Mathabo Mosese – Lesotho

Mathabo Mosese – Lesotho


Date: December 9, 2015
  • SHARE:

I remember clearly the time I attended my first Gender Links (GL) meeting and got a chance to learn more about the organisation. We were asked to write our “I” stories and that is where I had to narrate my story of abuse. The whole process made me feel as though I was in a counselling session and I learnt something new about myself: I realised that I am a person who can express herself and who is able to face her worse fears.

My name is Mathabo Mosese and I am married with one child. My husband used to work at the mines and I had always been depended on him as I stayed at home and raised his child, so I did not go out to work as I was a house wife. As a result I did not have all those ideas that women have, especially single parents. Little did I know that my husband was going to change and I would have to go out and work for my child? My husband stopped coming home and supporting me financially, I was so frustrated because I was not used to such life. One day my councillor mentioned that GL wanted to train women survivors of gender based violence (GBV). I was very reluctant to go, but I thought I should go as it may do some good and give me new ideas.

The nature of my daily work involves taking care of my family and my compound whereby I spend most of my time looking after my vegetables. I was only a house wife and then I attended GL’s training where I was able to learn so many things like self-confidence and how to draw up a business plan. I got many ideas about how to run a successful business and I was so empowered that I wanted to share with other women who are also in my position. I also got a chance to learn the importance of bookkeeping and hence I want to thank Gender Links so much for the wonderful training that has changed my life. I cannot deny that I was expecting money from GL at first but I later realised that I actually did not need money, but some skills to empower me.

Apart from being sensitised about my rights, my level of socialisation has changed. I say this because in the past I could not stand being in the company of my fellow community members because I felt as though they were talking about me or that I was the community laughing stock. I had always thought it best to isolate myself, however, now I enjoy socialising with members of my community.

The positive change that has happened reflects in the manner that I am now able to relate to others, for instance I preferred distancing myself and it resulted in my child finding it very difficult to approach me and share his daily life experiences with me.

I have created new knowledge through learning IT from GL training sessions and I am working very hard with members of my community to share this new knowledge. I have worked very hard so as to assist women to open our WhatsApp group for our society and send exchange messages whenever there is anything that members need to know.

Although it had been a great journey with GL and I had learnt so many things, there were still some challenges like the fact that my husband was still abusing me and not supportive at all, but I knew what I wanted and believed that he could also change especially if he saw the change in my life. I wanted to show him that I could make something better of my life and that I can also provide for my family. He was against the idea of the training as he said that I was embarrassing him by attending the training. I taught him how to treat me as his equal partner and I taught him the dangers of women abuse, although it was difficult he seems to understand it and I was willing to help him to change. Luckily my husband was able to change and he supported me because he would even give me taxi fare when I went to the workshops. I have a small shop that I run with him. My future plan is to have a bigger shop than this one, so that I can stock different places around my village.

 


One thought on “Mathabo Mosese – Lesotho”

Comment on Mathabo Mosese – Lesotho

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *