Community forum observes International Men’s Day

The collapse of the family structure and constant negativity toward younger men prompted the Wattville Men’s Forum to organise an event on International Men’s Day on November 19 to address issues faced by men in the community.

The event, titled Celebrating Positive Parenting and Fatherhood: Empowering Men and Transforming Families, attracted over 100 adult and young males.

In his address, the forum’s chairperson, John Machaba, highlighted the country’s dire economic situation that led to the disintegration of families and severely affected most men’s self-esteem because they could not provide for their families.

“This leads to the collapse of the family structure and you may find them losing respect at home because they cannot provide. They then resort to going to the drinking holes and a lot of them drink instead of trying to solve their problems,” said Machaba.

This resulted in the absence of role models young men could look up to in Wattville.

“The children grow up in that environment and go astray into drugs, hookah pipes, drinking and everything not good for their future.

“That is when we realised we needed to intervene and bring back normalcy, starting with the heads of the families and then grooming the boy child. This will influence the family structure and the entire community.”

The forum will revive the Wattville Skills Development Centre to empower and upskill unemployed young men in the community.

“We are looking at getting them economically involved in various projects around the community. The plan is to get the skills development centre up and running because many of our people are under-skilled. It is not only about men; it is about encompassing the entire community and uplifting the boy child,” Machaba added.

Speaking about men’s health and gender values clarification, the Sonke Gender Justice MenCare regional programme specialist Jean-Marie Nkurunziza urged men to challenge cultural norms, like men don’t cry.

“Stats say men are still afraid of going to healthcare centres. This event is for men to do self-introspection on what society has taught us and whether we applied those teachings positively,” he said.

Nkurunziza added if men openly express their feelings, it may lead to the end of gender-based violence and violence amongst men.

“We grow up being told we don’t cry. Why? Are men not humans? Do they not have feelings? As a man, you must cry rather than resort to violence because we know when some men are angry, they respond violently. We must humble ourselves and learn to apologise to become good men.”

About gender values and clarification, Nkurunziza urged men to be unashamed about helping with household chores. They should confidently assist their spouses in parenting.

The men also pledged to the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children.

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