Faculty of Law P r o f e s s o r U s A N G A s s i m t o P Ac h i e v e r
Maintaining productivity is possible with family assistance Professor Usang Assim is an Associate Professor of Law at she freely admits that her productivity took a hit during this time UWC. Her expertise in the area of children’s rights in Africa has and, as a result, affected her mental health and overall well-beseen her gain a prominent voice on the continent, and ing. But she never gave up and found useful solutions. she has written extensively about the circum“It helped for the whole family, including the chilstances children face – from Nigeria and the dren, to acknowledge that we were in it toDrC to south Africa and more. gether and to be committed to making As a female academic and a mother, things work for us all as a unit.” the pandemic took a toll on her Now things are slowly returning to both physically and mentally. normal, as evidenced by the fact she noticed quickly how living that she is successfully juggling through a pandemic placed multiple projects at work again. a greater burden on women for example, she is working than men. “Women bear the on her normal teaching load, heaviest share of responsias well as on an advanced bilities within the domestic short course of Children’s space, including ‘house rights in Africa, which the work’ and raising of chilDullah omar Institute (UWC) dren. hosts annually, in partner“The convergence of both ship with the Centre for Huthe private space and work man rights and the Centre space made it practically imfor Child Law at the Univerpossible to set boundaries.” sity of Pretoria. These insights came from diffi“It is a theoretical and practicult first-hand experience. cal course that usually brings for at least six months of the first together about 40 participants year of the pandemic, Prof Assim had engaging with children’s rights charge over two school-aged children and welfare concerns across the (8 and 11 years old). “It was very challengcontinent. The 2021 edition has been ing juggling my own work with oversight over scheduled for June and we are organising the demands of the children’s school work, given a hybrid model that combines both physical and the home-schooling scenario neonline learning.” cessitated by the pandemic. While But Prof Assim is determined to “It helped for the whole family, including this juggling is an art that many not take anything for granted. women/parents have been practis- the children, to acknowledge that we were in The looming third wave of the ing for several years and decades it together and to be committed to making pandemic makes any kind of plannow, being thrust into the lockdown ning difficult and might force some things work for us all as a unit.” as a result of the pandemic, without changes to the way she works, prior expectations or plans in place, but the experience from 2020 has required significant shifts – emotionally, mentally, psychologically given her the resilience to find a way through it, if it happens and otherwise; and it took a long while to get the shifts right.” again.
