A GL intern on a mission

For 23-year-old Samkelo Ngwenya from Swaziland, pursuing journalism as a profession could not have been an overnight decision but a passion he developed while doing his primary education. Ngwenya said he got inspired by his father’s journalistic work when he used to correspond for British Broadcasting Cooperation (BBC) and UK based New African Magazine.

“Just like my father who managed to expose people who were planning a coup of Swaziland government in 1989, I also believe that this career has much in store for me,” says bold looking Ngwenya.

Ngwenya, a 2011 University of Swaziland graduate feels that interning at Gender Links Swaziland office is a completion of his career jig-saw puzzle. “A few months with Gender Links has equipped me with gender knowledge and I feel so enlightened. I would like to use the knowledge I am acquiring to write more gender aware articles so that more Swazi people are informed about gender issues.”

Meanwhile, Ngwenya has been offered a space in the Times of Swaziland, where he will be writing gender focussed articles. “There are very few educative and informative gender articles published in [Swaziland] print media and I am confident that my articles will help people understand that gender is not a women’s issue only but for society as a whole.”

Seeing his country at least achieving most of the 28 targets of the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development by 2015 is his ultimate goal. “As a GL intern, I would like to leave an indelible mark in as far as gender activism is concerned in Swaziland especially from a male perspective.”