Stream sisters encourage men to open up through #MenToo initiative
Makole Naumi Molapo and Mantji Augusta Molapo have started a group on WhatsApp, Men Too, which addresses mental health issues that men face in society.
POLOKWANE – Sisters, Makole Naumi Molapo and Mantji Augusta Molapo are human rights activists who urge society to not forget men.
The human rights activists are also poets known as ‘The Stream Sisters’ who are passionate about addressing societal ills.
The sisters from Seshego have been creating videos of spoken word poetry since 2015. They tackle social ills that affect society and through their work, they have realised that men need to be given a platform to express themselves.
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They founded the Men Too initiative, which is a group that gives men and women an opportunity to have open and honest conversations.
“Right now, the group exists on WhatsApp, however, we believe that we are ready to bring people together to have these discussions in person,” explained Makole.
The sisters were exposed to gender-based violence growing up and through open communication with their father who was the aggressor, they shared that they were able to heal from their experience. “Talking about it really helped because we are able to speak openly about it. We are now able to have light hearted conversation arounds some of those experiences and we wouldn’t have gotten to that point if we hadn’t opened up and talked to our father,” said Makole.
The Stream Sisters would love to one day meet President Cyril Ramaphosa to discuss the social ills.
They have also started a group on WhatsApp, Men Too, which addresses issues that men are going through mentally.
“Men go through a lot. They deserve to be listened to because they die inside bottling things up without an outlet for their pain and frustrations. We must understand the causes of their actions to find solutions,” said Mantji.
They hope to one day rope in relevant stakeholders to help fight the scourge of gender-based violence.
Those who would like to join hands with the Stream Sisters can reach them on 076 536 6442.
