Let’s work together and fight social ills to make a better future for our children.
“Gender Links is and continues to assist communities fight against GBV and all forms of inequality amongst genders. I attended two workshops which were informative and these workshops continued to ignite my passion to continue working in the community in which I operate.”
Zandile Ncube has been working for Rainbow Circle, an NPO that deals with VEP for the past 11 years. When her contract ended abruptly, she went on to open her own organization called KwaKhanya Foundation. It deals with social ills, especially in young people but is not limited to assisting everyone. Zandile’s organization is now dealing more with GBV cases as these cases have been increasing in the community.
Zandile Ncube is a hero in the community of Mbongolwane, her work is deserving for her to qualify as a driver of change, because she works tirelessly without pay for the community of Mbongolwane to be educated about GBV, Gender inequality and to reduce the number of cases in the community of Mbongolwane.
After attending the Social & Empowerment workshops that Eshowe Child & Family Welfare Society ran in 2020 through the funding received from Gender Links. KwaKhanya foundation has had success implementing the following programs:
Community Awareness Programs: The programs were implemented in Mbongolwane area where HIV/AIDS is prevalent. Mbongolwane is a small rural community that is often forgotten when GBV awareness programs are being implemented in Eshowe. This is because it lies just outside of Eshowe. Even through MSF is doing a great job working in that community regarding HIV/AIDS. GBV is often overlooked. Zandile conducted door to door work in the community, handing out pamphlets with information about GBV, not only that, she would go into homes where the “gogo’s” live with grandchildren and just uncles. She realized that most people do not know what is GBV and only classify it as domestic violence. Her pamphlets consisted with all the information needed by the community.
Zandile also refers cases that need social worker intervention to The Department of Social Development for further assistance.
Success Stories after attending WVL funded workshops through Eshowe Child Welfare Society:
Zandile’s Foundation conducted successful 16 Days of Activism programs: In December 2020 they had 3 GBV cases, one of the cases was a rape case and all these cases resulted in perpetrators being arrested. January 2021, Zandile has dealt with one domestic violence case, no arrest was made, but intensive counselling was conducted for the couple.
Challenges: funding has been a challenge for the organization, this means they continually have to change volunteers as people always leave due to no pay. Lack of resources.
Door to door campaigning: people are always reluctant to give full information about the happenings in their homes, and most of them refuse to sign attendance registers.
Future plans: Zandile hopes that KwaKhanya foundation will be able to receive funding so she can expand to other places and reach more rural communities in Eshowe. She hopes to work with other stakeholders and gain support from well- established Civil Organizations in Eshowe and beyond so that her organization can reach more ground. In 2021, she hopes to work more with the young men in the community, as the concentration has been to the women, and she feels this becomes one sided and young men are overlooked, whereas they become the perpetrators of tomorrow.