I am Nqobile Masuku from Sibizane area, a small village in KwaZulu Natal,
South Africa. I am a mother of handsome sons and beautiful daughters of
Makhumalo and the late Mr. Masuku’s grandchildren. I work for the Women’s
Leadership and Training Programme (WLTP), growing under The Grail International
Women’s Movement. WLTP’s work focuses on girls’ and young women’s (13-19years)
empowerment to enable them to realise their leadership potential to develop
their lives and that of their communities. My daily work includes planning,
designing, organising, and facilitating meetings, workshops, and campaigns on
different issues such as Leadership and Life-skills, Gender, Earth and
Environment (Biodiversity and Climate Change), Culture and Heritage, Economic
Literacy, Women’s Health, Ethics, and Morals.
My journey with TFT
My journey in the facilitation field started in 2006 when I was granted an
opportunity to do the TFT Diploma course. That was an exposure that took me
away from my comfort zone. I was exposed to diverse cultures and languages, and
I had to adapt. As a rural girl who had hardly been in mixed groups of
different colours, my journey was not easy. I had to sacrifice what people
would call ‘happiness’ by reducing socialising activities to catch up with my work.
Throughout that period, I was able to trace and reclaim my stolen dreams. I was
motivated and learned to not hate but love and be inspired by my past. I
learned to see the positive side even on the negative experiences I have
encountered.
I was fascinated by the programme, which encompasses engaging processes and
holistic education. It recognises the different ways of learning and people’s
existing knowledge. That enabled me to be myself. Through the process, I
acquired different skills such as time management, conflict management,
communication, public speaking, and many more which are helping me to do my
work effectively.
Today I can engage with people of different ages and backgrounds in the
community towards the envisaged vision. I believe that skills are to be shared
to create a just community or society. It is because of this belief that girls
and young women participating in our Emthonjeni project have started some
projects such as streams custodians who raise awareness on the prevention of
water pollution. They are also organising different campaigns on issues of
concern in the community.
Believing in being the change I want to see as Mahatma Gandhi and Tata
Nelson Mandela would say, WLTP influences girls and young women to model
authenticity in the era of fake lives through living a code of conduct. This
challenged my authenticity as a facilitator too- I could not preach a certain
lifestyle while living the opposite one. Accountability has become one of the
crucial ingredients in my life.
I would never ask for a better community than the community I am in. It has
contributed a lot to who I am. Community members have trusted me with their
children and supported me and our girls and young women in different ways in
our journeys. Participation has been incredible and recognised in different
institutions like schools, Tribal Authorities, and Churches. This is all
because of the combined efforts of WLTP, TFT, and the community.
Women’s leadership and training programme
TFT trainings have shaped WLTP to be what it is for example to never put
things in silos but to see the connection in everything. This is one of the
reasons WLTP works on various issues. TFT has deepened our understanding and
application of conscientisation tools.
Despite all the tools and resources which I consider as WLTP’s wealth, there
are challenges, especially on funding. The organisation has been affected by
the lack of funds even before the existence of the pandemic. However, WLTP has
been resilient and never stopped its programmes, but flexibility and adaptation
strategies were applied. This is because the organisation is in one of the
communities it serves which enabled WLTP to run home-based meetings for
different groups. This is an assurance of continuation of the organisation and
is a testimony of a correctly done survey. A survey is the key before
implementing any project. It is also crucial that conscientisation takes
because that results in a community-owned project. This is evident from our
experience with the abduction of girls.
Empowered girls and women
After raising awareness on gender equity, we no longer have a problem of
abduction of girls in Sibizane due to the collective action of girls and the
community. Girls and their parents were able to seek help when they were abducted
and were fetched from the men’s families by the local police and brought back
to their homes. This has assured a safe space for girls.
The number of girls who further their studies has increased. All +/- 36
Emthonjeni girls who completed their matric from 2013 -2020 have enrolled and
some have graduated from further studies while some are now in workplaces
whether in permanent posts or internships. Some of them fell pregnant while in
university but they continued with their studies. They were not forced to stay
at impregnates’ by their families which used to happen. In the Amakhuze area
when a girl lost her virginity whether pregnant or not, the girl’s mother would
ask other women to accompany her with the girl to the boy’s family. They would
leave the girl there regardless of the boy’s acceptance of the ‘damage’ or
pregnancy. The girl would stay there as a bride and she would not be asked if
she wants to be there or not.
In June 2021, I conducted a workshop for 22 girls from AmaKhuze area. Girls
were recruited from 6 different schools to address the issue of early
marriages. After the workshop, we had a workshop for parents and guardians of
girls which was a recommendation from them. On the 15th and 16th, we had
workshops for 32 parents and guardians of girls and participation was amazing.
We realised that the early marriage rate in the area was high, some parents
were worried about it but did not have a platform to express themselves. “Our
daughters have suffered through this way of living, as a result, most of us are
here as guardians because parents of these girls have died after being infected
by diseases”. Anonymous
The future of our daughters
Today, most parents encourage and support their girls to go to tertiary
institutions before marriage. They have learned to value their daughters and
not to consider them as commodities. They are no longer seeing cows when seeing
them but girls with intelligence, girls who are capable to bring change in
their families and communities. This significant change has proved the power of
holon that change begins with an individual and that change inspires others in
different sectors like families, communities, and societies.
“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within
you the strength, patience, and passion to reach for the stars to change the
world.” Harriet Tubma
