Gender and media Activist Nonsikelelo Ndlovu says participating in the Mandela Washington Fellowship (MWF) will enable her to share best practices and experiences that will “go a long way in encouraging me to move forward with my ardor which is to see young women gaining the necessary capabilities to fight oppression and gender inequality.”
During her six-week fellowship Nosikelelo will be at the University of Rutgers in New Jersey where she hopes to “connect with influential people in the women’s movement in a bid to create networks that will enhance her work and aspirations.” Her resolve has been spurred by her work at National Youth Development Trust where she is employed as the Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Manager.
Her work has seen her reaching out to the disadvantaged urban and rural community that has limited access to mainstream sources of information. In coming into contact with those communities Nosikelelo has realized that some work still needs to be done for young African women to rise above their circumstances, take up leadership roles as well as challenging all forms of oppression stemming from patriarchy.
Upon her return from the fellowship, Nosikelelo “intends to take the Young Women’s Network in my organization to a higher level by reaching out to more young women and making sure that they begin to take a lead in identifying solutions to the challenges they face.” Nosikelelo believes that she would have achieved her goals “when young women begin to act against all forms of oppression on their own with my organization merely playing a facilitation role.”
Nosikelelo holds a Bachelor of Science Honors Degree in Journalism and Media Studies attained at the National University of Science and Technology in Bulawayo.
You can follow her MWF experience on twitter @nonciendlovu
