Sisters lend a helping hand to Grade 10 girls
ALEXANDRA – Sisters come together to 'Adopt a girl child'.
Alex’s secondary schoolgirls in need of motivation and support beyond the school ground have a shoulder to lean on from some dedicated ‘sisters’.
This at a critical stage when challenges of adolescence like handling puberty and peer pressure compounded by patriarchy and poverty, weigh heavily on their self-confidence, self-esteem and independence.
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This was said at Sankopano Community Centre by Kgoerano Kekana, convener of the sisters’ group when launching a programme, Adopt a girl child. The members from Alex and elsewhere are young professionals in business, media, politics, sports and other fields. “We went through similar challenges, understand their desperation and want to mentor, coach and be a source of strength for them,” Kekana said.
The programme, she added, targets mainly 1 300 girls in Grade 10 from five local schools who she said are most vulnerable and struggle with many adolescence issues when they should be concentrating on school work and shaping their career choices for their future. “We want to adopt and advise them on many social ills they face, including serious, controversial and sometimes private ones which are not talked about at home and in the community in order to strengthen their character and foundation to achieving their aspirations.”
The programme will complement teachers, who Kekana said have limited time with them, parents who are unemployed and struggling to fend for their families from meagre resources. “The girls require concerted input to develop their capacity to handle power imbalance, handling of boys, victimisation and violence and to protect them from peer pressure before they are tempted into making wrong decisions, early sexual debut risking teenage pregnancy and other sexually transmitted diseases and dropping out of school.”
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The group will also refer to and recruit more members to ensure the support is holistic, empowering and sustainable. The girls will be encouraged to stay on the programme for a year while also receiving leadership skills for their future roles in society. The first group of participants received sanitary pads which Kekana said will reduce absenteeism from class during menstruation.
Kekana appealed for other material assistance to distribute to the girls at next month’s session.
Details: Kgoerano Kekana 074 441 7563.
