04 Jun 2018

High divorce rates have been attributed to lack of understanding of the institution of marriage.

The founder of Adonai Counselling Agency, Ms Otilda Mpaesele-Tettey told the inaugural pitso for widows/widowers hosted by Mercy Land Foundation in partnership with Boela Gae Marriage seminar and secretariat services that marriage was the bedrock of human existence.

She said it was a godly institution and a gift from God for people to experience friendship and intimacy.

Ms Mpaesele-Tetty said it was important for marriage to be built on a solid and strong foundation.

She said it was crucial to understand what marriage was, as it was impossible to be in a marriage when one did not fully understand it.

“Some people get married for the wrong reasons.

Self-centeredness, pride, apathy, pride, ignorance, anger, bitterness, failure to forgive and childishness are some of the reasons that make marriages to fail,” she said.

Ms Mpaesele-Tetty noted that partners should learn to love each other, adding that love was the foundation of a successful marriage.

She also noted that in marriage, a wife was supposed to be submissive to her husband, while the husband was expected to love his wife.

“It is, however, difficult to love a woman who is not submissive just as much as it is difficult to submit to a man who does not offer love,” she said.

Ms Mpaesele-Tetty said divorces have to be grieved, noting that the process was painful as it involved persons who were alive.

“Unlike physical death, in divorce, the persons involved are alive and that is what makes the grieving process very difficult,” she said.

Presenting the objectives of the day, the founder of Mercy Land Foundation, Ms Tsholofelo Aaron said the pitso was meant to provide a platform for collection of appropriate information from victims to draw relevant and applicable strategies for people through the organisation.

Ms Aaron said their areas of interest included psychological, economic and health implications.

She said statistics showed that divorce cases continued to rise each year.

She noted that in 2014 there were 1 088 divorce cases, 1 190 in 2015, in 2016 they were 1 316 while in 2017 and to date, they stood at 893.

She said the pitso also unfolded issues of paramount importance to the affected group as well as providing assistance and advice to them. ENDS