Women bear almost all
responsibility for meeting basic needs of the family, yet are systematically
denied the resources, information and freedom of action they need to fulfil
this responsibility.
In our experience, we have
found that women are denied access not by political discrimination or
isolation, but by circumstance. We get to these circumstances by a combination
of a wide array of factors: social, cultural, religious and many more. We
believe that although the average South African woman might be aware of her
rights, she is simply not empowered enough to speak out.
Women's empowerment is a
passion and priority for us at Thembalitsha. We believe that empowering the
woman to be financially, physically and emotionally independent is fundamental
to her (and by extension the family’s) well-being. It is with this in mind that
Themba Training has launched the new sub-project, focusing on the woman, skills
training and business training as well as emotional and civil support.
Our sewing training course
spans 10 weeks and is combined with the small business training. The first
course is coming to an end and has been tremendously successful with full
attendance throughout the course. Places for the second course starting in
April has already been filled with a waiting list for course 3 already opened.
Workshops on gender
equality are being designed and since the emotional welfare of the woman is as
important as the physical, we believe that our holistic approach will benefit
many women of Crossroads/Khayelitsha.
When women are
supported and empowered, all of society benefits.
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| TT Women's Empowerment business class filled to capacity |
