Empowerment means to gain knowledge and understanding. Self empowerment means to gain knowledge and understanding of the self. Think of it like this. If you knew absolutely nothing about a car and its inner workings, and the car broke down somewhere far from home. You would have no idea what to do to fix the car, so that you can go on. Yet if you had a good knowledge and understanding of the car and its inner workings then you could figure out what needs to be done, get the tools and spares to do it, and fix it. In this situation you would be empowered (feel empowered) for you would know what to do to get yourself going again. You would not just sit in the car and wait for someone to come and sort out the problem for you.