AWYL is one of Africa’s oldest NGOs- Not for profit organisation. Originally known as African Housewives League.
The community based organisation was established in 1961 in SOWETO and has been serving the needs of the poor since then. AWYL brought together women both young and old; women from diverse groups; culture and creed; women who suffered exploitations; women who were homeless and had experienced incarcerations and through perseverance had overcome racial inequities; women who refused to let disadvantages whether physical, geographical or economical to get the better of them.
It all started in the late fifties when Mrs Esther Kebaotse Nyembezi organised an informal meeting with other women’s organisations to form a forum that would deal with the forced removals and displacements of families used by the introduction of The Group Areas Act, which was designed to divide Africans into racial and ethnic groups. As a result Africans were uprooted from their free hold title properties with little or no compensation and were relocated to barren land.
Life was no longer a joy, your next door neighbour was a total stranger! Delinquency became rife, and she felt it was necessary to have a strong family base. She started with a few women over a cup of tea, membership grew because of her leadership qualities and spread not only in SOWETO but to other areas as well. Having formed branches as national organiser, she arranged a national conference in 1969.
We thank thee O Lord
For the homes that you have given us
Make us love and cherish all that is in them
Give us strength and love
And patience to manage them
Thou hast not promised sun without rain
Peace without pain, joy without sorrow
But thou has promised light on the way
Grace for our trials
Help from above
AMEN.
We are building day by day
In our homes and community
Not with timber hammer and saw
Building with love and tender care
Following Jesus all the way
Members lifting as they
AWYL is one of Africa’s oldest NGOs- Not for profit organisation. Originally known as African Housewives League.
The community based organisation was established in 1961 in SOWETO and has been serving the needs of the poor since then. AWYL brought together women both young and old; women from diverse groups; culture and creed; women who suffered exploitations; women who were homeless and had experienced incarcerations and through perseverance had overcome racial inequities; women who refused to let disadvantages whether physical, geographical or economical to get the better of them.
The League spread to other Provinces within the country in the early seventies, bringing together women from urban and rural areas. In 2015 the League realised the importance of building a futuristic legacy and succession planning, hence youth irrespective of gender was invited to join as members.
AWYL aims at creating partnership that deliver a strategic advantage to align with companies that in turn create opportunities for youth development and broad based women’s empowerment by creating jobs meaningful to the African economy. AWYL values are based on integrity and prudence underpinned by the willingness and ability to be innovative, hence the focus is on training and capacity building, organisational and social responsibility, skills development and change management.
AWYL advocates for a cleaner and greener environment to curb the increase on global warming that has affected climate change. Our communities are equipped with recycling and waste management technics to keep their places of habitation clean and hygienic.
AWYL is proud of its success in bringing women together to share in the anxieties and the needs of their fellow man. Our core values include amongst others, social enterprises dedicated to ending poverty in the development communities, not just through handouts, but by helping both the urban and rural women, particularly the youth, to invest in their own success through education and skills development.
The National Board manages the affairs of the organisation in accordance to the terms of the League’s constitution.
She was elected in Lesotho in 1969.
The league had different objectives to those of the White Housewives League.
She encouraged women to create happy conditions and happy occasions that would give people the change to be what they had anticipated all along.
Women and youth must be confident, courageous and outgoing.
“We need patience mixed with love and laughter” she would say.
Where we make mistakes, we should try again and move on with confidence and affection, thus the motto ‘Lift as you rise’
IN 1972 MRS Sally Motlana was elected the second President of AWYL in Gaborone- Botswana.
By her leadership influence with the theme ‘love thy neighbour’ the league expanded into other regions to embrace the rural women. Mrs Motlana played an important role in the reconstruction and development, providing
Her passion in skills development and empowering women to engage in big scale projects thus promoting industrialization, manufacturing and working in line with the 8 millennium goals for the next 5 years her theme: ‘escalating the security and development of Women in South Africa and the SADC region’ will empower women to actively involve themselves in national issues and become agents of change. In her era Dyondisani started getting dividends from Sasol Business Entity and sponsored AWYL. The League has thus afforded to give financial start-up finances to sustainable Co-operatives that have been established in various branches.
2016 was the happiest year in the history of the AWYL because we were celebrating 55 years. We celebrated the Women who founded AWYL, the women of Imbokodo. The women who have the role to inspire motivate and develop communities because of their maternal compassion, nurturing passion stimulated by the instinct of caring. As we celebrated, we did not forget our task, to prepare the next generation (our youth). To pass the baton and sustain the achievements of this organisation. As we continue to fight frontiers of poverty, it is imperative to salute the creativity and ingenuity of our own women in the AWYL. We were reminded about many incidents during the late seventies when the National Executive led by Sally Motlana travelled by train to Mpumalanga- third class and on arrival had to sleep on grass mats just to be with their sisters, without any trace of discrimination or looking down upon their rural sisters.
The Pinnacle Magazine is the League’s annual magazine that features motivational reports from the Leagues Leadership and reports on developmental projects that the branches are engaged in. It is also a marketing tool for the organisation.