Social Responsibility

Colleen is a social change agent who supports women empowerment and the eradication of patriarchal violence. Her commitment towards social change started in the late ‘80s. At the time she initiated a women’s club in a small disadvantaged community in the Eastern Cape. With the participation from local women, projects aimed at women empowerment, youth and elderly support were implemented.She learned to speak an indigenous language in her childhood and has lived in Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape. In 1998 she was nominated ‘woman of the year’ by a local cultural organisation in the Boland for dedicated and selfless service to the community. In 1999 she became the first woman in Worcester to receive the “Worcesteriet van die Jaar” award for her contributions in the community to improve social and economic conditions. Since 2008 she has dedicated her time to the non-profit sector and focused on the role of faith-based organisations to eradicate patriarchal violence. She has initiated an advocacy project that integrates social policy, spirituality and African philosophy in support of the national campaign against gender-based violence. This project was implemented with co-operation and support from civil society role-players, clinical psychologists, the faith-based sector and other stakeholders.

She also facilitated leadership development workshops for incarcerated individuals and women empowerment workshops for domestic violence survivors. She occasionally speaks on a local community radio station on topics such as patriarchal violence and leadership. Colleen is an occasional contributor to a weekly national faith-based newspaper. Her articles include perspectives on spirituality and volunteerism, patriarchal violence, new feminism, polygamy, women’s spirituality and financial management. Colleen believes in wellness of mind, body and spirit: an integrative approach to well-being. Her lifestyle focus is healthy living. She enjoys healthy eating, daily meditation and walking. She climbed Mount Sinai in Egypt at 1am in the morning and watched the magnificent sunrise at dawn from the top of the mountain. She climbed Mount Krizevac in Bosnia/ Herzegovina twice, barefoot. And she climbed the Great Wall in China, 1000 steps. She hopes to complete her journey as a policy scholar and pursue studies towards a PhD in the near future.

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