NAWEZA: Meaning I CAN in Swahili
#NAWEZA project is about bringing girls and women who come from different backgrounds, experiences and knowledge to form a platform where they can be who they want to be and embrace all of it. It’s about uplifting and nurturing one another rather than seeing each other as competitors. Through this we use different art forms and coaching as a tool to deal with issues together, challenge ourselves then others, and push boundaries to explore our limitations
Naweza Mentoring Programme is for young girls and women. The programme provides support and guidance around the needs of the individual and learning to use the right tools to make the changes they want to make. Most of the time we do not know the why and how, and until we ask ourselves these questions, it is only then we can make the change and grow.
NAWEZA 2019 plan
This project takes place twice a month :
Jan – Naweza evaluation and project planning with young people
February – CV workshops
Kick-boxing sessions at the Winch for 12 weeks Feb 11th to April 29th
March – Poetry workshops around identity, culture and being a women in this era. Add these poems to our book.
March – WOW festival to engage in the workshops and day trip
March – International women’s day with “Grow With Her” at Nomad around health and fitness
Easter (April) – Sex education workshop
Go to inspiring events around self-care and women making change
May – Workshop around confidence and body image
June – August – Plan and make a music video about women empowering each other
September – Editing video
October – End of project celebration
What is the Naweza Project?
A woman only space is key to our personal development as women – we have to keep building for ourselves and keep exploring and learning from each other. Today’s session was all about healthy relationships and what it means to us all. The key reflection for us today was how important “LOVE” is and how we need to re-learn it. #Naweza #NOMAD
“One of the best guides on how to be self-loving is to give ourselves the love we are often dreaming about receiving from others. There was a time when I felt lousy about my over-forty body, saw myself as too fat, too this, or too that. Yet I fantasised about finding a lover who would give me the gift of being loved as I am. It is silly, isn’t it, that I would dream of someone else offering to me the acceptance and affirmation I was withholding from myself. This was a moment when the maxim “You can never love anybody if you are unable to love yourself” made clear sense.
I add, “Do not expect to receive the love from someone else you do not give yourself.”
bell hooks, All About Love.
