Nombasa is a teenage girl growing up in the rural Eastern Cape who aspires to become a gynaecologist. She dreams that one day her village will be safe for girls and women, but she wonders whether such dreams can come true in a community where women and girls are rarely afforded an opportunity to flourish, and where crime, drugs and violence threaten the hopes and dreams of young girls like herself. This is her story.
[Nombasa’s story is part of a series of digital stories on “Gender and Human Rights”, produced in collaboration between Sonke and the Center for Digital Storytelling’s (http://storycenter.org/) Silence Speaks project (www.silencespeaks.org) which uses participatory media, popular education, and testimonial practices to support the telling and witnessing of stories that all too often remain untold and unheard. This Gender and Human Rights digital story series seeks to enable young people and adults affected by violence and HIV and AIDS to share their stories in order to deepen existing conversations about gender norms, gender-based violence (GBV) and health, as well as empower citizen storytellers and their communities.]
