“To educate girls is to reduce poverty” – Kofi Anan (former UN Secretary-General).
Ladies to Legends is a The IIE’s Varsity College annual event that echoes the belief that when one educates young women and girl children on pertinent matters, everyone benefits. Educated women are instrumental to economic growth and social change.
The IIE’s Varsity College Durban North Ladies to Legends held recently, left each and every woman who attended feeling supported, understood and empowered. The event, which was a panel discussion led and MC’ed by East Coast Radio’s Mags Westerhof, exposed the attendees to three truly inspiring women: Carol Mkhize (model, actress and fitness enthusiast), Langa Mngoma (model and full-time medical Doctor) and Rowena Singh (Educator and Programme Manager) of The IIE’s Varsity College School of Education.
The discussion opens on the topic of health and how to lead a healthy lifestyle as a mother, and a modern woman. Carol shared her journey on feeling pressured to look a certain way in her industry. She gave the audience advice on shifting their focus from physical appearance to mental health and how staying active could help them to achieve that. Langa Mngoma explained that one needs to create a culture of eating a balanced, healthy diet and that the starting point for this was educating the youth.
Education was at the centre of all topics of discussion with Rowena Singh. She stressed the importance of teaching young women that they can be anything they want to be with a bit of hard work and a lot of support. Rowena shared the inspiring story of Malala Yousafzai, a Pakistani activist for female education and the youngest Nobel Prize laureate.
During the panel discussion, Mags encouraged the women in the audience to join in the conversation which resulted in many personal stories being shared. The engagement between the audiences was electric and empowering. The most memorable take-away from the evening was that, when women stand up and support each other incredible things happen.
Said Louise Wiseman Managing Director the IIE’s Varsity College: “Self-development is important as it allows us to develop our internal drivers and motivators. It is these drivers that enable us to become the best version of ourselves. Now in its fourth year our Ladies to Legends event continue to be a great source of motivation and inspiration for young women who crave self-development. We’re particularly excited about this year’s theme: Nine Issues Affecting Women and Children around the World as it has a global view on the issues that women deal with. Issues such as gender equality, access to education and health, to name a few will be discussed at this years’ event.
The Business School at The IIE’s Varsity College is giving away eight (8) bursaries valued at up to R18 000.00 nationally during The IIE’s Varsity College Ladies to Legends campaign which will run from 6 September – 13 October 2018.
To apply for one of these bursaries please send your letter of motivation to ladies2legends@varsitycollege.co.za