Self-image

Masamba joined GL in July 2014 after being introduced by Zvimba Rural District Council. She enrolled in the entrepreneurship training and was equipped with relevant business skills. The training taught her about all forms of GBV and how to fight domestic violence. Before the training she was thinking that she should focus on just forgetting her past experience of GBV. Later on she discovered that the only way to bury the past and continue with life is through occupying your mind with productive things.

Saima Shivolo, a resident of Oshikuku, originally from Umbalanhu village in the Omusati region, was married for three years and is a mother of six with four other children in her care. Although she is employed as a police officer, her monthly income could not sustain her monthly expenses like taking care of the children, paying their school fees and making sure there is bread on the table. Thus she opened a restaurant in Oshikuku to feed her community members and visitors, because she saw the need for cooked food in her area.

Gender Links (GL) encouraged Francisca Machayasimbi to work hard and have the leverage to take care of herself. She responded positively and stopped relying on other people for survival. The decision she took saw her escaping from the abuse that was deeply rooted in her reliance on her husband for survival. She vividly recalled how she used to yearn for good food and trendy clothes but lacked the capacity to afford them. The training empowered her and she can now afford anything that she desires.

Alvene Rhoode is a driver of change in a big way as she managed to walk away from the abuse and is now taking charge of her life. She says, “My most memorable moment was doing the initial I-stories with Gender Links with the support of the Mossel Bay council.À Following the initial I-story sessions, two years later she provided the logistical arrangements in Mossel Bay for the FLOW follow up sessions. Accommodation was booked at one of the hotels at which she now works. As part of the planning, she did the time table schedule and programme for the duration of the follow up sessions. Sadly, she could not join the follow up I-story focus group workshop, however, she did agree to do a driver of change interview and provide insightful feedback. Alvene was able to deal with the abuse and face it.

Loveness Gandawa began a poultry project in 2012. She started with a production capacity of 50 birds per six weeks. She later increased the capacity to 100 birds in 2013. The upgrading of the business coincided with her encounter with Gender Links (GL). She invested the money she received as an honorarium for attending the workshop into the business and she increased the production capacity to 150 birds. The profit she realised after selling chickens enabled her to venture into cross border trading. She started purchasing clothing material and footwear from South Africa, Zambia and Botswana for resale in Zimbabwe.

The beneficiary’s most memorable experience with Gender Links (GL) was being accepted for who she was. This was her first worry when she attended the “IÀ story meeting where she had to sit down and write her story. She said she was worried that she would be forced to pretend to be someone else for the sake of avoiding having questions asked, but to her surprise the GL team was very nice and welcomed her warmly

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.

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 am still not sure why Juliana and Ntombi of Gender Links (GL) want to do this profile about me; I feel so shy right now, but if I am honest I am also feeling confident and happy with myself. I feel this way because I have had to deal with a lot in my life and it has not been at all easy.

I am not originally from Matzikama; I am from Oudtshoorn in the Klein Karoo. I came to live here when I was a young woman and I met my husband here. When I met my husband I was a very confident young woman and even though I was not educated I was very smart. We got married and had our children, then shortly after the birth of our second child the problems started. I think that was also the time when I had wanted to go back to school to finish my studies as I had left school early to help my family.

It makes her cry time and again when she remembers what Gender Links (GL) has done for her and her first interaction with them. She remembers vividly that she was sitting at the corner of the Seate Hall where she was waiting to be given a paper and a pen because she was going to write her story. She felt very lonely because she was very sick and she did not know anybody in that place.

Josephina is a single young woman and a grade 10 learner. She runs a service business which operate as a salon in Windhoek. She provides services such as hair braiding, dying hair and providing advices to customers. She started running this type of business in 2012 while doing her grade 8. She is still at school and continues with the same idea and she says she want to continue with her business even after completing her secondary education. Currently her business is her only source of income and she started it to be self-reliant. She says her business helps her lot, especially when she does not have money for transport to go to school. She feels that her business changed her life and she likes it because it is profitable.