BY PHUMZILE NDLOVU
MBABANE – Grooming and empowering the boy child!
Due to the high number of Gender-Based Violence (GBV) cases that the country continues to experience, the Marydee Isibuko Serenity Foundation (MISF) will be hosting the second annual “Marydee Esangweni Boys boot camp and Festival.
The boot camp will be held on Saturday at Mkhulamini Community (Kukhanyeni Inkhundla), Manzini Region.
According to the Founder and President, Dudu Dube, this is an annual event that brings together boys who are 11 to 25 years old, big brother ambassadors (above 26 years old), and father figures under one roof for a dialogue on “Growing up as a Boy Child.
”We have big brother ambassadors and father figures who will tackle various topics, including GBV and sexual abuse, social challenges that boys are going through, drugs and alcohol abuse, entrepreneurship, bullying, HIV/AIDS, and mental health issues.“
Dube shared with this publication that the mentorship programme seeks to:
- Provide a safe, supportive space for boys aged 11–25 years old.
- Contribute towards achieving gender equality and transformative and sustainable social change that harness all efforts towards ending GBV.
- Mentoring boys and raising responsible boys who are not afraid to express their emotions, control their anger (anger management), and evade violence at all levels through coordinated action.
- Provide one-on-one counselling to the boys who are going through challenges.
- Mentor at least 100,000 boys in the 59 constituencies within three years.
Benefits of the MISF Boys Clubs
- Be more engaged in school and improve school attendance.
- Make better choices in life.
- Develop pro-social behaviour.
- Build stronger relationships with your parents and peers.
- Decrease delinquent behaviour and substance abuse.
- Be at lower risk of intergenerational transmission of criminality.
- Be able to express their emotions.
- Equipped with entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills
Organisations that have partnered with MISF for this year’s boot camp and festival are;
Premier Eswatini: 200 loaves of bread, Alliance Foods (KFC Eswatini): 200 (streetwise, two for lunch), Zeal Procurement & Supply Chain Limited Georgetown University and Jhpiego provide health services.
There will be a soccer tournament after lunch, where two teams will be competing. The soccer game will start at 3 p.m. Thirty minutes before the game, there will be Aerobics as well.
