The annual 16 Days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children, commenced on 25 November and ended on 10 December. The Phoenix Survival Centre in KwaZulu Natal is a beneficiary organisation within our network with a track record of empowering victims of gender-based violence.
A passionate community activist
Caroline Govender is a strong and amazing woman. As the co-founder of Phoenix Survival Centre, a home for abused, abandoned and destitute women in Phoenix, KZN, she simply responds to queries about their lack of government funding by saying, “I have the greatest connection up there and that’s how I’ve survived all these years! I want to say thank you to Foodbank, now FoodForward SA. I’m grateful for our partnership since 2015, theirs was the first ever food that I ever received. For a long time, FoodForward was my only sponsor, and then later I had Woolworths stores, again I’m grateful and indebted to them and thank God for the organisation’s work.”
A passionate community activist, Caroline works closely within community structures, offering women free HIV, domestic violence, trauma, and substance abuse counselling, family crisis intervention, empowerment, and skills programmes. Previously, she worked for newspapers and was a businesswoman. She started ‘small’ by feeding destitute people at the Gandhi Hospital in Phoenix. Her passion grew out of seeing first-hand how women were left destitute, depressed, and broken, with no place to go. Fifteen years ago, they found and bought a rundown building which they renovated. They have come a long way since then, now also feeding poor families from all races in Phoenix, Mount Moriah and Cornubia, an informal settlement largely forgotten by the municipality.
Food security is an essential component of women’s empowerment
Women experiencing gender-based violence often do not have access to a stable supply of nutritious food, perpetuating the cycle of abuse. Through organisations such as Phoenix Survival Centre, which offer holistic programmes that include regular, nutritious meals, ‘victims’ are transformed into empowered women with a renewed sense of hope, dignity and sense of self.
While the Centre currently houses 10 women, they are looking to accommodate at least 16 women. The women use the facilities to cook three meals a day, and for those people who might walk in at the shelter, the ethos is to ensure no one goes away without receiving something to eat. Says Caroline, “The women staying at the Centre’ undergo such big changes from the time they arrive at the Centre, till when they are uplifted and empowered, with some of them even starting small businesses.”
A heartwarming message from Caroline
“I love it when I motivate and inspire women during my talks. I just want to mention that I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth. I come from humble beginnings as the 10th child of 11 children. My mother died when I was 6 years old, I grew up with a stepmother, life was tough for me. Now when I think back, I feel like it just happened yesterday the reason being meeting these women daily from where I come from my mind is always going back to my childhood, my traumas. I always tell people if you haven’t tasted abuse, if you haven’t gone through that difficulty, it’s not easy to go and talk to someone who’s experienced it and uplift them.
I always say to people that when you experience something in your life it makes you stronger you can speak with more strength, you can speak with courage because you know what it is like to go through. I have tasted abuse, I have tasted where my image was tarnished, I’ve tasted every kind of ill in the community, so I know where I come from and that is why I’m able to encourage and strengthen other women to put them back on the platform where they belong.
I would like to encourage those who have a passion, and a desire to impact somebody’s life and despite the challenges that we go through they must just do little things to make a difference in someone’s life. I’d like to honour all women who are battered by their partners, by their children, and women who were never privileged to go to school. I want to honour them and tell them that it’s not the end of the world even if you’re 50 it’s not the end of the world you still can go back and empower yourself.”
Donate to FoodForward SA and help us continue to support organisations that uplift and empower the lives of women.
