Girls encouraged to find their identity in God
"If we can heal that girl, the woman stands a better chance of becoming a success.”
Tsakane – Young girls filled up the board room at Tsakane Stadium for the Izimbali Ezingabu seminar, on Saturday morning.
Izimbali Ezingabuni, which loosely translates to flowers that will not die, is the brain-child of Ntomfuthi Dhlamini and Nomthandazo Mashego.
“Nomthandazo hosted a women’s seminar last year, and during the discussion, we were overwhelmed at the amount of pain that they have carried from their childhood,” explains Nomfuthi.
She says that they decided to reach out to young girls and prevent them from carrying similar scars into their adult lives.
The seminar catered for girls between the ages of 14 and 21.
“Inside every woman is a little girl.
“If we can heal that girl, the woman stands a better chance of becoming a success.”
Letty Nkosi, an educator encourages the girls to discover God’s plan for their lives.
“Until you understand how precious you are to God, you will feel insecure.
You will judge yourself by the standards of people who don’t even love you.”
She believes that it is important for girls to surround themselves with friends who have the same beliefs.
Nozipho Radebe, an accountant and mother of one, says parents need to be honest and open to their children.
“When I told my mum that I had ‘feelings’ for a boy at 15, she said “khawungi yeke ngabafana!” (Don’t talk to me about boys.)
She believes that society cannot continue to make certain topics taboo when children need to know.
“It is so much better to educate them and prepare them for the future.
We need to talk about everything.”
Nozipho adds that most cases of sexual abuse are perpetuated by the fact that children do not feel safe enough to tell their parents about their experiences.
“And we can’t just teach girls.
Boys need us too.”
