Building a Network

From Traditional Thinker to Girl Empowerment Proponent

By Nyika Muyambo, Mentor, Sisonke Boys Club outside Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe

I was ingrained in a culture where I was led to believe that women are of less importance. Less is what we were told, and this is what I believed. So, in 2012, I came into that house for the (GSGC) Summit, and I was just an administrative person accompanying (a Rose of Charity official) to the women-themed meeting. I felt very uncomfortable, to sit among all those women. It was like a taboo in Africa when a man sits with women all around. It was like this man is weak. So it was a place where I was not comfortable being.

GSGC Partners' Believe Summit '12

But let me tell you, people began to share, they began to talk about the goal of GSGC and its partners — to break the cycle of poverty. Those were words that went deep in me, to break the cycle of poverty. Now how do you do it? I heard that when you educate a boy, you educate one person. When you educate a girl child, you educate a nation. And that is relevant in Africa. We have a lot of single mothers who take care of the children. Men just run away.

Then when I saw that video of the lady from Sierra Leone, and she was speaking to those men, I was listening to her as if I was one of the men in the audience. I was sitting there listening to this woman who was given the opportunity to rise up. This is when my mind changed; that was my trigger. I realized that if Africa continues with these old (beliefs), then we are not going anywhere. This is why I began to change.

My family is managed on the basis of what I learned from that Summit. And I will tell you today, this is why the standard of living of my family is better. It is because I followed the concept, because I was part of the concept.

I tell you, if this is impressed on another person the way we are doing, mentoring these boys, showing them, they are going to produce another Nyika. We are going to produce all these Nyika people. We are going to have a changed world.

The reality of the work is what I love about GSGC. It is building the network that becomes a ripple effect. One girl mentoring another girl. One man mentoring another man. This is how it all builds up. That is how it started with me.

Sisonke Boys Club Mentors Nyika (r) and Prosper (l)

I was obsessed. I started going on the internet looking up girl empowerment, female empowerment. I started doing research. Something hit me at that Summit in 2012, and I never looked back. I tested all those concepts, and I used them. I’ve seen it.

If you are looking for a community development tool, it is girl empowerment. You’ve got the answer there. GSGC’s goal has the answer we need to see. We do not have to be intimidated by people who are just pulling crowds, and there is no impact in the community.

What we need to help with, and what I am dedicated to, is teaching the donors where the money should go. If not, they will just be wasting money and change will only be on paper, in reports, just figures. The community has to report change. They have to speak out like they are doing right now. The community is starting to speak out. They are coming for change. They have to come to it. They have to see it.

In 2012, I walked out, and I went out to see how a young woman I knew, Mercy, was. We brought her in to Rose of Charity. Now look where Mercy is. She is grown up. She is standing forward. She is a mentor with Girls Time club in Vic Falls.

You are doing a great job, GSGC. That job started with me, and now I am impacting others. Let’s push. No giving up. There is somebody who needs you.