I work with Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for Young Women (MEMPROW) where I am in charge of the Research, Communication and Advocacy programme.

I am a feminist because I love to see women rise to their potential through empowerment and leadership forums. The reason I chose to work with MEMPROW was because of my passion to reach as many young women in order to tell them that they are equal in right and potential as men, and that they too can excel. I am also committed to seeing women rise from oppression, discrimination and segregation caused by the patriarchal society. My drive to see young women empowered and valued is what makes me a feminist.

I think that the greatest challenge facing feminists in Africa today is the patriarchal structure that discriminates and segregates women at home, school and in the public spheres. This has resulted in stereotypes that men are superior, and women are inferior which has caused women not to believe in what they can be if they took up leadership positions.

One of the ways we can address this is a deep commitment to mentoring young women to join in feminist efforts. This means building on and strengthening leadership programmes for young women, creating spaces for young women to reflect on and exchange experiences with feminists of all generations.

The African Feminist Charter is one of the tools that can be used in this endeavour as it makes feminism accessible to young women. It can be used and distributed in public universities and libraries so that many young women can access it. In addition, the values and objectives can be included as modules in training programmes.

In my own life, I engage in a capacity building programme for young women at universities and high schools where I also facilitate sessions on effective communication skills for young women. By doing this I am empowering women to use their communication skills to compete favourably with their male counterparts.
I am inspired by women that have achieved greatly; those who despite many challenges managed to get an education or ascend into key leadership positions that impact on the lives of communities. I am also inspired by women who founded community and women’s initiatives; who continue to reach out to young women for capacity building, personal development and growth. Finally, young women that have penetrated professions such as surveying, engineering, medicine, etc, and achieved success, inspires me to be bold and successful also.