The head chief at Guyuni Village, Wilson Dagada, said he was excited that this kind of ceremony was being held at his village’s clinic. “I am very happy that so many people from our community recognise Women’s Day and made the time to come and celebrate it with us at Guyuni Clinic. It shows that people around the community take Women’s Day very seriously,” said Dagada.

“The community felt that it was important to celebrate Women’s Day because we are facing so much violence against women and children here in the community. So the day is part of the activities aimed at stopping violence against women and children in our country,” said Maria Mabila, one of the community members.

“We managed to gather more than 200 people at our local clinic of which most of them were women and children,” said Nkhumeleni Musetsho.

“It is very sad that only a few men attended the ceremony to show their support to fight the abuse of women and children. We would have really appreciated it if more men had shown up and supported us,” she added.

“The main reason for this day is to let all abusive men know that we have had enough with the violence. We as the women of this community, we are no longer going to rest until everyone who abuses women and children are arrested,” said Marium Dzhaudzhau a representative from Guyuni Village.

“We must put a stop to all the violence against women and children. We now have problems with our children’s educational status because they don’€™t concentrate on their studies but all they do is fear for their lives because they are hearing many stories about children who have been raped and killed. The violence has to stop,” Dzhaudzhau concluded.

Suprise Nemalale is an OurHealth Citizen Journalist reporting from the Vhembe health district in Limpopo.