Leaoa Mokone is a Health Promoter for Partners in Sexual Health (PSH) at their Bloemfontein branch.

Partners in Sexual Health (PSH) and the SEF

Partners in Sexual Health’s (PSH) Common Good Youth SRHR (CGY) Project is funded by the Social Employment Fund, employing and training 2200 young people about sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR). This includes decreasing HIV incidence, teenage pregnancy, and gender-based violence (GBV) in the targeted communities in the Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Free State and Western Cape.

On-the-job training

Leaoa has received on-the-job training in communication, facilitation, project management, mentoring, social media marketing, presentation, and job search skills. All these skills combined will lead to work readiness.

In return he’s giving back to his community by facilitating face-to-face SRHR discussions through door-to-door visits and street interactions; youth and intergenerational group discussions; community outreaches like school and church gatherings, clinic and community meetings.

While with the SEF project  Leaoa will gain valuable work experience and help build a pathway to a better future while uplifting his community at the same time.

A steep learning curve

How we were raised as South African people has a significant influence on the impact of gender- based violence (GBV). Before he joined Partners in Sexual Health (PSH), Leaoa had a different perspective on girls, women, and relationships. “I remember losing the girl I loved primarily because of how I treated her and our relationship. I had a misguided perception of what a woman should be in a relationship”, he says.

“It wasn’t until later (in life) that I realised the failure of our relationship was largely due to my lack of knowledge about GBV. I knew that GBV stood for ‘gender-based violence’, but I never took the time to truly understand what it meant and its underlying causes”.

Different perspectives and outlook

When he joined PSH Leaoa  was educated on GBV, learning about its causes and destructive impact. Through this process he came to understand the reasons behind his violent behaviour towards women, homosexual people, and others. He is proud to say that PSH has changed his life. He also credits PSH and the SEF for giving him a deeper understanding of leadership through mentoring skills.

A new start

Leaoa now sees himself as a different person. Not only is he actively learning more about Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) issues, he is also teaching others about these important topics. With this new knowledge, it has become easier for him to recognise negative gender-based behaviours and understand GBV as a whole. His love life has improved, and he no longer judges people based on the choices they make. He is grateful to PSH and SEF for the invaluable impact on his life.