-enroll their children. Her staff, fearful of infection, did not want to return, ultimately ending any hope of reopening.

Writing had always been her hobby, which she thought would become her next priority after circumstances compelled her to close down her centre, which was almost 20 years old at the time.

“I thought, okay, I'm on a pension, so maybe I will write. I thought I was going to enjoy my pension life, and just write, but it doesn't work like that. You are very low after closing your business for so long. You are very down at times, and you don't really feel like getting up to doing anything,” she said.

She self-published a drama book in 2016 titled Fientjies and a second book of short stories in 2021 titled Is die man mal.

Her centre, which was established in 2000, was based in Dumas Street in Kuils River, but the house is now used as a home since the centre closed down.

Ms Champion had her establishment catering to 47 registered young children. Almost ten of these children, coming from impoverished families, were not consistent in their payments, she said.

“I had very poor children who couldn't afford to be there. I took mostly children from the farms that couldn't pay. It was nice for me because I could help them. My staff didn't like that part because, of course, they thought I could have made their salary more if I didn't let those children come for free.”

Teaching children who came from different cultures and backgrounds is one of the things she enjoyed about the centre, she said.  

She would also host an annual festival known as “Christmas in June.” Around 100 people from the community would join to enjoy the day at the centre. 

During the festival, Ms Champion would put up a tent where the community would come together and enjoy the food while being entertained by a band of music. She would turn the lounge into a mini salon where women and ladies from the community would do nails, face, and hair.

“I miss that a lot," she said.

Ms Champion said the festival embodied a community spirit, with parents of the children in the ECD contributing to the food.

"For example, one mother would prepare pasta, another would make biryani, and another would bring a cake."

She has now retired to a farm in Stellenbosch, where she stays with her husband and their 21-year-old grandson. 

She started the "Golden Oldies" group at the Old Apostolic Church in Kuils River, which she founded in 2023. She sometimes organises a "health week" for seniors, inviting health professionals to conduct blood pressure and blood sugar tests, provide foot washing services, and offer health advice to the elderly church members.

Ms Champion believes she is not as active as she would like to be in this group, partly because she has been feeling low since her centre closed down in 2020.

“I haven't had that oomph just to get up and do something because I have been very low with the Covid and everything. There were a lot of things that I had on my mind that I wanted to do, which I never did, because of how I felt afterwards,” she said.

During Covid-19 she was helping the councillor Desiree Visagie to prepare food hampers at the Kuils River Caravan Park and occasionally visiting the farms to harvest vegetables meant for the underserved people. That occupied her throughout much of 2020, diverting her attention from the troubling thoughts of the closure of the center.

Last year, financial difficulties forced her to start a business buying and selling clothing items online to supplement her government pension, which was insufficient to cover her living expenses.

“So it took some time to get to a point where I felt I had to do something. The business is okay because I got to see that there is nice stuff. But before, I started it because you have to survive.”  

Ms Champion said she hopes for a society that prioritises the well-being of older people, adding that the current social grant does not adequately meet their needs.

“The money that they are getting is actually peanuts. And the fact is that they paid such a lot of tax. When they all went on pension, the government took a lot of tax. I feel it's unfair that the government took so much out of them and gave them so little back,” she said.

The South African Social Security Agency confirmed that social grants are expected to increase by R10 this October, including that of old age grants.

Elderly people had also recently complained about rising property rates in a meeting in Green Point (Green Point ratepayers voice concerns over rising municipal bills, Cape Towner, September 22).

Despite five challenging years since the closure of her ECD, Ms Champion is still determined to create opportunities for elderly individuals. She plans to organize weekly gatherings at various homes where they can sell their crocheted, knitted, and baked goods, to keep them engaged and for the aged to sustain themselves.