World Vision Has Saved Me From Destruction..

“I’d probably be dead by now if I had not attended the life changing MenEngage workshop, which took place here in Matatiele sometime last year,” says Thato Mokoena, brushing his eyes. According to this 28 year-old, his life was messed-up when he attended the workshop. He was still a teenager when he started smoking, and later moved to abusing alcohol and being promiscuous. But now the visible change that took place in the life of this charming young man from Umzimvubu, Eastern Cape, has become the talk of the village.
“Whenever there were fights or anything unlawful, you would be sure Thato was part of it. In fact he used to be the cause of fights and unhappiness here in our village,” says local Pastor and Chief, Thabang Koali. And for Thato, all this was in the name of enjoying life as a young person. “I believed manhood was defined by many sexual partners, ability to use violence to earn respect and exerting power over others,” confessed Thato. Adding he did not know any better. “I do not have a father figure at home, I stay with my mother and for me using violence had become a way of life,” he said.
Facilitated by World Vision, MenEngage initiative is toward the fulfillment of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those components that focus on achieving gender equality. Some of its interventions in Umzimvubu include advocacy campaigns that seek to act as a collective voice to promote a local movement of men and boys engaged in and working toward gender equality and questioning violence and non-equitable versions of manhood. It is this sensitisation that has made Thato realize he was living a dangerous life.

Now that Thato knows better, he has decided to be a change catalyst in his area. Under WV’s mentorship, he is mobilizing boys and men in his community for behavior change. “I believe that questioning boys and men’s attitudes and expectations about gender roles and responsibilities is crucial to achieving balance in social issues,” he says.

For Mosiuoa Nkhoesa, a village Headman, attending these sessions has been a serious eye opener. The 57 year old father of four children admits to being an abusive man before his encounter with MenEngage sessions. “I had a wrong perspective of what manhood was all about,” he said. However nowadays, his wife and children are experiencing what it means to have a husband and father.

“Now I know what it means to be a man. Manhood is defined by one’s ability to build relationships based on respect and understanding, speaking out against violence in your society and by having the strength to ask for helps, even from your wife – something I never did before,” said Nkhoesa.