My name is Noluthando Nzimande. I am 30 years old, from Hlokozi village, Kwazulu Natal, and community development has been my passion since I was a young girl.
Let me tell you my story. I had a unique opportunity to further educate myself with a partial scholarship for the Training for Transformation (TFT) Diploma course. I quickly said Yes, knowing that I could potentially lose my job. I wasn’t going to miss it because, internally, I knew this would make me a more effective change-maker, even though I have been in the NGO sector for over 18 years.
The TFT Diploma training was a life-changing experience, not just for me, but for my entire community. The ‘Aha’ moments I experienced, such as realizing that I am at the center of my transformation, that community members can find their own solutions, and that we are facilitators who listen and create safe and open spaces for deep dialogue, have had a profound impact. These insights have become tools for transformation, leading to positive changes in our community’s approach to poverty issues.
Back home, we work with sexual reproductive health, and I decided to approach it differently. A new circular sitting arrangement was more suitable, and we had conversation circles where women, men, and youth felt comfortable and they first shared life experiences separately, then listened to each other. This time, I was very mindful of breaking down their context and language to respect culture and tradition while allowing information and discussions to flow on such a sensitive topic. One of the chiefs said, ‘If I knew the issue of dialogue was named reproductive rights, I wouldn’t have come, but the way it was facilitated made it easy for him to participate and communicate. He says, ‘I realize that as parents, the way we keep secrets about sexual reproductive rights from our children negatively impacts the way they behave and they become careless.’
I have successfully conducted two workshops with 60 participants and will continue to do so.
