House of Sarah and Hagar moves forward with plan to help others

After hosting its fund-raiser and awareness programme called Surviving Narcissistic Abuse, NPC House of Sarah and Hagar has continued to work towards establishing a shelter for women and children in need.

Founded by Edenvale resident Terry Jagwar, Primrose resident Fatima Iqbal and Wychwood resident Lucrecia Baartman, the NPC hopes to protect, heal and improve the lives of women and their children who have been abused.

Held at the end of August at the Hellenic Cyprus Club in Bedfordview, the event was facilitated by Jenni Hunter.

It was comprised of speakers such as Lydia Roux of TMS Gauteng and Nutri-Fit Studio, Olivia Jasriel of Women and Men against Child Abuse and Russell Mathey of i-Fearless.

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Jenni and Olivia took the audience through their journeys of narcissistic abuse.

They shared information with the audience on how to identify narcissistic behaviour, understand abuse syndrome, what red flags to look out for and explained the glossary of slang terms used to define and understand certain behavioural traits of a narcissist.

Lydia on the other hand spoke about the importance of living a purposeful fulfilled life.

At the event, a demonstration of the app SecureMe was held for those in attendance.

The App, which can be downloaded from Google Play Store, dispatches armed security within minutes to wherever you are when you find yourself in danger.

Although the event was not well attended as hoped, it was described as a great success as the women of House of Sarah and Hagar were able to officially launch and share their vision of the shelter for abused women and children.

“I think lockdown and community members’ concern of the virus impacted the attendance but it was still a success,” explained Terry.
Moving forward, the NPC hopes to establish and looks forward to hosting similar workshops across South Africa.

Since the NEWS last spoke to the women from the NPC, they have identified a potential building for its shelter in Fishers Hill that they plan to purchase.

“The building has everything that we need,” said Terry.

She explained that although the building is located in Germiston, once the NPC purchases it and turns it into a shelter it will cater for women from the surrounding areas.

Besides identifying a potential property for the shelter, the women have been hard at work building connections throughout the community.

Terry said the NPC has been in contact with several community role players such as Gail Hume of Beacon of Hope and organisations like Newday Cafe and Character Company and expanded the work it does in the community.

“We are linking people with each other and helping people where we can,” said Terry.

With 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence coming up, the NPC also hopes to host a campaign to create awareness.

The group hopes to partner with male-specific groups as it believes men need to take greater responsibility in the fight against gender-based violence.

Terry explained that in many cultures men are often seen as the pillars of support of the family.

“Men need to step up and become mentors for the youth,” she highlighted.

“We hope people will step out and have discussions about the future of young men and women in SA. We need to break the silence and speak out against gender-based violence. We all have a voice so we need to use it.”

In light of the NPC identifying a potential property for its shelter, Terry appealed to the community to continue assisting it to raise funds so it can purchase the property.

She challenged the community of Ekurhuleni to step up and help where they can.

To do this, community members can donate funds through the NPC’s website.

Additionally, the NPC still needs to raise funds to cover some of the costs of the fundraiser and is selling off packs from the event.

The pack, which costs R200, includes a compact, bracelet, lipstick, a pen, mask and a self-help book about narcissism written by Jenni.

For more information or to assist the NPC in its fundraising efforts visit www.hosah.co.za or their Facebook page.

Alternatively, email victors@hosah.co.za or phone Terry on 060 809 4798.

Contact the newsroom by emailing: 
Marietta Lombard (Editor) germistoncitynews@caxton.co.za,  or (Journalists) Busi Vilakazi busiv@caxton.co.za