By Alesha Capone
Hoppers Crossing resident Dr Teah Mogae works as a GP. She is also the founder of Losika Writes, a company which aims to improve bilingual pre-school education.
What inspired you to start Losika Writes?
I am from an African background and raising an African-Australian little boy. With our material, I am trying to improve language acquisition whilst also trying to instill some pride in him being who he is. My son just turned four – he is the reason I am doing this. When you are having a baby, and have a baby shower, people buy cards – but none in your native language.
When you have a child, you want to introduce them to your language, but there aren’t many materials available in indigenous languages for people from some countries. For me, that is South Africa and Botswana. I asked my Mum to send me some books in our language, but there were not many. There were some, but mainly for older children, so I had to make my own books for younger children.
How did you get started?
With the Losika Writes books, I wrote them and an illustrator did the artwork for me. I had to learn all about ISBNS and barcodes when I was publishing them. The books and learning materials are about animals and learning how to spell.
I’m also making bilingual posters with names of faces and body parts. My son is now learning about that. In some of the posters, the boy has an afro and the girl has cornrows. In your head, with everything you see in the media – if you don’t see people like yourself – it can be hard to be proud of who you are.
What is your plan for the future?
The Canberra National Library and State Library of Victoria have copies of my books now. I’ve already introduced the books to my son’s childcare and now I’m working on books in other languages. I’m also planning on doing books and learning materials in colours, on the theme of “at the home”, and building to storybooks for pre-school to early primary school students.
I’m also hoping to do an e-book and phone and tablet apps. That is what I would do if I won the Lotto or if money grew on trees!
What do you enjoy about living in Wyndham?
I have lived in Wyndham for the last 12 months and first moved for work. I enjoy working in Wyndham and the different cultures and places we get to explore and are exposed to.
