Empowerment of girls only
2010-03-11
Liezl Dyson
A PASSIONATE young woman is determined to change the lives of young girls in need in the Drakenstein community. Dunheél Hendricks from Paarl East invites me in her home to share with me her ideas, mission and traumatic experience that turned her life around. In 2007 Dunheél Hendricks was part of the Community Leadership Academy in association with Ecumenical Foundation of Southern Africa (EFSA) and the University of Stellenbosch. There she was given an assignment to develop a project proposal based on her vision for her community. Dunheél decided to address the need of young girls. The name of her project is Ego’s, the Empowerment of Girls Only, and the mission is to focus on girls who face teenage pregnancies and those who were abused and raped. Ego’s goal was to prevent these problems through providing support, information desks, education and referrals. With the help of many friends at first she only focused on Paarl East and later she expanded her focus to the greater Drakenstein area and the Cape Winelands District. Then Dunheél fell in love and left her hard work she put into Ego’s behind. According to her, in the beginning she had a fairytale relationship, with surprises and butterflies in her tummy. “After a year he started to emotionally and financially abuse me. He wanted to control me. The way I do things or even when I should laugh or not, but still I didn’t want to hear anything bad about him.” One dreadful day she decided to take the train to visit him at his home in Cape Town. Little did she know that two years down the line she would testify against him in a court case, for whilst at his home, Dunheél was attacked and raped by him and ended up in hospital. “Like many other girls I was head over heels in love with him. I just thought he was the best thing that had happened to me. I ignored all the signs.” Dunheél said that the support of her family and friends was amazing and that she learned to make peace with what had happened. “I picked myself up and decided to work on my dreams again, to help young girls.” Dunheél, who works as a receptionist at the Paarl East police station, decided to work together with Sergeant Gerhard Sampson as a team when it comes to Ego’s. She also helps at the Trauma Room at the police station. “Today I see how many girls allow their boyfriends to treat them like dirt, to verbally and physically abuse them, to cheat on them - and still the girls stay with their boy-friends.” “I know an abuser makes you feel as if you are guilty and that everything that goes wrong is your fault, but I want young girls to break free from this and to empower themselves with knowledge.” At times Dunheél also talks on the local radio station as a guest speaker and at various women empowerment events. With the help of Dr Cynthia Kabanyane she is also busy writing her own book. Anyone who would like to make contact with Ego’s or to find out when and where their next workshop for girls will be held, can contact Dunheél on 084-276-1233. People who would like to make a donation to the Trauma Room at Paarl East police station or Ego’s can also contact Dunheél.
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