The opening of Mgcamabele Community Centre on Kwandwe Reserve on Friday highlighted once again the vital role played by strong women in our community.
The opening of Mgcamabele Community Centre on Kwandwe Reserve on Friday highlighted once again the vital role played by strong women in our community.
The keynote speaker, Nontsikelelo Biko, spoke at length about the heritage of her husband Stephen Bantu Biko, but she also spoke about the incredible efforts of the women of KwaPontak Village who were the driving force behind the decision to build the new centre.
Residents of the village elected Noluvo Njadayi, a community development practitioner, to head the steering committee that managed the construction project.
They chose Njadayi because although she is quiet and unassuming, she has a track record of getting things done and she enjoys the firm trust of her community.
Director of the Angus Gillis Foundation, Di Hornby worked together with the self help group to facilitate aspects of the project that required outside intervention.
Hornby’s hard work and dedication to improving the lot of people who live in and around Kwandwe prompted the CEO of the reserve, Angus Sholto-Douglas, to thank her for her unwavering commitment to this project.
“Unwavering commitment is borne out of passion, and committed and passionate people achieve and it may even be best not to get in their way!” he said.
Sholto-Douglas made special mention of other women who made important contributions to the wellbeing of the villages.
These included Cynthia Siyona who coordinates 49 self-help groups in the area; Helen Hayes who pours her passion “into the myriad of economic projects and pro-poor tourism initiatives” and Kathryn Court who drives from village to village attending to the supply of medical services to rural communities.
As women played such an important role in the conception and construction of the Mgcamabele Community Centre it was fitting that the centre-piece of the launch ceremony saw four women: Nontsikelelo Biko, Diana Hornby, Noluvo Njadayi and the MC of the occasion, Lime Badu leading a large contingent of women in song.
