Who, who , who is this person?

Who am I...

I am Whaea Mina,Mrs Voigt or as a lot of students in New Zealand call me:  Mama Afrika.

The students who are not in my class sometimes ask me:  Whaea, why do they call you Mama Africa?...this is why:

 In my country, Africa (and I am from the southern part:  South Africa) , this is a "respect - thing".  If you have respect for an older lady (one who is not so young any more😜) you will greet her with:  Good day Mama... and because I am from Africa...students call me : Mama Afrika.  I have a heart the size of Africa, and I love my job and every student in my class, I see as my child. At a previous school my nickname was DAISY, but my real name is HERMIEN, my family calls me MIEN (pronounced mean) or MINA.

I was born during a cold, rainy winter storm, in a clinic just outside Cape Town in 1963.  I was the youngest of the family, and my sister believes the most spoiled one. My mom says I was born with a smile on my face, and have always been a happy person.  I decided to study to become a Math teacher after I realized that I have the ability to teach my fellow students (at school) Math when  our teacher resigned in year 12 and we had to get through the struggle with a relief teacher, who could not help us with our maths.

I lived with my husband and our 4 children in South Africa until 2011.  We , my husband and myself, then immigrated to New Zealand.  This was the hardest decision EVER, as I had to leave EVERYTHING that I know, my roots, my children, my pets, my friends, my country, my house, behind and START something new, with the faith and dream that it will all work out, and that they will be able to join us in New Zealand at some time.

 I love life and believe that Math is a performing art.  I live my life with the 4 L's:  live, laugh, love and leave a legacy.  I am probably the most positive person that you will ever meet.

My favourite mathematical quote is:

click here for the video
Cape Town video