Women attend the skills development workshop at the JL Zwane Center in Gugulethu.
Women from Gugulethu and neighboring communities gathered at the JL Zwane Center on Friday March 12th to learn much-needed skills and strengthen their socio-economic capacities.
The training, which is part of the centre’s skills development project, is also part of the International Women’s Day celebrations, which will be celebrated on Monday March 8th. The group of around 50 women was trained in sanitation.
The event’s organizer, Nokubonga Mepeni, combined the initiative with local and international efforts to empower women. “Since it was International Women’s Day on Monday, March 8th, we decided to focus on promoting women and developing skills,” she said. “We taught the basics of plumbing such as attaching water taps and installing cisterns.”
Mepeni said the goal is to encourage women to be independent and be able to fix small things in their homes. “Many women are unsupported by their partners, some in abusive relationships,” she said. “We’re trying to change the mindset that certain jobs are only for men. We want to convey to them that they can do everything men do. ”
One participant, Jillian Mtshayi, described the workshop as educational. She said such skills would help fight poverty.
“The workshop gave us the strength to be independent,” she said. “We will be able to fix small things in our homes. We’ll also be able to do odd jobs to make some money. “
Another, Nomthandazo Fudumele, saw it as an eye opener. “I learned how to build a cistern. You have to use a spirit level [a plumbing measuring tool to check vertical levels] to make sure it doesn’t go wrong, ”she said proudly.
Comments are closed.