Africa-Press – Botswana. The effects of abuse can be devastating and long lasting, but Ms Kerelwang Sheleng of Thito ward in Maun is a living testimony that nothing is too hard for God.
Having endured traumatic experiences for long, she says she has now turned her personal pain into a mission to help others in similar circumstances.
She says she lived a life of pretence and lies because she did not want to let her pain cause problems in the family. Now, she is living her truth and is a community activist at Women Against Rape (WAR), an organization that primarily supports women and children who experience abuse of all forms. It offers psychological counselling, shelter, public education, advocacy and lobbying as well as skills empowerment.
Ms Sheleng vows that the Maun based organisation helped her on a journey of healing. In a recent interview, she revealed that she suffered all forms of abuse in her marriage, which she was forced into at the age of 13 years, despite passing her standard 7 with flying colours.
She said from the onset, she never enjoyed the benefits of marriage because she lived under distress.
“I did not experience peace, love and joy. I suffered intense abuse from my husband and I kept this a secret for years, because I thought it was normal ,” she revealed.
She recalled that one day her husband threatened to kill her, but since her life revolved around God, her husband asked her to pray before he killed her. In her prayer, she said she asked God if indeed that man was her real husband and the prayer seemed to have touched the husband, as he immediately aborted his evil plot.
Ms Sheleng said her husband was controlling, unpredictable and unstable, resulting in an atmosphere of fear in their home, because she never knew what would trigger the man’s wrath.
Furthermore, she recalled that she also experienced an attempted rape, while at the cattle-post at the age of 18. She said she met a certain well-known old man in the bush, who dragged her under a tree, while trying to undress her, fortunately, her father passed-by and the old man disappeared.
All these experiences, she said became a burden on her, but she pretended as if everything was normal. One day, she said she went to Maun to do some family errands, where she happened to be at a kgotla meeting addressed by WAR officials on their mandate, services and programmes offered.
“After the public awareness and education, I was profoundly ashamed because of what my husband did to me and I was also constantly afraid and felt that there was no safe place,” she added.
Ms Sheleng said that was the time when she realised that God had a plan for her life, as he redeemed her and took what Satan meant for harm and turned it into something good. She said the message she got from the meeting, was her saving grace and the beginning of her healing.
She said to move with her life and for her safety, she had to run away from her husband and approached WAR to learn more about their services.
She said she also realised that God could indeed heal the any pain.
Eventually, Ms Sheleng said she joined the organisation as one of its community activists in 2009.
She said she used the opportunity to share her testimony with other wounded women, adding that ‘many people have been hurt and need to realise that someone had made it through the struggle so they can have hope’.
She expressed gratitude that God had set her free from a life of pretence and lies and restored her soul.
“I am a living testament to the power of resilience and hope and I can tell other victims/survivors out there that no matter what you have been through or how bad you were hurt, there is healing,” she added.
Working for WAR, she said gave her strength and made her a completely different person as she now enjoys peace and joy. Ms Sheleng says anyone, who has been abused, can fully recover, if they give their life to Jesus completely.
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