Gauteng Department of Social Development hosted the Marriage Week Seminar under the theme: "Make sense of You, Me and Life together", in West Rand on Friday.
The seminar was attended by young and old couples who shared their experiences to build marriages. Mrs Hulisani Mhlongo, West Rand Region Social Worker coordinated the Conflict Resolution discussion.
She said, "You need to communicate about issues you are faced with in marriage. Do not avoid conflicts, tackle them. Make sure you value one another as couples, respect and forgiveness are very key".
Mhlongo encouraged the attendees as she delivered the quote by Sheri L. Dew, "Neither man nor woman is perfect or complete without the other. Thus, no marriage or family, no ward or stake is likely to reach its full potential until husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, men and women work together in unity of purpose, respecting and relying upon each other's strengths".
Mr and Mrs Petrus encouraged the young couples by giving their testimony. They told the seminar, "We have been married for 44 years following the birth of our first child in 1972 while we were still at school. My husband dropped out at school to look for job to support our child", said Mrs Petrus. "We had many challenges throughout this journey but we conquered because of unity", concluded Mr Petrus.
The department of Social Development has embarked on the development of a Marriage Preparation and Marriage Enrichment Programme as an effort to enhance the marriage relationships.