Posts archive for June, 2017

“l used to believe happy families are a gift from God, a privilege for a few. I was convinced I belonged to the unfortunate group, who can only see happy families from a distance. My husband was a dominant person. He would demand respect as a father and head of family by whatever means possible. Even if it meant we had to always jump to make him feel powerful, then that was good for him. There are several times when l wanted to suggest something as a wife, but all my suggestions were turned down. “Since when did married women start calling orders?’’ that was his response always.

For the past 10 years since l tied the knot with my husband, he has never fetched firewood for the family or even build a stack of firewood (bakwa). But recently, I was surprised to see this happening and this is undeniably because of his involvement in the SAfAIDS programme. The programme reached the core of so many husbands who are part of Men as Partners/Women as Partners training (MasP/WasP). This programme encourages peace in the homes and enlightens the community about the dangers of gender-based violence (GBV).