Tags: women's day

Unlike many people, Erin gets an incredible amount of joy through her work with teenagers through her job as a case worker. In her story, she explains why her profession has special meaning to her.

Liv fondly recalls her memories of growing up with her older brother -- and how her perspective has changed as an adult.

At age 10, Sarah wrote a letter to the court requesting to live with her mother instead of her father whose anger scared her. The court did not respond. Her story shares her experience and frustration with a court system that fails to acknowledge the needs and desires of the children it is supposed to be protecting.

Thandiwe left her home in Manzini, Swaziland to seek employment in Lobombo District, where she found work at a sugar plantation. She was diagnosed with HIV in 2001. Today she lives positively with support from colleagues and the company.

Mamonyake is from Lesotho and has been married and widowed twice – both with husbands who worked as miners in South Africa. She struggled to raise her children on her own and is involved in advocacy efforts on behalf of others widowed or orphaned due to the mining industry.

Rose was very sick after the death of her baby, with paralysis and fistula. She and her husband were forced to sell their bicycle to pay the hospital bills, and her mother abandoned her. But her faith in God saw her through, and today she is successfully repaired and the proud mother of a son delivered via caesarian section.

Mastula was in a coma and near death for weeks following a complicated labor that resulted in fistula. Her relatives abandoned her, and her husband could not afford the medicine she needed. He locked her in a room, and then brought her to his second wife, who denied her food. Although her fistula is not fully repaired, she feels much better today and is grateful to be living on her own, with her son.

Gunfire and civil war made it impossible for Mary to find a place to delivery her baby. After days and days of labour, a traditional healer assisted but the child was born dead. The villagers thought a spell had been cast, and Mary still suffers from fistula in spite of repeated surgeries. She urges other women to go to the hospital when they need help.

Kahara suffered from fistula for 21 years. After a painful three-day labour, she delivered a dead baby. The leaking began then, and traditional healers did not help -- she lived in isolation and shame. Kahara is so grateful to a friend for taking her to the hospital for surgery. She is proud to be able to wear nice clothing once again.