A day of well-deserved pampering awaited the ladies from Saldanha and Vredenburg on Sunday 14 August.
The Al Ansaar Saldanha Women’s Forum hosted the Women’s Day event in Saldanha, with the theme of “Appreciating your contribution to Society”.
Al Ansaar Saldanha is an organisation that has been in existence for 10 years and serves the wider West Coast community by mentoring and providing guidance to the youth. The organisation also renders services and assistance to the elderly and the needy in the community by providing food parcels and warm meals.
Aunty Paulina Mali, well-known local activist, was at the event and reminded the elderly ladies of the history of women in the liberation of South Africa. She shared the experiences of sacrifice of life and limb to ensure that all could achieve freedom. She described the sacrifices of mothers to make sure future generations of women have so many opportunities and who must build on what they have started. “Women organised themselves and played a phenomenal role in marching to the Union Buildings to show their disdain and their fervour to fight against the inhumane treatment our people,” Mali explained.
In her speech Suraiya Padayachee reminisced about the unity of the ladies on the West Coast and how the ladies of Saldanha and Vredenburg regularly visited each other and always kept the bonds together.
The elderly ladies were pampered and spoiled with massages by two experienced masseurs, Lenade Williams and Vanessa Dudley. Williams also shared a beautiful inspiring and encouraging poem. Speaker Ashlynne Banda gave an enlightening talk on cancer and how to deal with it, especially among the elderly.
Wiedaad Davids of the Forum said women are a unique creation of the Almighty and that all women should know their value. She added the event was dedicated to all mothers that make other people’s lives so special.
The elderly ladies were also treated to a three-course meal that was all prepared by the organisers. At the end of the event, all the elderly ladies were handed gifts for the role that they played in nurturing and inculcating such beautiful values in children and generations to come.
The event was appropriately closed with a prayer by one of the youth, Aneeqah Davids, who asked that the Almighty bless all women and that they will remain safe and that women everywhere will be respected and valued by our fellow South Africans.
. Al Ansaar Saldanha has regular meetings with stakeholders to ensure that they are at all times aware of current needs and find ways to address them as soon as possible.
For more information, assistance or donations, contact Al Ansaar Saldanha on 084 453 8626 or alansaarsaldanha@gmail.com
