#WCW: Meet Lucinda Evans, the protector of women
Just one woman using her voice and her power to help heal a nation of other women...
There are so many women doing great things and they should be celebrated for their work. That is why we have #WomenCrushWednesday!
And to be able to celebrate just some of them during Women's Month means even more. It is both inspiring and uplifting.
This week, we celebrate a woman by the name of Lucinda Evans.
Evans is a community activist, gender-based violence campaigner, protector of the vulnerable, as well as a food warrior, helping the fight against food poverty.
Evans is a woman who has not only opened up her home to women who have seen tough times, but she has also been on the receiving end of women who have shown her that we can stand together to make a difference in this world.
She stands for healing and that is why she named her non-profit organisation, Philisa Abafazi Bethu NPO.
Evans shared a story about being too sick to continue on her journey whilst in the Transkei, where she had to sleep in her car on the roadside. It was at this point that two women - strangers, stood protecting her through the night.
It was at this time that she picked up on the isiXhosa word, 'philisa', which means 'to heal'. She vowed that this word would form part of the name of her centre once she formalised everything.
Evans sights her grandparents as her biggest inspirations. She remembers them to be the peacemakers and shapeshifters of her community.
And her work is just a continuation of their work. We love her sense of inclusion and her ability to openly share that she is willing and excited to learn from other women.
Her belief is that when we uplift one another as women, then we are indeed a force to be reckoned with. We could not agree more.
Image Courtesy of Instagram