Meet Alida Maritz

Alida was born in South Africa and grew up in a Christian family of four biological children, and five foster children. Her parents were very humble, and salt of the earth people with a love of helping others. Alida had the privilege of studying in South Africa and was selected to complete her Remedial course, as she has a passion for understanding the barriers students have in learning. 

Alida was married to her husband Gerhard in 1999 and her first daughter was born in 2001. After losing their second baby, Alida was moved to complete her honours degree, during which she fell pregnant with their second daughter. Even though she enjoyed teaching, she had the dream of running a daycare, and was blessed to do so for a few years.

Life however, was always tough for them in South Africa, and after lots of prayer, they moved to New Zealand in 2012.  In New Zealand, they were confronted with many challenges in their lives, until they joined Life church four years ago. God started to open doors, and they were involved in an amazing Connect Group where they gradually learned how to build a personal relationship with God. 

Sadly Alida lost her mum unexpectedly in 2022 after she fell and broke her leg, and her dad was diagnosed with liver cancer a month after her death. It was a tough two years, and it pushed her to realise the importance of family. Therefore, in 2023, after 11 years in New Zealand, they decided to move to Perth, where Alida's brother is.

Their eldest daughter Annika (22) is currently still in Auckland completing her studies in Psychology, while Alida lives with her husband and their youngest daughter, Janke (19). 

In her teaching career Alida has had many opportunities to grow and learn. She believes every one of her students in her class is a priority. She has completed intensive training in literacy, was trained as a Reading Recovery teacher, completed her Accelerated Literacy Learning intervention programme and has completed a TESOL (Teaching English to students of other languages) certificate.

Alida has a passion for using digital learning as a tool and had the privilege of being a leader of learning to teachers in her school. She has been teaching since 1996 and has taught across the spectrum from Pre-primary to Year 6. 

Looking back, Alida knows that God used each mountain she faced, to move her to where she was supposed to be. And right now, She is so excited to be at ACC Darling Downs, trusting in God's plan that is already at work.