Tiyandza Mtetwa, St Peters College, Gauteng

This year was the 12th annual Woman Deliver Conference hosted in Vancouver, Canada and I was privileged enough to have attended it. This was an enriching, exciting and thought challenging week I will never forget.

This was an empowering experience filled with many highlights. We were given the opportunity to have a heart to heart, round table, talk with the president of the conference Mrs Katja Iversen. Words cannot describe the immense intelligence and powerful energy she had radiated in the room. Mrs Iversen inspired me to keep going despite of the many challenges I may encounter on my journey to fulfilling my dreams. I enjoyed networking with other youth attendees, especially those from Africa. We were instantly welcomed and praised by fellow Africans. This made me feel so proud of my roots and showed me how ubuntu and unity flows in our blood and follows us everywhere we go.

This trip made me realize that I am more than just an average girl. I proved to myself that I am powerful and very intelligent. I learnt something new about myself every day and pushed myself to be better than the previous days. I now know that I am capable of so much more then I once thought thanks to the conference. I truly am inspired and empowered to be the best me I can be. Hearing the stories of the many women and men we had encountered gave us the drive to strive for what we want in life and help many others on similar journeys to ours. Our attained knowledge from the conference would be worthless if we do not pass it on to others.

A key lesson I learnt during the conference week was that a voice is a powerful weapon to use for making change. It is carried on for many generations, can empower and educate a person. I will use my attained knowledge from the Women Deliver Conference 2019 to help give women and men/ girls and boys an understanding of why gender equality is essentially the cure to conflict in our modern world, through conversation.

In conclusion, I would like to thank the Motsepe Foundation and The Women Deliver conference for giving me the opportunity to expand my knowledge and build my confidence as a young goal driven woman.