Portia Hlombe
Health and Safety/Women in Uniform
Nominee's Province:
Eastern Cape
Project Name/Description:
Research Nurse, Dora Nginza Hospital (satellite site)
Hlombe has over the years made it her calling to educate young girls about realities, some of which they can avoid at their age, such as being sexually active at an early age, teenage pregnancies, and contracting diseases such as HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.
Hlombe is also the founder of Hlumani ma Afrika Savings Club and Masincedane Women Support Group.
She says one of her passions is women’s financial stability, an area she has realised needs more financial literacy as women are increasingly running households, and a lot rests on their shoulders. Hlombe, a mother of two boys, aged 31 and 17, says she regards her work as a calling she will do any day, as she sees more women empowered and taking charge of their lives.
She says: “Women go through a lot, and I took a decision to empower them and guide young girls and young women to be independent, be confident, and know that they are complete, no one must make them feel useless and worthless.”
Throughout the years of working as a nurse, and with women in her community, she says it’s always been her consideration that it’s not just a mere profession, but a calling that God chose her for a good reason.
“Helping others is in me because I know how it feels to be in an abusive relationship, be a dropout of school because of teenage pregnancy,” Hlombe concludes.
