The Rural Women’s Assembly opened the 10th anniversary conference on 26 November 2019 with a beautiful poem by an 11 year old, Sengetiwe Simelane from Swaziland.
Opening poem by Sengetiwe Simelane
My name is Sengetiwe Simelane from the Kingdom of Eswatini
Happy 10th anniversary RWA
A mother figure to the motherless
A voice of the voiceless
In your wings we find comfort
Through your efforts we strive
In 9 countries in the SADC region you are the mouthpiece of our women
Not only did you sensitize them about their rights,
You advocated for equal rights for the feminine gender
From gender based violence, freedom of expressing their woes, to land disputes
Oh! The list is endless
Women were made to believe in society they were not entitled to land ownership
You awakened them about their rights to own land as fellow beings
You then equipped our women, young and old, with skills of surviving the predicament of climate change through agroecology, use of land sparingly, to indigenous seeds for food security.
We are women with confidence
We are women with dignity
We are women in unity
Viva!
Rural Women's Assembly 