Zazi girls learm about strength
There was laughter and story-telling, and tears were shed, but most importantly the Zazi - Know Your Strength ambassadors were united.
EMALAHLENI – Jodimix Marketing hosted 60 girls for a two-day training workshop last weekend under the leadership of coordinator, Ms Yvette Raphael recently.
Various issues were tackled, including teenage pregnancy, types of abuse and self acceptance
Raphael engaged with the girls from different municipalities, emphasising the importance of fighting the stigma of HIV/Aids in society and learning to stand your ground.
“I have experienced hardships in life, but during the process I had to forgive and move on to become a better person and role model to my daughter. Before revealing my HIV status I used to be an angry person and the physical abuse from my former partner made it worse. The day I told my father that he beats me up, was when I realised I was ready to leave him for good,” explained Raphael.
The topic of emotional abuse was brought up. Many revealed they had experienced it more from family members and their partners about their weight problems and appearance.
Bongiwe Shongwe said it is not easy to try and live up to people’s expectations as you end up losing a sense of belonging.
“Some of us have been told we are too big and that we should lose weight or else we will be replaced. Imagine how hurting that is, it is not a good feeling,” she said.
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Head ambassador, Elaine Mkhabela, also motivated them. She stated that one should avoid negative people who constantly pull people down by toying with emotions.
“My life has been an emotional roller coaster, but fortunately I had my mother who encouraged me to never repeat the same mistakes she did. What will set you apart is to learn from your mistakes and remember that for every action, comes a responsibility,” ended Mkhabela.
