REPORT BACK: Women's Day workshop

Women hold up half the sky

triumph and tears
triumph
slaves
celebrate
slaves
standing ground
remember

remember
tears
triumph
tears
the Keepers
a woman's fight!

- A poem created by the workshop group. 6 August  2016.

On Saturday 6 August SAHA hosted an educator's workshop centered on women. This workshop was attended by educators and Constitution Hill tour guides. The guides joined so they could teach their tour groups about the Women's Month exhibition that SAHA put up in the East Wing of the Old Women's Jail.

A theme which emerged many times in the discussions of the group was that of erasure or histories. The consensus was about the importance of not losing these histories in grand narratives. The group was encouraged to think critically about what commemorative days mean to them in both the public and, private spheres of their lives - the introspection among those who attended was a surprisingly deep and lengthy discussion.

Women in the struggle and women's struggles

The workshop tackled the issue of the role of women in the struggle and then the struggles faced daily by women, both during and post-apartheid. The topics covered in the exhibition are relatable to the plight of women today in South Africa. The women's charter adopted by FEDTRAW in 1954, shows how the demands for equality were both personal and political.

The exhibition is situated in a poignant space when one looks at the fact that many female political prisoners were held in the room in which the exhibition now stands. 

The exhibition will be in the east wing of the Women's Jail atrium until March 2017.

For those educators who were not able to join us this Saturday, why not draw from SAHA's online archives and resources to bring women's voices into your schools this month:

• Introduce your learners to Lilian Ngoyi, one of the leaders of the fateful 1956 Women's March by playing the Voices from Our Past radio documentary.
• Visit the Lilian Ngoyi memorial page on the SAHA / Sunday Times Heritage Project website to learn more about her life.

• Introduce your learners to Lilian Ngoyi, one of the leaders of the fateful 1956 Women's March by playing the Voices from Our Past radio documentary.

• Visit the Lilian Ngoyi memorial page on the SAHA / Sunday Times Heritage Project website to learn more about her life.
• Visit SAHA's virtual exhibition "Women Hold Up Half the Sky" and download a copy of the Exhibition In The Classroom guide for educators on the role women played, and continue to play, in forwarding justice in South Africa.
• Visit SAHA's virtual exhibition "Women Hold Up Half the Sky" and download a copy of the Exhibition In The Classroom guide for educators on the role women played, and continue to play, in forwarding justice in South Africa.