Today I can proudly say that our lives as women are not predetermined. Our path to leadership in any sphere on life, even in the more male dominated arena of the sports sector, are neither threatened nor shaken by the fact that we are females.
It is the power of believing in oneself, the wisdom and the acceptance that no one is all knowledgeable and superior. The awareness that without ful-ticipation of those you want to make an impact in their lives, things are more likely to collapse than to blossom into great lively flowers. Regardless of our successful educational background, what matters in bringing a positive change in our communities, is valuing ideas and experiences of our participants.
I am proud to say that the past five year working with sports and play activities has had quite a positive effect on me. Through openness to discussion and the safe environment for us young people to share our experiences and to learn from others, my life is full of strong turning points of which I am proud.
My name is ‘Mahae Mokhehle or rather ‘Maboitelo Jobo. I am a Mosotho woman aged 29 working as the Olympafrica Youth Ambassador Program (OYAP) National Project Coordinator in Maseru; Lesotho. OYAP is a youth volunteer program initiated in 2003 by the Lesotho National Olympic Committee in partnership with Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) and UK Sports with the mission to empower youth through sport to create a positive change in their communities.
I grew up in a small village in the Berea District called Ha Mokhehle. As a young girl, I was exposed to a variety of sports and play activities. What made it all different was that I was the only girl among a family of three brothers and a number of our uncles staying at one place. I still remember it as if it was yesterday, the way they would tell me that girls are not supposed to be playing with boys in boy’s games, and that girls should be reserved and stop talking so much like I do. Instead of pulling me back, their discouraging statement were always a stepping stone for me to prove that girls can do just anything that boys can. From the touch-football, to wheels racing; weight lifting and political arguments I always proved my point.
As a result, I grew up with the passion for sports and women empowerment at heart. I had always believed that if young people could be given the platform to share their experiences and learn while they are playing, the future we are heading to is guaranteed, for as we are able to feel the joy, the support and guidance of every player when in the field without any gender bias the same concept could even work better with community development projects.
It was not until I completed my degree that I got introduced into the sports and development concept and could see my dream of being a Female Leader in Sports coming true. After being employed in OYAP, I realized that I needed to learn more on how sports could be used as the driving wheel in youth empowerment. It was then that I was exposed to the “Kicking Aids Out!” Trainings all of which equipped me with life skills and strategies that could best integrate important messages while playing thus create a conducive environment for young people to learn about issues affecting them in their communities and how to solve them. At the moment, I am a “Kicking AIDS Out Leader Level 2” within the KAO Network training pathway.
My success has not been without challenges. After being employed in OYAP, unfortunately still, I was the only female employee at that time. Going to work every day was a torture at first. For my supervisor, play activities, movement game and the rest of “Kicking Aids Out!” games were just a joke and with that I was greatly undermined. The fact that with these activities one necessarily participates in order to build rapport with the participants, our ideas were all childish in his opinion. As a result of this, anything I did under this sector was classified as of less importance thus getting second hand attention from his desk.
From activity planning to funds release to undertake the planned activities, I had to fight my way to ensure that at the end of the day things are happening. From undermining jokes during my presentations in staff plannery sessions to withholding funds and reports, he could not stop at anything to make my life miserable. I used to feel all alone, de-motivated and greatly belittled regardless of the efforts and expertise I try to pull to reach out to him.
Nevertheless, all that did not stop me from striving to become a better person both personally and professionally. Through the mentorship partnership that OYAP had with SCORE, I was assigned a female mentor to assist me to better understand and improve on my Project Management Skills, Monitoring and Evaluation Strategies and share with me the experiences they had while implementing their programs such that in our planning too, we are able to take lessons from their experiences and work on how we could avoid them the same problems while at the same time giving me life skills coaching lessons. With that in mind, I had someone to look up to as my role model and worked very hard that one day I come become such a strong woman she is. The support I received from CGC through Interns and the Africa Program Managers also formed an important part in my professional development and greater awareness of my capabilities. From mentorship site visits to a platform to share with the whole world that through sports we become better persons, I picked my pride and learned to believe in myself once again this time with a different view;
“ peoples ideas and opinions, no matter how foolish they may look from a distance, are much more meaningful once you become open to experience and accommodate them in anything you do especially when it is aimed at bringing a positive change to their lives”
Everyday, the support I get from the Kicking AIDS Secretariat motivates me to stand up and encourage young people to identify and value the potentials they have, what makes them as individuals, the most important person alive and realize their dreams to a better life, but not only realize them but every chance they get, they should use to the best of their ability to make their dreams a reality. I believe that the skills and knowledge I learned through interaction with the sports and development concept is so valuable that I can not think of any other I would rather be working in, not ever thinking that could have strengthened me the way sports and development sector have.