Betty Makoni

This is a picture of Betty Makoni. (The Betty Makoni Website (Betty Makoni))

My hero is Betty Makoni, a Zimbabwean gender activist who founded the Girl Child Network. This is a network which cares for Zimbabwe's young sex abuse victims; the organization has rescued more than 35,000 girls to date. As a child, Makoni was orphaned and sexually abused a countless number of times. This inspired her to become the founder of an organization to help young girls just like herself.

Through all of the hardships that Makoni was faced with as a child, none of that stopped her from becoming a successful woman and obtaining an education - a very challenging thing to do in her position. However, Betty graduated from the University of Zimbabwe with two degrees. She went on to become a teacher... completely unaware of what her teaching duties would lead her to in the long run.

This is an advertisement of the Girl Chid Network. (This picture came from the Girl Child Website. (The Girl Child Network created this picture.))

The need to establish an orginization to champion the rights of girl children in Zimbabwe was perceived in 1988 by Betty Makoni. This was started in a classroom after she had heard horrifying experiences of ten of her female students. Her own personal experiences of abuse as a child fueled her determination. The first group established by the Girl Child Network was the first girls' empowerment club in Zimbabwe at the time. Makoni's Girl Child Network charity has provided mentoring to at least 60,000 girls around Zimbabwe. This organization is also responsible for putting 4,000 child sex offenders behind bars. To say that her work in her organization has been successful would be an understatement.

In 2012 Betty Makoni published an autobiography where she finally shared her entire story all in one piece. Her book, Never again, not to any woman or girl again, finally unveils new energy that must take the whole world to action and a new vision of what much be done to save women and girls wherever they are. This is a persona declaration that Betty Makoni makes to put an end to violence against women and girls as a personal level in homes, schools, communities, countries and the entire world as a whole. A quote Betty Makoni in her autobiography states, "The world cannot move forward its people and especially women and girls remain victims, internally and emotionally wounded and live in turmoil. There comes a time in life when we must just say that there is a silent genocide of women and girls in the homes, communities and just everywhere is not a new story. That my great grandmother, grandmother, mother, mother-in-law, aunt, sister, cousin, niece, housemaid, co-workers, friend, neighbor, and just about every other female shares the same pain is not a new story. What is new in this story is how I stood up to say, "Never again." Never again will a girl or woman get raped, killed, drop out of school, be harmed by our culture or be sexually enslaved. That is as long as I know about it. Never Again - not to any woman or girl again is the new story."

Betty Makoni Autobiography ((Betty Makoni))

Everyone has a voice... but how often do we really hear of people using theirs? Certainly not enough and especially not regarding the topic of sexual abuse in women and girls. There are so many more cases of this abuse than it brought to the eye because the victims are simply scared or even embarrassed of the turmoil they were put through. But not Betty Makoni. Makoni realized that she had a voice to use to speak against this violence. Because of this she has saved thousands of women and girls. And not only has she saved them, but she has inspired them to the fullest. If one victim of sexual abuse can speak up and make a change for thousands, can you imagine what it would be like if just one hundred did the same? Betty Makoni is a prime example of what it means to stick up for what you believe and to not let your past control you. She exhibits just what it means to be a hero. Why stay silent when thousands of peoples lives and well-being could depend on your voice?