LeadPurple Woman Day Event
On Saturday the 6th of August Community Developmental Projects (CDP) partnered with The Noordgesig anti- Gender Based Violence (GBV) group , Lead Purple , to have discussion regarding the role women empowerment plays in promoting social cohesion. There were many women who joined us, not only those part of Lead purple but from the community , other women’s groups and we even had a group of teenagers from Noordgesig Secondary School who joined us as well. We thus, had a diverse group with different age groups, races and backgrounds at this discussion.
To begin the event, Jonathan Green the head of the CDP opened up the day by welcoming everybody, introducing our team and explain what role we play in the community. He then thanked Rebecca Macket the head of Lead purple for her willingness to partner with us and for bringing so many women together to have such an important discussion. He explained how important it is to have such discussions in order to create a better society for women. Jonathan then allowed Rebecca to come forth and do an introduction. Rebeca, opened by introducing herself and her group Lead Purple, and what their role is in the Noordgesig community. She then thanked the CDP for the amazing opportunity to have such a necessary discussion. Thereafter, she thanked all the women for joining the discussion and said a special thank you to the women who came from their different social activism groups to join the discussion. The guest speaker for the day was the welcomed to the front, by Jonathan.
The guest speaker, Shakiraw Raymond is an empowerment coach specialising in personal development having a variety of other academic qualifications in the fields of business administration in the faculty of commerce, law and management, athletic nutrition, and local government. She is also an accredited member of the Universal Bliss Organisation that supports the individuals experience of higher quality living through empowering spiritual truth teachings. Shakiraw began her own journey of healing from her insecurities and life challenges towards the end of 2016 that resulted in her own transformation and growth in her personal life, this breakthrough inspired her to serve and support others in new ways in which our current and future generations respond to every day challenges by improving the mindset of our people from the limiting beliefs that hold them back from thriving in all aspects of their lives. She currently serves as a Chief Specialist in the private office of the mayor at the City of Johannesburg.
Shakiraw told us the story of her difficult upbringing as her father was an abusive alcoholic. She often blamed a lot of her faults on this fact and spiraled down the wrong path due to her feeling sorry for herself. She herself became an alcohol abuser, did drugs, harmed herself and surrounded herself with the wrong crowd. She finally realized that this was no longer serving her and decided to change her life for the better. She is therefore now a strong believer that your past does not determine your future. Shakiraw is a woman of faith and highlighted how important it is to recognize our innate worth. She said that the lord has a reason for making each and every individual and they should realise how important they are because of this. The lord could have made you a tree, an animal, an object but he chose to make you a human being. he has a purpose for all our lives, and she encouraged everyone to be aware of that. She additionally emphasized that as women we are even more superior, as we are the mothers of our nation. We are the ones who were tasked with carrying children and giving birth. Women are stronger than men in so many ways, we can deal with so much more and be strong for our families too. Shakiraw then moved onto the important role of parenting and emphasized the importance rising the boy child correctly. She highlighted the need for the boy child to be given a safe space where he can communicate his feeling and emotions and where he can simply be himself without criticism or shame for not being “a man “when he is not okay. She said that we should raise men who are caring, comfortable with their emotions and self-expressive. Allowing boys, a space to be free and let go could help us create a better society and better caliber of men for the future, where men will not abuse and rape our women. Next, Shakiraw spoke about how women tend to always put themselves last and will always take care of everyone else first. She encouraged all the women to stop doing that, as women are not sacrificial lambs, and in order to show up as our best selves for those around us, we need to put ourselves first. She said that the order of importance in everyone’s lives should be “God -> Me -> Everyone else”. To end off, she once again highlighted that everyone in the room has a purpose and that it is our responsibility to live it. She once again stated that our future is not determined by our past, our traumas, or our parents. It is determined by us!
