Zubeida Raphael Botswana

Zubeida Raphael is a councillor at Boswelatlou ward at Lobatse town council and she is also BALA woman gender committee commissioner. Her job is to coordinate all council activities, she is responsible for development and monitoring of government policies and for assessing the efforts that people are making to develop and from there look for ways that they can be assisted where there is need.

Her first encounter with GL was at a workshop that they held at Big 5 Lodge, in which participants were sensitised about GBV. The facilitators were Colleen and Pamela.  “During that time it was not easy to get through to the people because most people did not have an understanding of what they were going on about,” she said.

She pointed out that although it was difficult to get through to people when she started it all became easier when they started going around councils and teaching people about GBV. Adding that then men started to realise that GBV was not about making a woman the head of a family but it was something that affected the community and needed to be addressed urgently.

“My light bulb moment was when I was giving vote of thanks at the national Gender Justice summit I felt very proud to be part of change taking place in the country,” she said.

“Being the women commissioner at BALA has given me a lot of publicity and placed me in a position that I am now able to reach people in all levels of life.” She said she became a new person because for people to have elected her must have seen something in her, that she can be a good leader. Hence she is able to use her skills and exposure to mobilize people.

“I am able to make all this change because I take advantage of every public gathering or pitso and bring up the subject of GBV to try and get the message across,” she said.

Raphael pointed out that GL has educated her on issues of GBV, they showed her that it is real and it is happening in normal families. She added that they gave her tools on how to address both men and women regarding the issue.

She said one person influencing her in GL is Colleen since they met at the big5 lodge through the very first workshop that she attended.  “The way she was explaining made me understand things in a simple way, she made realise how I was connected to GBV, she made me ask myself what I am doing to curve GBV in my country, thanks to her now I can make a difference,” she said.

Raphael said GL is responsible for her public speaking skills and the positive attitude that she has. Citing that they also taught her how to counsel people with emotional abuse.  She said one of the things that push her is the fact that she is empowering men and women to change their mind sets.

Raphael said she is able to bring change to men and women who have been victims of abuse through interacting with them and sharing ideas with them on the way forward, to help the move on from the abuse.  “I provide counselling to them and I am proud to say that there are a number of families that I have helped that are now stable and still getting better,” she said.

Her future plans are to work hard to see that women will be able to change and speak out about abuse at home.  “Women and man should work hard to see that GBV is ended, in order for us to have a happy and healthy nation,” she said.