A Candle in the Dark: How Women Learn to Deal with Experiences of Domestic or Gender Based Violence

We all know the value of a candle in the midst of darkness: light and warmth. Light to allow orientation and action, warmth to comfort and calm. Over many years Musasa Project has been a candle for uncountable women who have not seen or had any light in their lives, who have come to live in an endless seeming darkness. And yet despite all enduring and suffering these women have managed to speak out and call for help at some stage – and they have been heard.

This series of booklets is about their experiences of domestic or gender based violence, about some of its causes, many of its aspects and about light at the end of such a tunnel. It is from and about women who have finally chosen to step out of the cycle of violence and make informed decisions concerning their future and the future of their children. It shows that even though the damage done through abuse tends to leave lifelong emotional and at times physical scars every woman can start to embark on a healing journey at any given time.

We are proud to present poems of Sekayi Rita Thikathali who has not only been Musasa Project’s client but really the organisation’s friend for a number of years. In touching words she expresses the feelings and thoughts of women concerning domestic violence and HIV and AIDS. We are grateful to her for sharing her poems with us and we are happy to make them accessible to the public.

I-Stories are stories written by our clients about their lives from their own perspective and in their own words, where necessary with the assistance of a counsellor.

Narrative Reports are written by the counsellors of Musasa Project. These reports talk about theclient and the counsellor in session, about the case presented, the process that takes place, the observations of the counsellor within the session and her view and feelingsconcerning the client and her story.

Publisher: NWO Enterprises
Edition: First
Year of Publication: 2008