Book of South African - Book of Women - Mail & Guardian

Isabella holden
Project co-ordinator
A
pretty blonde woman walks down
Louis Botha Avenue with a sense
of purpose and a determined
stride. She knows the road well but
still she’s careful — undeterred by
the loudly hooting taxis and the unrelenting
stream of traffic. Isabella Holden is partially
blind and every day she hopes the traffic lights
are working.
“It’s chaos when the robots are out,” she
says. “I just find somebody, anybody — and we
walk across the street together. Sometimes I
stumble, but I’m not too scared to ask for help.”
The distance from Yeoville, where Holden
lives, to the Lifeline offices in Norwood is 5km
and for her the route is a daily walk of faith. “As
a disabled person you have to take risks. If I
get too scared I’ll hide behind a stick or stay at
home. I’ve got to be a bit of a cowboy.”
Fearlessness is an attitude that stands
76 Book of South AfrICAn women 2012
Holden in good stead in her job as co-ordinator
of the Lifeline victim empowerment
programme, which was launched just a year
ago and now helps more than 1 000 victims
a month. Lifeline Johannesburg manages 17
victim empowerment centres at police stations
all over the city, offering victims of crime
(mostly women) some sense of dignity in the
worst of circumstances.
Victim supporters, says Holden, are trained
to offer emotional containment and practical
help in every horrific situation. Some rape
victims arrive at the centres without a stitch
of clothing. “We offer practical help, a strong
shoulder to lean on, something to eat, a
sanitary towel, clothes and panties.”
Holden is passionate about the project,
not only because it offers dignity to victims of
violence but also because it provides a stipend
for volunteers. There are just three permanent
staff members on her team and 65 volunteers
in an area that covers Soweto, Lenasia and the
inner city of Johannesburg and Holden has big
plans for expanding the services offered at the
centres.
At 50, she has more energy than someone
half her age. “I have found my purpose and I feel
very energised by what we do. The project has
empowered me as a person; I have been given
an opportunity to live out a value system that I
hold dear,” she says.
Gratitude is part of her coping skills. “I woke
up one day and I couldn’t see. I was just a child.
I know that things can be taken away just like
that. I have gratitude for what I have in the
moment. I appreciate everything.”