Sharing information with communities and spreading knowledge throughout the world
“Since from that day I always look forward for sessions because in my journey I learned and still learning a lot about what women face on their daily lives and don’t have platforms to share what they face or we say they don’t know where they can get help.”
“The highlight for me were those three dialogues; the killing of Lesbians, killing of elderly women and the killing of women and children reason being, we took what we learned from the sessions of Political Education to the community and all those sessions were successful and eye opening.”
Lerato is a student studying architectural technology, she is in a construction field and busy with registering her company. She is one of the newest members of the feminist political education group who joined us in the last quarter of 2021. What is funny about her story is that on her first day of the workshop she did not know what to expect from the sessions. She remembers how her friend just invited to a space for women, “I joined the project 2021 without clue of what I’m going to learn as I was invited by a friend. The briefing I got that day was eye opening and how they broke down their mission and objectives and reason for Political Education and their goal was excellent and simple.”
Since from that day Lerato always looks forward to the sessions and has attended all the sessions and actions by the campaign, her organisation and other partner organisations. She says that on this journey she has learned a lot and continues to learn more about the oppressions and challenges other women face on the daily and how most women do not have platforms for sharing their experiences or know where to access adequate assistance.
Lerato says that the project has enhanced her knowledge about feminism and being an activist. “As I highlighted that I was clueless about what I was going to learn on my first day, it has changed how I view life and how a lot of things affects our lives as women and children, and we don’t talk about those issues. Most importantly how we respond to what we face daily in our lives.” She continues to explain how this change is because of her involvement with the campaign; “The sessions hosted by 1in9 Campaign are very educative and if it was not of their Pol Ed I doubt I was going to deal with things this differently from how I used to. “
She says that the knowledge she gained from the feminist political education sessions are about being an activist, and not just an activist but also a feminist activist. All the information that she has received through the program has helped her with problem solving especially because she deals with people all the time. It has assisted her with knowing how to respond to matters that she encounters and deal with her fears of how the system can oppress a young woman in a male dominated industry like construction.
“Organizations that are under this project have contributed positively to the project because knowledge is power and we learn a lot from each other since the organizations deals with different issues. The experience and our knowledge uplift us individually and as organizations too because we learn from each other.”
Lerato believes that knowledge helps how one views life and tackles every situation they face. She says that how she responds to situations has changed because she is more aware and mindful that people are going through a lot so she needs to check how she treats the next person. She also is more present with close family and friends and she shares everything she all the information she has received with them.
“I will use the three dialogues held as references because we took what we learned and shared the knowledge with the community and engaging with them helped us and even them.” She says that the response we received from the dialogues were positive and she bases this analysis that; “they want more of those platforms since people are dealing with a lot and need help”. Different organizations that are part of the project and those that attended the dialogues are planning to have more of those platforms to help our communities.
Lerato shows a lot of potential as a driver of change because when she first joined the campaign, she committed herself fully and has even continued to actively participate in other social justice spaces; for example her organisation. Livhu Vhasadi has also participated in climate change protest with one of the other organisations’ that is part of the political education, Serapeng saBasadi/Ditlhare. She has shown solidarity and interest in learning more about what women go through and how we advocate locally and globally.
“In conclusion I would like to thank 1in9 Campaign with the political education they offer to the organizations, they help masses and individuals. How I wish to see organizations work hard in sharing information with communities and spread knowledge through out the world.”
She would like to have an infrastructure that she is still doing some research on, that will help the community, especially women to fulfil their dreams in businesses and get relevant information needed for them to achieve their goals. She also wants to continue to focus on her construction company and give back to the community with the skills and experience that she gains.