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A Door-to-Door Advocate for Women and Girls in Angola   
Evalina Sangui Ndombele — Angola March 6, 2008—Evalina Sangui Ndombele overcame many barriers to be the leader that she is today. At 48, she is the president of Amusa-Alegria/Rede Mulher Angolana (Happiness Angolan Women’s Network), the woman’s organization she founded 12 years ago. She lives in Angola’s capital, Luanda. The city’s 4.5 million people include many refugees who fled the countryside during the country’s 30-year civil war. Evalina says that her story is typical of many women in Angola. She grew up in a large family, with five immediate brothers and sisters and a total of 22 siblings from her father’s three wives. She considers herself fortunate that her mother was a teacher and understood the importance of an education, encouraging Evalina to go to school and study. During the Angolan civil war, the family fled for what was then the Republic of Zaire. There, Evalina completed her primary and secondary education. When her family returned to Angola, she finished her schooling with the hope of attending university. She still hopes and dreams of getting a university degree in psychology. “With a degree in psychology I can help. I can work with the community, work with women and children. I would like a degree in psychology to study the community’s problems better.” Her dream of a university education will be difficult to achieve. The night classes she wants to take cost $50 a month, which is beyond her means. If she manages to get the money, night classes are often cancelled because there are no classrooms available or there is no electricity. She also has many responsibilities within her organization and family. Obstacles are commonplace for Angolan women. Seventy percent of the population lives in poverty, and only a little more than half of women are literate. Evalina’s organization is working to change that. “[Women’s illiteracy] is a cultural problem. In the past, parents believed that only men could go to school. So we are sensitizing the public to that because there is no difference between a boy and a girl. The only difference is their sex. They have the same thoughts, the same attitudes, the same jobs…they are all the same.” Evalina’s organization works on the ground, door-to-door to provide information and mobilize communities to support girls. “We go to the houses and ask why this girl did not go to school, why the mother went to sell items on the street, and the girl had to stay home with the baby. We mobilize around the fact that girls need to go to schools just as boys do.” Evalina enjoys many aspects of her job, especially teaching. Aside from her duties as organization president, she teaches reading and writing.
Always seeking ways to improve herself, Evalina came across an announcement for CEDPA’s 2007 Spanish-language Global Women in Management workshop, where she joined 25 other women in Houston, Texas. Sponsored by the ExxonMobil Foundation’s Educating Women and Girls Initiative, the workshop strengthened their skills in leadership, advocacy, fundraising and management skills. Taking what she learned in the workshop back to her community will not be hard for Evalina. She is a champion for the women of Angola and will share her knowledge with others, she says. “I am a motivator and teacher. During the classes I give, I teach about topics like HIV/AIDS, how to use a condom, abstinence, and faithfulness. I teach about maternal and infant health, how to make decisions with in the community, how to register as a citizen and the importance of voting. That is what I do to help the women in my country.” Read more about CEDPA's training programs. |
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