The NGO Heartlines is encouraging South African women to change the daily narrative by sharing their stories this Women’s Month and inspiring one another.
As we enter Women’s Month we need to remember it’s more than just a day off work. What was once one dedicated public holiday is now a month long campaign to better the lives of women across South Africa.
Women’s Day is dedicated to the brave women, around 20,000 of them, that marched to the Union Buildings in 1956 to protest the apartheid law stating they had to carry pass books on themselves at all times in urban area’s.
Heartlines is encouraging South African women to use storytelling as a way to promote understanding, trust and reconciliation. The current narrative around women, is commonly centred around violence, abuse, oppression or inequality.
“We live in a world where our stories are told in 140 characters and women’s issues are reduced to hashtags and headlines. If we don’t stop to ask, listen and tell our stories, we will never break down gender barriers or start to have real conversations that will promote tolerance and understanding,”
“Stories promote understanding and healing. It’s no coincidence that healing is built around the telling and recording of our most personal and harrowing stories. Storytelling is the blood that pumps through this nation. It goes to the heart of who we are as a country and a continent.” – Nevelia Moloi, Heartlines Project Manager
The NGO has a storytelling platform where they would love everyday South African women to share their stories. So ladies be apart of changing the narritive, tell your story here.