Vhanna Vhagai want to bring change to local families

Confronted with challenges that men in the Vhembe area come across, a group of men have come up with a vibrant idea of overcoming them.

Calling themselves Vhanna Vhagai (Where are the men?), the men started as a small group last year, but the number has already grown to be more than 50 and, judging by the popularity of the meetings, the number will skyrocket before the end of the year. Even men from outside Vhembe attend the meetings.

At the weekend, the men met at Emmanuel Christian Centre at Tshaulu, where the religious leader is Pastor Philemon Simba. The guest speaker was Pastor Mbulaheni Nengovhela and he highlighted reasons for communication breakdown in a family.

The chairperson of Vhanna Vhagai, Mr Benson Ratshikakala, said the idea came as a response to the challenges men were confronting in their daily lives and in their families. “Men have a big role to play in the community and their families, and they are unable to perform their roles, because of the problems of this world. The world is upside down with many problems like diseases and family problems, and to overcome this one cannot deal with these issues alone and this is the reason we decided to meet as men,” he said.

Ratshikakala further indicated that the men wanted to change in their families. "We would like to see families prospering, with a smooth flow of communication in the family. We do not want to hear of any divorces in the family and would like to see responsible men who encourage their children to take their education seriously, and this would make us happy,” said Ratshikakala.

He said their meetings were bearing fruits and that men were undergoing a change for the better in their lives. They meet four times a year and decide on a topic to discuss and they also rope in experts on particular topics to address them. "Men sometimes have simple problems, which they think could not be solved but when we are together those turn to be minor challenges with advice from others. We are extremely happy that we are able to assist each other and our families,” he said.

Date:22 April 2016

By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

Read: 2034