Katherine Zavala – IDEX’s Program Manager, Grassroots Alliances –  recently journeyed to South Africa on a site visit to our partners. She reports from Johannesburg.

Driving into Johannesburg, on the other side of the hemisphere from San Francisco, it is easy to embrace the warm sunny weather. The Jacaranda trees are blooming this month, giving a purple flair to the lush, green environment.

Along the highway, I see the Nelson Mandela Bridge and central “Jozi” as some local people refer to the South African city.

I start my learning journey with Women’s Net, an IDEX Catalyst Grantee.

The goal of Women’s Net is to strengthen women and girls movements for social change through the use of information communication tools and advocacy that promotes access, the right to information and freedom of expression.

 Jumping into the Internet Era

Last year, Women’s Net used IDEX support to conduct workshops for girls and young women in a tech literacy camp during the 16 Days of Activism.

I was invited to observe a workshop with a group of 24 teenage girls contending with challenging backgrounds, including trafficking and forced migration from other African countries.

The workshop is called “Women and Girls Moving into HerITage,” and it serves as a tech literacy camp combining skill building in technology and girls’ empowerment.

As girls are learning how to use computers and surf the Internet, they are also participating in themes of gender awareness, self-esteem and women’s empowerment.

When I arrived, Eva Ramokobala (pictured left), Project Manager of Girls’ Net, was in the midst of teaching the girls how to browse the Internet.

Coming from the Silicon Valley state where the Internet is so much a part of our daily lives, it was fascinating to hear Eva interchange frequently the terms: Google, Facebook and Wikipedia.

Apparently the day before, they had been introduced to Google.

Eva was asking how many countries were on the African continent and who Ellen Johnson was. Many of the girls spoke up with the right answers.

It was quite funny when Eva asked one girl, “Did you Google that?” and the girl said “No.”

Eva asked, “So how did you know?” and the girl replied, “We used our brains.” Everyone roared into laughter!

Cultivating a Positive Identity

Women’s Net hired a well-known South African feminist facilitator that day to help discuss the themes of gender roles and self-esteem with the girls.

Using popular education methods, including singing, drawing and group discussions, the girls were challenged to claim a positive identity of themselves as girls living in a society that is still highly violent against women.

A recent survey conducted by the World Health Organization (focused on women’s health and domestic violence against women) found that in South Africa, among women aged 15 to 49 years, a staggering 40% of women reported their first sexual experience as forced. This is the highest rate found in the world, followed by 30% in rural Bangladesh, 28% in Tanzania and 24% in rural Peru.*

Employing Technology to Empower Women

The latter part of the workshop focused on training the girls in two tracks: citizen journalism (blogging) and digital storytelling.

Women’s Net had the challenge of squeezing a full 3-day workshop into an afternoon, as they were informed that the girls had to go back to school to write their final exams, as schools are soon ending their semesters.

The challenge spurred Women’s Net team into creatively looking into how they could still provide some key tools to the girls, using technology to express their voices.

What I loved about this workshop was the organized structure of girls being encouraged to use freedom of expression to reflect on their lives.

Once they found their voice, Women’s Net helped them to amplify it by using technology tools to encourage girls to use their creativity and imaginations to share their stories.

I feel honored to have observed this workshop, seeing first-hand the development of history-makers amongst this group of future women leaders of South Africa.

*Information from the World Health Organization

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