By Daniel Matter | Director of Programmes
Betty, pictured here, is a thirty-year-old ‘Women on the Move’ project coach who has been part of the project since the very beginning. Together with her husband, three children and her parents-in-law she lives in a small Tukul - a traditional South Sudanese house with a thatched roof and mud bricks forming the circular wall - in Beliak village.
“Before I joined the Women on the Move project, I thought that my marriage will likely fail and my family will break up. My husband was a heavy drinker, violent and we were facing financial problems. Our relationship was poor and we were constantly quarrelling. I also thought that I was the only one with all these problems.
When I joined the project as a coach more than two years ago, I did not only acquire skills on how to guide bi-weekly sport and play sessions and facilitate life skills education sessions, but also got a chance to join group counselling sessions that helped me to share my challenges with others, to hear about their stories and get their advice.”
In the interview with the project staff, Betty continued:
“The sport and play sessions helped me to overcome my previous idleness and enhance my ability to recognise problems and identify practicable solution. Through the discussions with other women and the life skill games I have been encouraged to tackle my daily problems and take decisions. I improved the way I’m dealing with relationship issues. In the past, my husband and I used to be very rude to each other. Today, we are able to sit together and work out solutions to our challenges, and plan the future of our family including our finances. When a misunderstanding arises or when there is a problem, I know what I can do about it because I learned how to settle conflicts and communicate in a good way from the project staff and other women at the playground.
There are still many challenges in my life, but I now have strategies to cope with them. I really hope that I will be able to continue serving the women in my village as a coach and that, through teamwork and continued support from the South Sudan Psychosocial Program (SSPP) and the Swiss Academy for Development (SAD), many wonderful things can be jointly achieved in our village.”
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