Young Maya’s batmitzvah project

MOIRA SCHNEIDER IN CAPE TOWN

An 11-year-old California girl with South African roots is determined to make a difference to the lives of underprivileged schoolchildren in Cape Town. Los Angeles-born Maya Spencer, whose mother Bronwyn (née Sher) immigrated to the United States in 1989, has in fact adopted the Dalukhanyo Pre-school in the Western Cape township of Langa as her batmitzvah project and plans to make an ongoing contribution to education here.

“It was two years ago, on one of our trips to South Africa (to visit family in Cape Town), that we chose to take a township tour,” Maya recalls. “As we walked in (to Dalukhanyo), it struck me immediately how different the learning seemed to what I remember of my pre-school class.”

Noting that basics like paper, crayons, markers, glue and puzzles were “non-existent”, Maya set about writing to friends and family asking for their support in collecting school supplies and donations. As a result, American friends donated 150kg of school supplies and R12 000.

Arriving in Cape Town in early July with her haul, Maya approached contacts and major companies here and with the additional R14 000 raised, managed to purchase rugs “to cover the icy floors”, mattresses, sheets, bookshelves, blankets, nappies and play equipment for the school.

On the day of the handover, Maya woke up feeling “nervous and excited. I was beaming with pride as the goods were unloaded,” she remembers. “I couldn’t help but feel a sense of success and satisfaction.”

Maya plans to start an education foundation in South Africa that she will call Maya’s Mission. “If we give people the tools to succeed, they have a greater chance of reaching their potential,” she comments.

“I hope that by assisting these children to develop their own love of learning, I have given each one of them more of a chance to be the very best that they can be.

“I believe it is my responsibility to try and give back through tikkun olam, to help heal and repair the world.”