PRESS RELEASE: August 17 2015
MHANI GINGI SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURIAL NETWORK AND 1,6 MILLION
CLUB SOUTH AFRICA HOST INTERACTIVE HEALTH SEMINAR TO PROMOTE
THE WELLNESS OF WOMEN
Local and international experts from various fields related to women’s empowerment, health
and wellness will address a Women’s Health Seminar being hosted in Cape Town on
Saturday August 22 2015 by the Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Network and the 1.6
Million Club South Africa. It is the final in a series of three inspiring and informational
seminars on Women’s Mental Health being hosted to mark National Women’s Month in
August 2015.
This third interactive seminar on women’s health will take place at the Jubilee Church in
Observatory at 9.30 a.m. for 10.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. and will address various aspects of
Women’s Mental Health, which plays a vital role in creating holistic health and well-being.
Local and international experts from various medical fields will share their knowledge.
Integrative Medicine practitioner, Dr Leila Sadien MB, ChB, will address the seminar on “An
Integrative Approach to Stress Management”.
Professor Gail Hughes, PHD, MPH,
Professor and Director of South African Herbal Science and Medicine Institute at the
University of the Western Cape, will provide a brief introduction to different perspectives on
mental health. She is also a Board Member of the 1.6 Million Club South Africa.
Other key speakers are from Sweden. Dr Dorota Religa, MD, PhD, Associate Professor in
Geriatrics at the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, will address the seminar on the topic of
“Dementia and Women – as patients and as care-givers”.
Solvig Ekblad, Licensed
Psychologist at Academic Primary Centre and Professor in Multicultural Healthcare
Research at the Karolinska Institutet, will address the seminar on the topic of “Global
Mental Health: To empower local women's health by a tailor-made and evidence-based
lifestyle course”.
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Alexandra Charles, Founder and President of the 1.6 Million Club, will provide “An
introduction to the 1.6 Million Club concept and its global significance” in her address.
A panel of experts will discuss the topic of “(Mental) health challenges that need to be met
to unlock the great potential that South African women hold”. The topic will be discussed
from
the
perspectives
of
Gender-based
Violence
(GBV),
Substance
Abuse,
Nutrition/Exercise, HIV/AIDS, Pregnancy and Motherhood (perinatal phase) and
Economy/Education.
The first interactive women’s health seminar took place on July 25 in Tambo Village. The
seminar focused on Women’s Mental Health and Substance Abuse and was addressed by Dr
Sadien on the topic of “Pregnancy and Stress”, and by other speakers.
The second interactive women’s health seminar took place on August 1. The seminar
focused on Gender-Based Violence (GBV) and was hosted by Mhani Gingi, the 1.6 Million
Club South Africa and the Saartjie Baartman Centre for Women and Children. The seminar
took place at the Saartjie Baartman Centre in Manenberg.
Key speakers at the seminar included psychologist Charl Davids, who provided “An
Introduction to GBV”.
A representative of the South African National Council on
Alcoholism and Drug Dependence, SANCA, addressed the topic of “Substance Abuse &
GBV”. Another speaker shared her personal story of hope.
GBV is a widespread violation of human rights in South Africa and has a negative impact on
individuals, families, communities, and the whole society. The purpose of the interactive
seminar on GBV was to provide women with knowledge and to empower them to become
part of the solution.
The Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Network is a non-profit organisation (NPO) that
works towards economic empowerment and freedom for women and youth, as vulnerable
groups in society, by providing entrepreneurial skills to enable them to create sustainable
livelihoods for themselves.
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Mhani Gingi’s focus on health is directly linked to the organisation’s mission to promote
entrepreneurial skills to enable people to escape poverty. The health focus is also a result of
the organisation’s integrated and holistic approach to solving social problems.
“Our emphasis on health links to the economic empowerment and freedom of women
because if they are not healthy, they cannot work,” said Founding Director of Mhani Gingi
Social Entrepreneurial Network, Lillian Masebenza.
“And if they are not economically free, people are bound to be victims of mental illness,
youth unemployment and low self-esteem, and so of course what happens is that they
become stressed and vulnerable to disease,” Masebenza said.
Mhani Gingi has strengthened its focus on health through collaboration with the 1.6 Million
Club Sweden, resulting in the formation of the 1.6 Million Club South Africa.
The 1.6 Million Club South Africa is the sister organisation of the international women’s
health promotion organisation, the 1.6 Million Club, which raises awareness and spreads
information concerning women’s health and lifestyle issues as well as lobbying for equal,
gender-based, medical research.
The 1.6 Million Club South Africa was launched in Cape Town on February 17 2015. The
1.6 Million Club South Africa is significant for being the first 1.6 Million Club on the African
continent.
To book a seat to the interactive health seminar please contact 1,6 Million Club
South
Africa
Programme
Co-ordinator,
Karin
Eriksson.
E-mail:
millionclubsa@gmail.com. Telephone: 074 890 1887.
CAPTIONS:
1. Dr Dorota Religa, Associate Professor in the Division of Neurogeriatrics at the Karolinska
Institute in Stockholm
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2. Lillian Masebenza, Founding Director of Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Network
3. Professor Solvig Ekblad, licensed psychologist at Academic Primary Health Care Centre, Head of
the Cultural Medicine Unit in the Department of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics
(LIME) and Professor in Multicultural Healthcare Research at the Karolinska Institute Image
credit: Mattias Ahlm
4. Alexandra Charles, Founder and President, 1,6 Million Club Sweden
5. Professor Gail Hughes, PHD, MPH, Professor and Director of South African Herbal Science
and Medicine Institute at the University of the Western Cape
_______________________________________________________________________
Press release issued by Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial Network.
For further information about Mhani Gingi:
Please contact Lillian Masebenza, Founding Director of Mhani Gingi Social Entrepreneurial
Network: Telephone: 021 531 8577 or 082 465 4687.
See online:
http://www.leadersinwellness.co.za/articles/empowering-women-with-wellness-15322.html
Website addresses:
http://www.mhanigingi.co.za
http://www.millionslubsa.wordpress.com
http://www.saartjiebaartmancentre.org.za
More about the 1.6 Million Club South Africa:
The ambition of the 1.6 Million Club South Africa is to become a platform for Knowledge Sharing and
Awareness Raising, focusing on girls and women’s health and well-being. The Club is becoming a vehicle
whereby knowledge from experts and academic institutions is transferred to those who are most in need of it.
The 1.6 Million Club South Africa organises and facilitates this interaction.
Listen online to Dr Schenck-Gustafsson (1.6 Million Club Sweden) interviewed at the launch
by radio presenter Shado Twala of SAfm at http://iono.fm/e/148890?autoplay=1
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Hear Alexandra Charles and Lillian Masebenza in conversation with Shado Twala about the
1.6 Million Club on SAfm at http://iono.fm/e/141117?autoplay=1
Read online about the 1.6 Million Club South Africa in Leaders in Wellness magazine
at http://mags.capemedia.co.za/liw/13 (Issue: 13, March 2015, pages 31-33)
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