Conflict resolution

Sikhululekile Moyo My major driving mission statements are ” To change your experience, change your perceptions” and “Plan your work, work your plan”. I started off as a youth representative […]

I have not yet started my business, but I have it in mind and intend to start it very soon. I am in fact studying and taking courses in child care. As I plan to open a kids’ club once I have finished studying, I know that I will start my business with a solid foundation. Before undertaking the Gender Links courses, I used to work in a hotel. I was appointed as a hostess in the restaurant and then became a hostess at the mini club and finally supervisor at the same club. I worked everywhere, and was not afraid to take up any job. In 2012, I was fired by the hotel management. In fact it motivated me to pursue the career I had always wanted. I have worked with children and love to be with them.

Born in 1974 in a family of 5, I was deprived to sit for my Ordinary level examinations by my father in favour of my brothers. My mother had no […]

  I am a married woman aged 66. I have twelve children and sixteen grandchildren. I am a farmer and a gender activist, having worked as a facilitator with development […]

Maria Mboene is a woman who suffered verbal violence from her husband because she grew up believing that once a woman is married she has to respect and stay with the husband no matter what happens in the house. She did know about her rights, she could not do anything but stay at home suffering in silence.

In 1983 her husband left her with six children to take care of. From that moment Maria had to choose between getting another man to sustain her and her kids and finding a way to survive by herself. Because she did not want to go through all the things she had been through with her former husband, she chose to start a business

Itai Makara is a beneficiary of the entrepreneurship programme who resides in Tshovani Township in Chiredzi. Before her encounter with Gender Links (GL) she used to be a person who could not distinguish between right and wrong. She said that her status was a result of the lack of relevant knowledge and a clearly defined direction. She found it very difficult to be independent when it came to making important decisions. This was largely because she lacked confidence.

“I would like to thank Gender Links for the work that has been done in empowering women with business skills, not only in Mandlakazi, but also in other councils. Although I recognise what GL has done and is still doing, I encourage GL to extend the programme for more councils because, based on my experience, there are many women out there who need to be trained in order to grow socially and economically. GL should continue training, monitoring and evaluating as it is doing now to see and listen to the changes happening in women’s lives”.

Ms. RAMININA is among those who have been chosen by a representative of the municipality of Ambatondrazaka, Ms. RASOAMANIRY, to participate in the entrepreneurship training proposed by Gender Links (GL) in 2014. She was present at the different stages of training except phase three during which she gave birth to a stillborn baby. Despite this tragedy, she wanted to follow the fourth and final stage to finish properly what she had started.

Gender Links training was very exciting, especially with Mme Ntsabane, she is a very open person. She cracks jokes to try and make us relax because the first training was the “IÀ story workshop where we shared our stories and it was very hard for me to open up. But with her skills I managed to write an “IÀ story and it was published in the “IÀ story booklet. I am so honoured that I have been able to do this as I know it will impact on other women going through the same situation.

I have a group that I formed to do gender based violence counselling in the Morama ward. There are three families from the Sesarwa tribe whom I assist with food and I also ask people for contributions to continue to assist them. Again I help guide those people from my community on the subject of violence so that they do not become victims like me. With all this effort I can say I am a driver of change.

Gender Links (GL) helped Ellen Patana to speak out and let go of the problem that was preventing her from prospering in life. She spent many years living as a prisoner of her past. The situation reduced her to being an unproductive and destitute person who depended on other people for survival.

Patana is a divorcee who worked very hard to become a shining beacon in the community. Her zeal to fight GBV was deeply rooted in her past life experiences that were marred with emotional instability. After her marriage failed, life was not easy for her because she lost all hope and she had suicidal tendencies as she was convinced that the next life would be better.

Jenny Chapukira remembers the day she encountered Gender Links (GL). That is the day she started to understand that no sex is superior to the other. She was taught that destiny should not be attained by paying attention to our different sexes. The training socialised her into believing that men and women should be treated equally. She used to be a very reserved person and she was not able to share her challenges with other people. She used to keep all her problems to herself and that behaviour destroyed her life

Before the training, Sylvanna earned her living by selling donuts at the seaside. Mother of a little girl, life was not always easy for Sylvanna, especially during her married life. Her husband was jobless and used to mistreat her. After staying in this abusive relationship for years, she decided to leave.

When Sylvanna joined the programme on life skills and entrepreneurship development, she was full of ideas. At first, she wanted to develop the business she had already undertaken. However, when she did market research she realised that this market is already full, “I noticed that the field is already saturatedÀ, she affirmed. In consequence, she decided to create a business selling second hand clothes, of which there were still few in her council.