Swaziland: Cindy Nkambule

Attending the Gender Links Entrepreneurship workshops has enlightened me with business skills and improved me personally. It enabled me to speak out about my past and I felt as if half the problem was solved through sharing with other women who are still going through the same problem as me and those who have overcome the abuse. I have also learnt business skill which I will utilize in my daily endeavor.

I joined the training in 2013 and i was invited by a friend and since that day i have never missed any workshop on the entrepreneurship. I have learned a lot of thing through the workshops and one of them is a computer and i have my own email address which i have created myself and i now communicate with my relatives and friends.

I am still trying to generate income through the small business I have started after the training and now that I have training I am going to make it work so that i will make enough income for my family. Before the training I was doing home based care.I am also volunteering at AMICAAL training people living with HIV and Aids. The town council has linked me with Gender Links who changed my life in a good way. With several women from the group of women who attended the training we established an association called “wonder bag”.

I got counseling through writing and sharing in the workshop and I feel much better now. I have learnt about the different types of abuse and where to get help if faced by such situation. I am now independent and less vulnerable than before. My spouse has also learned from my good attitude and he is now a responsible man taking care of me and the kids.

I am aware of my rights and I have improved my social status. I encourage people living with HIV and Aids to eat healthy and use protection all the time they engage in sex. I encourage survivors to report abuse and stop suffering in silent. I can relate with all kinds of people and keep in touch with others with through emails and whatsapp which I have been thought and created at the Gender Links workshops. In the year 2013 I would have started my business.