Self-image

Raul Conde

August 6, 2017 Themes: Local Government Programs: Gender & Governance

Mahamudo Amurane

August 6, 2017 Themes: Local Government Programs: Gender & Governance

Fernando Abel Neves

Fernando Abel Neves

Municipio de Mocimboa da Praia   Study Case: Município no Fortalecimento da Mulher para Participação Activa na Integração do Género na Governação Local   Study Case: “Políticas guiam o trabalho […]

August 6, 2017 Themes: Local Government Programs: Gender & Governance

Beatriz Sulvai da Camara Júlio Ferreira Gulamo

O Município de Mocuba, tem envidado esforços no sentido de enquadrar o género nas suas actividades, com maior enfoque em seguintes aspectos: Sensibilização; Recolha de Residios Sólidos; Obras de Construção […]

August 5, 2017 Themes: Governance Programs: Entrepreneurship

Makananelo Rapuleng – Lesotho

Makananelo Rapuleng – Lesotho

My name is Makananelo Rapuleng from Qacha’s Nek, one of the mountainous districts of Lesotho. It is very small but has scattered rural villages and the rate of gender based violence (GBV) is very high and most of the cases in the villages are not reported because women are so dependent on men and they cannot imagine how life would be without their men. The very frustrating thing about the district is that most people, if not the majority of them, are illiterate and they are very keen on culture and therefore it is very difficult for them to adapt to new things.

August 19, 2016 Themes: Economics | Gender based violence Programs: Entrepreneurship

RAZANAMADY Razafindramora Claire – Madagascar

RAZANAMADY Razafindramora Claire – Madagascar

Claire raised her six children alone after she had been a victim of intimate partner violence for years. After she worked with Gender Links (GL), her life really changed. She gained theoretical knowledge and practical experience she had never thought she would ever have. The concept of gender is one of the things she learnt. Previously, she believed that when we talk about gender we refer to women, while gender is ultimately a concept related to the social construction, women are perceived as weak and passive and are associated with the domestic and private world, while men are seen as strong and enterprising in the public world.

Edwina Kapfudza – Zimbabwe

Edwina Kapfudza – Zimbabwe

Edwina Kapfudza recalls the day she met her ward councillor and how she was introduced to Gender Links (GL). This took place at a time when she least expected any help from anyone with regard to her experience of gender based violence (GBV). Prior to the introductions, the council held a meeting with the identified survivors of GBV. The idea was to know more about the women’s experiences of GBV before referring them to GL.

Tshepiso Bareng – Botswana

Tshepiso Bareng – Botswana

We started the entrepreneurship training with the “IÀ story workshops. It was very painful when people were sharing their stories and I could feel that my story was not as bad. The abuse that some went through was very sad, but at the end we were comforted and encouraged to heal. Talking about it made one feel better as did writing it down, as a way of telling others that they are not alone.

July 26, 2016 Themes: Economics | Gender based violence Programs: Entrepreneurship

Arrianne Sarah – Mauritius

Arrianne Sarah – Mauritius

I am a handicapped woman and the mother of two children. I suffered from a partial body paralysis after the birth of my daughter 13 years ago and with time my condition deteriorated and I became completely bed ridden. Before the birth of my daughter I used to work in a hotel and helped my family, but after my illness I lost the job. I lost everything. I accepted loneliness as part of my fate. I truly ended up believing that there was no future for handicapped people. However, my good friend Priscilla Bignoux stood by me. She helped me to start going out and mingling with people again. It was only then that I started to see the bright side of life. I started smiling once again.

July 22, 2016 Themes: Disability | Economics Programs: Entrepreneurship

Mateboho Lefuma – Lesotho

Mateboho Lefuma – Lesotho

Mateboho Lefuma started her business selling clothes three years ago. She is a young Mosotho woman aged 30 years and stays in Mantsonyane in the Thaba-Tseka district. When Lefuma started she was selling a small number of clothes to just a few local people because she did not have enough money to buy lots of stock. But after encountering Gender Links (GL) through the entrepreneurship programme she increased the stock because now she had a good market. She mentioned that GL was giving them transport reimbursement and she would just walk three hours from her home to the council for the whole week so that she could save that money and that helped her so much because she was able to increase her stock. The profits she made motivated her to venture into cross border trading. She is now selling her clothes in South Africa and Botswana.

July 11, 2016 Themes: Economics | Gender based violence Programs: Entrepreneurship

Annah Nezrayi – Zimbabwe

Annah Nezirayi encountered Gender Links (GL) in 2013 through Manyame Rural District Council. When the then Gender Focal Person (GFP), Tariro Chimbindi, introduced her to GL she thought that the programme was a time consuming event and nothing meaningful would come of it. However, the first session of the programme changed her mind and she started appreciating the importance of the programme in her life and the lives of other participants. Before she encountered GL she was a mere vendor, but the programme turned her into a real business woman. Currently, she is operating a viable business and she gives credit to the entrepreneurship programme.

June 27, 2016 Themes: Business | Gender based violence Programs: Entrepreneurship

Rebabonye Amos – Botswana

Rebabonye Amos – Botswana

I was very blessed to have encountered Gender Links, I had the opportunity to represent Bobonong at the national summit. That was the best moment of my life as it was the first time I had taken part in that competition. Even though I did not win, I received a certificate for taking part. It was also the first time that I slept in a hotel and got a chance to meet a Minister of labour and home affairs, Rre Bantshu. But most of all, I loved the way I was treated by Gender Links staff who gave me the opportunity to talk about my business in front of people.

I have helped a friend from my home village, Bobonong, and shared with her the knowledge I received from Gender Links to teach her how to make polish, which is the project on which I am currently working. Her wish is that when she is financially stable she could join my project and work with me. She makes an effort by contributing towards paraffin and candles for me to teach her and then we divide the polish and sell it. I have given speeches at different workshops and at poverty eradication, school and ward meetings. This was done to motivate and educate people about gender based violence and encourage women to be entrepreneurs. When I move around the shops I tell people about my polish to try and advertise it. This helps as people end up placing orders to buy the polish. People are really shocked and amazed that I talk freely about my life in front of people, and it really shows how I have accepted my life and have now moved on.

June 20, 2016 Themes: Economics | Gender based violence Programs: Entrepreneurship