“CCMP changed my story as it greatly equipped me with facilitation skills which improved my confidence” indicated Pastor Pathisiwe. She had been attending the Pastors Fraternal together with her husband for some time but she would rarely participate in the deliberations. “The confidence I gained from CCMP helped me to actively participate in the discussion during the fraternal meetings” remarked Pastor Pathisiwe. Her active and constructive participation was recognised and for the first time in the history of the fraternal since its establishment the early 1980’s she become the first female chair. She reported that this was a miracle as the fraternal is a male dominated structure where women rarely attend and at the time she was elected there were only 2 ladies who attended the meetings.
‘I believe that I lead the fraternal well as I broadened the scope of the fraternal from being routine prayer and teaching meetings for pastors only. Through my leadership we succefully managed to engage the community and we had community prayer for rains” said Pastor Pathisiwe. Her hard work helped her to be elected the Matabeland South Province Women’s. Although she does not have a formal position in the community she has realised that her contribution are now being taken seriously during community meetings. Furthermore, the councillor consults with her more often on development issues
“In my church I am now viewed as an asset and the Bishop has now deferred roles like envisioning on new ideas and making a presentation on the church to me. This is after realising how drastically my facilitation skills have improved since I began CCMP in 2012” indicated Pastor Pathisiwe. She further reported that he husband is now more comfortable with her making some decision at home for instance she started a broiler project in 2016 which has significantly improved household income.