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Qrates Voices: Mindfulness for Kids

Mental health conditions are common worldwide, the World Health Organization says one in four people in the world will be affected by mental or neurological disorders at some point in their lives. It is therefore important that we take care of our mental wellbeing as it affects every aspect of our life, from emotional wellbeing to even physical wellbeing. It is important to understand that mental wellness affects your physical body.  Mindfulness and Mental Health The uses of mindfulness meditation are to prevent a relapse in major depression and for managing mental health conditions like stress, anxiety, sleeping disorders and even eating disorders. Mindfulness meditation is a practice that teaches us to experience the current moment and how to integrate that awareness into our everyday life. Through mindfulness meditation we are aware of our thoughts, we learn to capture racing thoughts and analyze them thoroughly, let go of negativity and calm our mind and body.  There
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QRATE's Voices: The Beginners Guide to Gender Equality

By Mangaliso Ngomane When this all blows over you will have picked up a host of new habits if you have been following QRATE on Social Media and the recent #TogetherAtHome campaign, you'll definitely gain some new skills.  Today let's talk a bit about equality. What is equality? Equality is the state of being equal, especially in status, rights or opportunities.  Qrate, for example, aims to promote equality through various programmes with a focus, particularly on gender. If you believe in gender equality then believe it or not: YOU are a feminist. Photo by Jen Theodore on Unsplash I am Mangaliso Ngomane. And I am a Feminist. Forget what you've heard, men can also be feminists because all that Feminism is simply is a belief that men and women should have equal rights and opportunities. This theory extends to the political, economic and social equality of the sexes. Gender equality means that the different behaviours, aspirations, and needs of wo
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QRATEs Voices: Climate Change

The single resource that is aiding your life is being brutally damaged. Your dreams, aspiration, and ambitions are at stake. Your future is being deeply compromised. Why? The climate is changing- dramatically.   Humans are filling the earth with a MASSIVE amount of Greenhouse Gases. These are released from the burning of fossil fuels such as coal. As insignificant as it seems, this is destroying water and food sources, drying up the rivers but also making the levels of the sea rise, resulting in extremely hot and cold weather with sometimes less rain or very heavy rain. Essentially, our Earth is behaving in a strange and unprecedented manner. Scariest of all, our world leaders aren’t taking this seriously and doing anything to stop this. In 10 years, the effects of climate change could be completely irreversible.   Industries and businesses that release large amounts of greenhouse gases such as coal-generated electricity are making their profits from literally destroying the eart
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QRATE's Voices: Youth Power

By  Raeesah Noor-Mahomed  There is no experience that can be equated to standing in a crowd, screaming at the top of your lungs and collectively marching for a cause. United in anger at the injustice you are facing. Calling for a change. Womxn have faced oppression from men for hundreds of years. We have been shut down and silenced for so long. But we have had enough. Womxn all over South Africa have taken a stand against Gender-Based Violence (GBV). Womxn have organized protests and shutdowns. Womxn are fighting against the system of oppression. Womxn are revolutionary. We have a voice. And we are going to use it. I am a 17-year-old female. The world is a scary place for women and marginalized groups and South Africa’s GBV rate is four times more than the global rate. We, as the youth of South Africa, have decided that we are not going to sit down and watch our sisters get killed. We decided to take a stand. The morning after Uyinene’s body was discovered
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QRATEs' Voices: Menstruation

By Janet Gilman We mostly hear myths about menstruation as South Africans. And often, these myths lead to young women to feeling embarrassed and outcasted for experiencing something that happens to them every month. My experiences about menstruation were that I can't cook for my dad or any male when I am on my periods cause bad luck would follow up. I can't allow any woman on her periods to touch my hair or else my hair will fall off and last but not least I can't be around men when on my periods cause it'll make my blood flow heavier and I might lose a lot of blood. Afrika Tikkun's students busy writing down their thoughts in QRATE's Menstruation workshop. How many more myths and untrue stories should we hear, listen and digest about being a woman on her menstrual cycle?! It's time we normalized menstruation and found pride with walking out of a classroom full of boys and see no harm nor embarrassment about flashing our pads, ta
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Masculinity 4 Kids

By Traver Mudzonga Son: “Daddy, what does it mean to be a man?” Father: “Nothing son, absolutely nothing.”  Food for Thought : What do boys in South Africa think about being boys today? What do they imagine is expected of them? Whom do they look up to and how are they navigating the transition from being boys to becoming men?  What does it mean to be a man? That a man does not cry? That a man provides and protects? Maybe these are not the right questions.  But maybe this story will provide the right answers.  Andisiwe and Tshepo, a newly married young couple, are planning on having a baby. Tshepo wants a daughter but his aunts are adamant that his firstborn should be a boy, “to carry on the family name” they say. His uncles also insist that his firstborn must be a boy too, “to show that he is a man in the bedroom” they say.  On the other hand, Andisiwe wants a son for a firstborn and her mother agrees, “to please your husband and stop him from takin
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Consent 4 Kids

by Mokgabo Maletswa and Natacha Martins Teaching a kid about consent has nothing to do with teaching them about sex. It’s about respecting boundaries. We believe parents can start educating children about consent and empowerment as early as 1 year old and continuing into the university years. It is our sincere hope that this post can help us raise empowered young adults who have empathy for others and a clear understanding of healthy consent.  To teach a child about the concept of consent and what consent entails, one must consider what is meant by the phenomena termed ‘consent’. So, what is consent really? What does consent involve? What should we be aware of when bearing in mind such a concept? In general terms, consent is a matter of an individual granting someone or something permission for a particular event to take place. It is the achievement of willful acknowledgment, sexual acceptance and eventually permission (expressly stated) by
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