Members for Songe Social Change hosted a boys’ camp, with the aim of equipping young boys and men about manhood and addressing social ills.
The camp was held at Nyandeni Great Place in Libode and was attended by boys who came from Nyandeni area, last weekend.
According to Stakeholder Relations manager, Siya Ndesi, they had hosted this camp with the aim of giving a chance to young boys to voice their views about the high rate of social ills in their communities. Ndesi said there are a lot of things that are done to protect women in different things, but when it comes to boys there is still a lot to be done.
“Boys think that when we are talking about gender-based violence (GBV), it seems as if we refer to women and (female) children only. They do not know that it can also affect them,” said Ndesi.
He added that they have seen that they showed interest in this. According to him they also wanted to teach them about manhood, because some of them think that manhood is just an event, which is wrong because it is a process; they should know what is expected from them.
“We are trying to teach them about that so that they can take full responsibility in their communities. We also want them to know that in their areas there are Great Places, so there should be programmes that are done so that they could participate in them.”
Ndesi said that every year they host virginity testing (Inkciyo) events for girls, so there should also be inkciyo for boys so that there could be gender equality. He emphasised that people should be taught that rights go with responsibilities.
“If the parent says that his/her son should be circumcised at 15, what kind of a responsibility does a man of 15 have? As men we must play a major responsibility in our societies; let us also bring a change so these boys could learn something from us as their elderly people.”
King for Amampondo ase Nyandeni, King Ndlovuyezwe, said that boys should learn to follow their own choices, not do things because of peer pressure.
“We want them to know that they have to do better in life so that they can have a better future, but everything depends on their choices,” said Ndlovuyezwe.
