Entrepreneur, film and radio producer and motivational speaker Tash Reddy has taken it upon herself to create a safe space on social media for South Africans struggling with a variety of problems.
Reddy’s personal experiences has led her to create groups on Facebook, where those who are experiencing the same, could share and learn from each other.
In total she administrates three groups on Facebook, “Widowed South Africa”, “I Am” and her latest, “Suddenly Solo”.
“‘Suddenly Solo’ is for women who are going through divorce and single moms who are struggling with the South African legal system,” said Reddy.
She added that the idea to create the group came about after her husband of 16 years walked out on her and their kids one night leaving her “suddenly solo”.
“I literally went from being married one moment to being suddenly single and extremely broken, the next. Putting all the pieces back together was very difficult for me.
“I had nobody to talk to, besides my mom. I had no clue about what divorce was and I suddenly became a single mom.
“I wondered how women get through this. I couldn’t deal with all the emotional stress of it, so I thought of speaking to other women who are going through the same thing, or almost the same thing,” she said.
Since starting the group she said that she had learned so much.
“I have learnt so much. I had to apply for maintenance, do a paternity test and so forth, so there’s a lot that I’ve learnt from what goes on in court, and so we share our knowledge and give each other encouragement as single mothers.
“I’ve noticed that many women shy away from posting publicly, but will message me privately to share their stories and we swop notes and help each other in terms of court procedures.
“It’s just been such a great learning experience. Being a single mom of a 10-year-old and a 19-year-old, has been a challenge. So on days when I am feeling extremely low, I can go on the group and say this is how I am feeling and the women offer me support, and they can do the same.
“It’s also a group where you get to learn from other people’s experiences.”
She encouraged women who need assistance or encouragement to join the group.
Meanwhile, her “I Am” group, which has become extremely popular since it started, has a following of over 22 000.
The name is based on affirmations.
“This is a group for men and women and is based on affirmations you say to yourself to make yourself feel better and believe in yourself. ‘I am strong, I am resilience, I am courage, I am all things possible’.
“It has different categories. It offers motivation, recruitment adverts, recipes, news features, life lessons, jokes, riddles and brain teasers, relationship advice, health tips as well as features from addicts who have turned their lives around, a focus on depression and just helps people live their best lives,” she said.
The main objective of “I Am” is to have members interact with each other, get help for problems they face, learn new things, take care of themselves and learn from other people who have overcome similar problems.
“I have been going through hell personally and my own journey taught me so much, so its healing for me to share my problems and help others with theirs. I have learned so much that's helped me on my path to healing.
“There's so much we are not aware off and we struggle in our lives to get help but this group helps everyone with different kinds of problems.
“I've also had the opportunity to make many friends and support in my difficult times and we are able to be there for each other,” she concluded.