A safe haven for women
Children who have lost all trust in their parents and look to the streets for safety.A mother who tried to take her own life after being forced by her family to remain in violent circumstances.
A woman who seeks safety at a rubbish dump and fuel stations after violence forces her to flee her home.
This is the dark and painful picture of gender-based violence (GBV) painted by a woman from Rehoboth who wants to create a place of safety and a home full of nurturing for victims and is determined to realise her dream.
Martha McNab is the founder of the Step Up Ark Foundation, which among other things aims to create a safe and empowering environment for victims of GBV.
The foundation also has a programme, "Your Pain, Your Gain", which is a motivational group for victims. The group meets every month and this is where women share their experiences and everything they go through in a violent relationship.
“These relationships cause women to be crippled by their circumstances. It almost feels as if they are ‘stuck’ in this cycle.”
There are too many cases to mention, Martha admits.
It is during her morning jogging session shortly before sunrise that she runs into children on their way to school and women on their way to work. That's when Martha strikes up conversations and in this way, she is made aware of the challenges the town’s women and children experience or have gone through.
‘Just listen’
You'd be surprised what you hear if you just listen, Martha says. “By just listening, by reaching out and saying goodbye with a smile.”
Martha shares about a ten-year-old girl whom she met during one of her jogs who told her about her mother and their domestic circumstances. Martha made contact with the mom who was “deprived of everything” and also lost her children.
“This little girl who is supposed to have love and a stable home, lives with other people. The mother told me about her circumstances and how she flees to sleep at rubbish dumps and fuel stations. How can she still take responsibility for her children? Another mum tried to take her life after being forced – even by her own family – to live in brutal circumstances.”
Step Up Ark helps empower these women to be there for their children.
Many of the women return to their circumstances because they have no support, Martha says. Although there are guidelines, few are aware of them.
“Step Up Ark is there to share information, so they can learn about it. It is also to create an umbrella under which the women can earn something to help themselves.”
Dreams and goals
Her dream and goal is to ensure that Rehoboth has a place of safety for these women, a place where they can live for two to three months until they can stand on their own two feet again with pride and dignity.
“One of our challenges is transport that enables us to pick up the women to help where needed,” Martha says.
The safe haven will be known as House of Mona, named after one of Step Up Ark's beloved team members and volunteers Mona Izaaks who died in July 2023 and “shared her time with the women and children until her end”.
Martha says she has been running since she can remember. However, six months ago she decided to challenge herself to raise money for House of Mona. With 1 000 km already covered towards fulfilling her dream, she decided to tackle another 1 000 km.
"I thought that after my first 1 000 km I would be able to collect enough money to fund my dream. That didn't happen, so here comes the second 1 000! At the same time, I am grateful for all support of any kind.”
Step Up Ark received promises of, among other things, cement and bricks, thanks to Martha's jogging. She runs all over the Hardap region and in Rehoboth and tries to get a few kilometres in every day.
As a mother of home-schooled twins, Martha admits, “it’s a bit difficult during the week. Usually I run early in the morning. So I get the sunrise that reminds me of a new life, a new opportunity and hope and I have so much energy!”
The foundation has already had a positive meeting with the Rehoboth town council about a plot for the safe house and the hope is that “they can take our hand to help women and children to fulfil their place in society”.
“Children are our future. If you can help just one child or woman, you can save a nation.” – [email protected]