Leading Ladies Soirée to empower women in Swakopmund
By Adolf Kaure.
The Swakopmund Municipality will host the Leading Ladies Soirée on 12 August at the Swakopmund Hotel and Entertainment Centre as a platform to help empower women at the coast.
According to the brainchild of the event, the Mayor of Swakopmund, Her Worship Dina Namubes, her late mother – a domestic worker at a village – is the inspiration which lead to the organising the Leading Ladies Soirée.
During the recent media launch, Namubes said she wants to pass on the entrepreneural skills she got from her mother to other women.
“Where do you think I got these entrepreneural skills from? I got them from this woman that was unskilled and did not go to school. As a single mother, she started her own business at home in her own kitchen and backyard. I think that was enough for her to start transfering her skills into me.”
“This woman of principles worked hard to insure that I and my siblings were fed and clothed without a proper job. She had to wake early in the morning to go to the field while we were sleeping to collect wild spinach and wild mushrooms so that she could prepare lunch and dinner for us. She also started a garden in her backyard and went as far as to sell ice, sweets and snacks on the streets and at schools so that she can make an income,” said Namubes.
Having gone through many challenges in the past, the Mayor called on fellow women from Swakopmund to build each other up with kind words so that they may grow and succeed.
“I am proud of being called a woman because I have gone through many challenges and I have shed many tears. I have gone through name calling, but I am still standing strong as a woman.”
“One of the important aspects I learned about being a woman is that we need to acknowledge one another and we need to speak words of affirmation into each others’ lives. My wish is to inspire as many women in my life as possible because it is through inspiration and motivation that I have been able to achieve so much,” she said.
Swakopmund Municipality’s Public Relations Officer, Linda Mupupa said that the event will serve as an opportunity for women to rub shoulders with industry leaders like businesswoman Inge Zaamwani-Kamwi and to enjoy spending the day just being free from the their various roles in society.
“They will be learning and unlearning as well as get inspired to tackle issues in society such as trauma. So many women go through life wearing so many hats and when you wear so many hats, it puts a burden on their shoulders.”
“However, women were conditioned and created to be strong independent beings. They make it through life with smiles and with their shoulders held high. This leads to depression and postpartum depression. The event will offer them an opportunity to just be themselves – not as a leaders, wives or mothers,” said Mupupa.
The theme for the event is ‘vintage’ and allows women from all walks of life to dress up in retro style to remember their youthful days and for the younger generation to experience times of old.
“So put on your best vintage suit and join us for an afternoon of fun filled activities,” she said.
Tickets for general attendees are N$500 each. For company leaders it will be N$1500 per ticket, and for pensioners only N$350 each.
The organisers of the Leading Ladies Sorée (from left to right) Jonathan Wilsnach, Public Relations Officer of Swakopmund Municipality, Linda Mupupa, the Mayor of Swakopmund Her Worship Dina Namubes, Personal Assistant to the Mayor, Delinda Hanes and Jonathan Harris. (Photograph by Adolf Kaure)
