Childline KZN ambassadors and staff. Childline KZN ambassadors and staff.
Durban -Childline KZN hosted its first annual Women’s Day Breakfast at the Pearl Room of the Oyster Box Hotel, to honour women and raise funds for young girls on Tuesday.
The speakers celebrated the pertinent roles women played and also reminded them to nourish their spiritual, physical and emotional well-being.
Speakers shared personal anecdotes while encouraging attendees to pour into themselves, find their purpose and empower other women.
“I am surprised at the sacrifices women make for everyone to the detriment of their personal growth,” said Abigail Nepaul, a speaker.
She shared how burn-out from managing her law career, marriage and extreme nausea with her second pregnancy, led to a sobering turning point.
Nepaul talked through tears as she recalled the moment when her 2-year-old daughter, Azuri, said, “Mom, everything is going to be okay.”
She said: “The tears were from exhaustion.”
It was through them that she was able to hear a tiny voice that said: “You are going to use your voice to inspire and empower women - just hang in there.”
It was then that her research and journey to empower women was sparked.
Through Yolanda Nene’s speech, guests were reminded of how vulnerable children benefited from Childline.
Nene, who shared her plight of being an orphaned child, could not hold back tears as she shared how Childline was a “place of healing and hope”.
She credited the Childline staff, particularly operations manager Adeshini Naicker, for helping her. “I lost all hope in life, and Adeshini was there, and pushed me to be the woman I am today.”
Aligning with the empowering undertones of the event, Nene said: “Having a difficult childhood does not mean the rest of your life is over.”
She compared life to a washing machine, “as it will tug and pull at you, but at the end, you will be cleaner than you were before”.
Other guests told the Daily News what Women’s Day meant to them.
“(Women’s Day) is a time when women can collaborate, compliment each other and become one,” said Mbali Komane of Clermont.
Another attendee shared how the holiday served as a reminder of the need for unity, especially given the multiple cases of gender-based violence.
“Women’s Day encourages women to stand together and fight,” said Hlengiwe Dube of Newlands West.
Gugu Ngcobo, of KwaMashu, said: “Women’s Day is remembering all the women who fought to liberate young women who were not exposed to apartheid.”