SHE SETS ABOUT HER WORK VIGOROUSLY
Three women. One calling. And a question for the women of 2026
"She sets about her work vigorously; her arms are strong for her tasks." PROVERBS 31:17 (NIV)
SEVENTY YEARS AGO
Seventy years ago today, something extraordinary happened in South Africa. More than 20,000 women made their way to the Union Buildings in Pretoria.
Think about that for a moment.
1956.
No WhatsApp groups. No Facebook events. No email. No smartphones. No instant messaging.
And for the majority of those women, not even the freedom of movement that we take for granted today.
They lived under a brutal system designed to divide people, restrict movement and suppress opposition.
They came from different races, communities and circumstances.
Yet somehow, more than 20,000 women found one another.
They agreed. They organised. They travelled. They stood together. And they rallied around a cause greater than themselves.
Seventy years later, perhaps the greatest tribute we can pay the women of 1956 is not merely to remember what they did. Perhaps we should ask: What can the women of 2026 rally around?
Last Friday, in our little corner of KwaZulu-Natal, I witnessed what may appear insignificant beside a march of 20,000 women.
Three women met. Mam Sibongile Shabalala. Nombulelo. Thembi. Three women. Three generations and seasons of life. Three very different journeys.
But one unmistakable common calling:
Children.
And perhaps that is how movements begin. Not always with 20,000 people marching towards the Union Buildings. Sometimes they begin with three women discovering that they are not walking alone.
SEVEN YEARS. SEVEN YEARS. SEVEN WEEKS.
There is something extraordinary about the timing of their meeting.
Seven years ago, the future of iThubelihle Special Opportunity School was hanging in the balance.
Mam Sibongile Shabalala had already demonstrated what Proverbs 31:17 looks like in practice.
She had set about her work vigorously. She had fought for children whom society could easily have overlooked.
She had persevered. She had built. She had prayed. Her work would eventually be recognised nationally through the Johnnie Walker Keep Walking Community Builder Award.
But awards do not remove difficult seasons.
Even remarkable women sometimes reach places where they need somebody else to stand alongside them.
Acts4Transformation was privileged to do so.
And iThubelihle kept walking.
Seven years ago, another woman was sitting beneath a tree on the South Coast.
Her name was Thembi.
Under that tree were children.
There was no impressive building.
No polished classroom.
No grand signboard announcing a learning centre.
Just a woman, some children, a tree for shelter - and a calling.
Today that calling has a name:
Kusakhanya Learning Hub.
Kusakhanya.
Despite the darkness... there is still light.
Page by page, a dream that seemed buried beneath difficult circumstances is beginning to take shape again.
And then there is Nombulelo.
Seven weeks ago, I encountered a woman who had possessed the courage to dream.
Her dream was called Rainbow Bird Haven.
A beautiful place created for children.
But dreams have bills. Dreams have rent. Dreams have electricity.
Dreams encounter difficult economic conditions.
And sometimes the person who had enough faith to start the dream becomes exhausted trying to keep the dream alive.
The bird had learned to fly.
But the winds were becoming strong.
Nombulelo was becoming discouraged.
Acts4Transformation did not arrive carrying a large cheque.
We arrived carrying something else.
Belief.
Then others began to believe.
A newspaper believed enough to tell the story.
Businesses believed enough to contribute.
People believed enough to become involved.
And on Friday, children from iThubelihle Special Opportunity School walked through the doors of Rainbow Bird Haven for a day of excitement, laughter and belonging.
And there, helping with those children, was Thembi.
Suddenly:
Seven years met seven years met seven weeks.
And three stories became one.
THE WOMEN OF 1956 LEFT US A CLUE
Perhaps we sometimes misunderstand what made the Women's March powerful.
Its strength was not simply that there were 20,000 women.
Its strength was that 20,000 individual women discovered a common cause.
One woman alone could be ignored.
Twenty thousand women standing together could not.
That principle has not expired.
The challenges are different in 2026.
But women still carry dreams that are too heavy to carry alone.
A woman starts a small business.
Another opens a school.
Another cares for children with disabilities.
Another feeds elderly people.
Another starts an early childhood development centre.
Another mentors young girls.
Another employs two people.
Another is trying desperately to keep the doors of a community organisation open.
And sometimes we applaud her courage... while leaving her to carry the burden alone.
Perhaps Women's Day should ask more of us.
And three stories became one.
"Which remarkable woman can we celebrate?"
But:
"Which remarkable woman can we strengthen?"
WHAT IF WOMEN RALLIED AGAIN?
Imagine if the women of our communities decided that good initiatives led by good women would not be allowed to die quietly.
Imagine ten businesswomen saying: "Rainbow Bird Haven matters. How can we help?"
Imagine experienced educators surrounding Thembi as Kusakhanya Learning Hub develops.
Imagine professionals offering Mam Shabalala expertise, contacts and resources so that iThubelihle's next chapter becomes stronger than its last.
Imagine accountants giving an hour.
Teachers giving an afternoon.
Businesswomen opening networks.
Retired women sharing wisdom.
Corporate women unlocking CSI doors.
Mothers volunteering.
Young women bringing digital skills.
Women in churches praying.
Women in business buying.
Women in leadership advocating.
Women simply encouraging another woman who is tired.
No single person has to do everything.
That is the beauty of Acts4Transformation.
Believe. Pray. Love. Share.
Believe in somebody's dream.
Pray for its success.
Love the people it serves.
Share whatever God has placed in your hands.
Your Time. Your Talent.
Your Treasures.
Your Testimony.
That is how communities change.
DO NOT WAIT UNTIL SHE BECOMES FAMOUS
There is another lesson here.
We are very good at celebrating successful women.
But every successful woman once possessed a dream that nobody could yet see.
Before the award, there was Mam Sibongile simply trying to help children.
Before Kusakhanya Learning Hub, there was Thembi beneath a tree.
Before Rainbow Bird Haven appeared in the newspaper, there was Nombulelo wondering whether her fledgling bird would survive.
Perhaps the woman who will transform your community over the next twenty years is already there.
She may simply be tired. Underfunded. Unknown. Discouraged.
And wondering whether anybody sees what she sees.
Find her before the award does.
Encourage her before the newspaper does. Support her before everybody else discovers her. Believe in her while the dream is still fragile.
THREE WOMEN MET ON FRIDAY
Something beautiful happened.
There was no conference. No strategic planning session.
No memorandum of understanding.
No grand launch.
Three women simply met around children.
And they connected.
They recognised something in one another.
Before the day was over, there was already a commitment to work together, encourage one another and explore what their different journeys might contribute to each other.
Perhaps we should not rush to name what comes next. Let it grow naturally.
Let friendship come before structure.
Let service come before titles.
Let Friday simply be the seed.
Encourage her before the newspaper does. Support her before everybody else discovers her. Believe in her while the dream is still fragile.
SEVENTY YEARS LATER
Let service come before titles.
The women of 2026 must build because we refuse to accept that poverty, unemployment, inequality, disability, discouragement and lack of opportunity should determine the future of our children.
Their battlefield was different.
Our responsibility remains.
They organised without social media.
We have the world in our hands.
They mobilised despite restrictions on movement.
We can communicate across a country in seconds.
They gathered more than 20,000 women around a cause.
Surely we can gather twenty around a school. Ten around a learning hub. Five around a struggling small business.
Perhaps even three around a child. The question is no longer whether we have the tools. The question is whether we have the heart.
"Honour her for all that her hands have done, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate." PROVERBS 31:31 (NIV)
SEVENTY YEARS LATER
They gathered more than 20,000 women around a cause.
But tomorrow morning, let us help strengthen those hands for the work still waiting to be done.
But tomorrow morning, let us help strengthen those hands for the work still waiting to be done.
And to every woman reading this who carries a God-given dream for her family, business, church, school or community:
Set about your work vigorously.
Your arms are strong for the task. And when you see another woman doing the same...
do not merely applaud her. Walk across the room. Introduce yourself. Ask about her dream. Open your contacts. Share your knowledge. Pray with her. Buy from her. Volunteer. Encourage her. Connect her. Stand beside her.
Because perhaps the greatest lesson the 20,000 women left us seventy years ago is wonderfully simple:
Women do not have to carry great causes alone. And perhaps somewhere in South Africa today, the next great movement does not need 20,000 women to begin. Perhaps it simply needs three women to find one another.