Friend of the late Meghan Cremer, Lize Hartley is honouring her memory by raising funds to help teach young women to protect themselves from Gender-based Violence.
South Africa (04 August 2020) – On the 3rd August 2019, Meghan Cremer, a vibrant showjumper and bakery manager from Cape Town, went missing from her home and fell victim to a robbery. Five days later, police found her body buried in a Philippi sand mine.
In her honour, a close friend by the name of Lize Hartley hopes to save other young women from a similar fate by raising funds for the Justice Desk, an award-winning human Rights Organisation.
The Justice Desk is a human rights non-profit organisation working in South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The organisation was launched in 2013 as a way to promote everyday activism.
They aim to defend human rights and empower society to create an equal world. They run over 20 projects but focus on four aspects, education, training, bridging and advocacy. The Justice Desk works alongside civil society, NGOs, businesses, and governments to challenge and eliminate the root causes of injustice.
It is this reason, along with their projects that empower survivors of gender-based violence, that Lize chose them as her cause.
In memory of Meghan
Lize met Meghan in 2016 and the pair bonded over their love of riding and horses. As their horses were stable neighbours, on the property where Meghan lived, spending time together became a routine and the young women developed a meaningful friendship.
“Meghan was a wonderful friend, businesswoman and animal lover. I miss her warm and generous personality and her quick, dry sense of humour. She was the type of person who was always willing to help“ – says Lize
Like many of Meghan’s loved ones, trying to understand the tragedy of what happened left many unanswered questions and unmistakable void in the lives of all who loved her.
“For weeks and weeks after her death, whenever I parked outside her cottage, on the same property we kept our horses, I would look for her. And every time I would need to remind myself that she wasn’t there; it took a long time before that sunk in.” – says Lize
Partnering with the Justice Desk, Lize has launched a crowdfunding campaign on donations based crowdfunding platform, BackaBuddy, to educate and protect young girls as we celebrate Women’s Month around the globe.
With support from the public, Lize hopes to raise R60 000 to support the Justice Desk and their Mbokodo Club by covering the cost for 30 young women to benefit from the project that focuses on female empowerment, leadership, and teaches self-defence to survivors of gender-based violence.
“This September, Meghan would have turned 30 years old. I hope that with my BackaBuddy campaign, we can celebrate the wonderful and meaningful life she lead by protecting other young women in her honour” – says Lize
According to the South African Police Service, a woman is murdered every 3 hours in South Africa.
“It is painful to speak about gender-based violence, but it is important that we speak up at every opportunity and continue to fight this fight. If I can improve one woman’s life, if I can help prevent anyone from the pain we all experienced when we lost Meghan, that will be enough. There is a mother, daughter, sister and friend behind every statistic” – says Lize
Members of the public, looking to make a difference this women month, are encouraged to launch their own crowdfunding initiatives to support the Justice Desk and their mandate to support vulnerable women.
“I have seen young girls in our projects who have survived unimaginable trauma be the first to raise their hand and speak up because all they want to do is make sure no other girl experiences what she experienced. Our Mbokodo Club trains and empowers young girls to be incredible change-makers, standing up to GBV, and supporting one another as we change this country for the better!” – says Jessica Dewhurst, Justice Desk CEO.
You can donate to Lize’s campaign in honour of Meghan here.
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