Marie Josee Medon – Mauritius

Marie Josee gained organisational skills and learnt how to manage money and create a profit when she attended Gender Links workshops and training sessions.

Living an unstable life with only temporary jobs, she was so discouraged that she found herself begging for money on the streets. After having faced injustice and harshness at home, where she was denied the means to support herself, she experienced dark times and faced many obstacles. She was in a situation of severe poverty. After turning to religion and starting a small business using local food, she found that her situation was still unstable because she did not have a permit and was threatened with legal action. She eagerly attended one of the Gender Links meetings. After that she participated in Gender Links courses which helped her to become more organised.

Gender Links offered her the opportunity to work towards being self-sustainable and to develop basic management skills which allowed her to stabilise her business which was already in existence. She explained that the workshops allowed her to gain self-confidence and that she is now more at ease when communicating with her clients. She says she is proud of the path she has chosen and is sensitive to the importance of fighting for gender issues.

Although admitting that her family and neighbours were not aware of her work, nor of what she had been through, Marie Josee says Gender Links has acted as a platform for her to share her achievements and views. Now her relatives have a better insight into her life.

Having been a victim of gender violence and now a survivor, she has become a model for many of the women in her surrounding area who suffer domestic violence. She is aware of the different possibilities and the help available for women, and she shares this and gives advice to those in tough situations.

She hopes in the future to be able to create a stable and solid base for her small business.