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MOSSEL BAY NEWS & VIDEO - Mossel Bay's Berenice Kogana Paulson, who was one of the 100 Mrs South Africa semi-finalists last year, held a successful function titled Kick-start your Year 2022 at the Santos Express conference room on Saturday, 8 January.
It was a women's event, featuring Alderlady Venolea Fortuin, educationist Claire du Plessis and Kogana Paulson herself as the speakers.
Fortuin is the first woman municipal speaker to be appointed in Mossel Bay and Du Plessis is Mossel Bay's latest winner of the prestigious Rotary Club Paul Harris Award for community work and chair of the local ATKV branch.
Kogana Paulson, the presenter of the Eden FM radio programme Woman to Woman, is also prominent in the community. She is on the Louis 57 Trust board (golfer Louis Oosthuizen's charity) and she started an NPO, helping single mothers last year, called The Myrtle Tree. She also wrote a book last year, titled Ek's uit!
Kogana Paulson based her speech on Revelations 12:14: "The woman was given the two wings of a great eagle, so that she might fly to the place ... where she would be taken care of ... out of the serpent’s reach."
Rhythm
"Don't let fear keep you in a comfort zone. Flying starts with you," Kogana Paulson told the audience. "You need rhythm to fly. Clap your wings.
"The people who support you are the wind under your wings," she explained.
She encouraged women to surround themselves with others who supported them. They should get rid of toxic people who might hinder them from flying to the next level. They should also let go of low thinking and a sinful life.
Claire du Plessis
Fortuin, who spoke on the topic, Courage, discussed the challenges of being a woman politician. She described politics as a man's world. "You can only influence change if you are at the table, rolling up your sleeves and doing something," she said. Fortuin has been a councillor for 10 years, since the age of 25.
She stressed the need for good habits, urging the women to pray, seek God first and position themselves.
Video: Kick-start your year 2022
Du Plessis spoke on Wealth and Health. She advised the women to save money and to have their children save money. She said women should be financially secure because they never knew what tomorrow would bring.
"Living simply is not a shame," Du Plessis said. She encouraged women to cut costs. She said she grew her own herbs and was not afraid of doing hard work, such as cleaning her house.
Women should treasure their bodies and embrace them, she said. "What looks beautiful on a woman is confidence," Du Plessis said.
Berenice Kogana Paulson. Photos: Linda Sparg
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