Peer educators urged to ‘refill their cups first’

Students as peer educators in sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) prevention have recently taken stock of their roles within the ecosystem. Peer educators are located in the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Office for Inclusivity & Change (OIC) and the Department of Student Affairs (DSA).

The peer educators consist of three student cohorts: the Agents for Change Peer Educators (ACEs), the Gender Marshalls (GMs) and the Wellness Buddies. These programmes aim to build students’ inclusivity and leadership competencies, enabling them to become change agents who support the university in disrupting SGBV incidents that could occur in living and learning spaces. They also create spaces for critical thinking and dialogue about matters related to discrimination, harassment and violence, as well as issues such as mental health, substance abuse and well-being.

The students had an opportunity to share lessons, insights and challenges, as well as how they have benefitted. They also used the time to reflect on the responsibility of their tasks.

They grappled with questions such as who is caring for the carers and how they cope with the type of conversations they are having. The deputy vice-chancellor for People, Culture and Society, Professor Elelwani Ramugondo, delivered the opening remarks: “In an ideal world, care work would be unnecessary. We are being kept busy treating symptoms.”

She warned that failing to correctly diagnose the care we require could lead to care workers experiencing burnout, which may lead to them being unable to fully discharge their role. “Care workers will get exhausted, and our mental health will be affected; and with that, we may end up being perpetrators of harm ourselves, and this is because of making diagnoses at the incorrect level.”

“Because you take on the role, you too need to be able to receive support as well and look after your support structures.”

A key insight from peer educators is that they value their role as proactive rather than reactive. Furthermore, they appreciate students’ trust and how they’re able to converse with them at the start of a particular problem.

The key panellists for the Peer Education Seminar included Guy Cockredge, Ofentse More, Khanya Mndende, Bahle Sangweni, Jackie Pule and Samuel Jali. The speakers had an opportunity to reflect on the key challenges they have faced as peer educators and how they have dealt with them. They also shared ideas about how UCT can support peer educators better, increase their visibility and ensure that their contribution as agents for change are recognised by their fellow students.

Juanita Myburgh, a wellness coach at Student Wellness Services (SWS), took the peer educators through guarding against fatigue. “Because you take on the role, you too need to be able to receive support as well and look after your support structures. Your role is not to carry everything; being trained in the profession does not make you immune.”

Myburgh added: “Our role is to encourage health-seeking. We encourage that by also taking care of our well-being.”

Dr Stella Musungu, the student capacity building specialist at the OIC, said: “Peer education is still a relevant and effective strategy for universities to implement, to address major challenges such as SGBV, mental health and substance abuse, as well as other health-related issues. Peer educators therefore play a crucial role in enabling social transformation by supporting their peers to access relevant information and contribute to creating safe spaces at the university. While in their role, they are often overwhelmed, given the level of sensitivity and the nature of the issues they deal with. It is therefore crucial that the relevant university offices support them in their roles so that they can be effective agents for social transformation.”

Lilly Ahatefu, the student advocacy representative from UCT’s Rainbow Society, said that "as young people, you are at the forefront of change through education and transformation. Young people have the privilege to learn about socio-economic issues and sexual violence. Therefore, students need to continue speaking up against injustices such as SGBV and to challenge harmful gender roles that perpetrate rape culture".

A key take away message was that as peer educators and first responders, there is a need to take care by knowing their support structures and supporting themselves better through “filling and re-filling their cups first” to support their peers effectively.