Women take off the masks

Women have been urged to work hard to make their dreams a reality. At a classy event this past weekend at Avani hotel in Gaborone, Zanele Obah, a psychologist, motivational speaker and RB2 presenter told the women who attended Hiding Behind the Mask to find their identity before they seek validation from other people.

She encouraged them to first know who they are, saying they should know their strengths, weaknesses and purpose in life. She encouraged them to work hard and not to depend on men for survival as this often opens avenues for abuse.

She told women to know their partners well before jumping into marriage with them, saying failure to do so often leads to early divorces. She urged women to be mindful of their character, saying it can block their blessings.

She said that women with low self esteem, anger issues and manipulative traits hardly make it in life. Obah encouraged married women to submit to their husbands regardless of their educational background or position at work. “Be a professor or manager at work, know that you are a wife and your husband is your head at home,” she said.

 Pastor Dineo Letshwiti of It is Well church encouraged spinsters to wait on the Lord, giving an example of the Biblical woman who had to wait until she was 70 years old for God to finally give her a child. “Not every marriage is a blessing. Wait and be responsible in your waiting,” she said.

Co-founder of Hiding Behind the Mask Norah McAslin said the monthly event was meant to bring women together under one roof where to learn from each other and also share their life experiences. She encouraged women to be prayerful and to also pray for their families. “There is power when women come together and pray,” she said.

Attorney Refilwe Mogwe asked women to stop using children to frustrate their boyfriends and husbands when the relationships go sour. Narrating her experiences, she was concerned at the alarming divorce cases saying, ‘It is ridiculous how women come to her for divorce.’ Her observation was that couples in under-five years of marriage divorce easily. “I’ve found myself in tears over women crying of miserable marriages. We should pray for marriages,” she said.

It was a wonderful event with women taking off the masks and sharing, crying and empowering one another.