With gender-based violence still a hot topic in the country, SPARK School learners embarked on a Women’s Month social media campaign to express how they feel about the scourge.
These young mbokodos (strong women) submitted a series of heartfelt letters expressing their opinions on the kind of world they would like to grow up in, and the impact they would like to make in their communities as the young women of South Africa.
The general narrative from the learners was wishing to see an end to gender-based violence, femicide, and inequality. Another consistent and common message in all their stories was the fear of what tomorrow holds, the bleakness of their futures, and the gruesome world they will have to raise their children in, should every South African not play his or her part in ensuring that gender-based violence is stopped in its tracks.
Grade 7 learner Chulumanco Khondlo penned down the following words: “I wake up afraid that this is the world we are living in. I just want us to unite and stop this. I would like to live in a world without abuse. I don’t want to look at a boy and be afraid of the person he will become. That’s why I want a world without gender-based violence.”
Bailey Thomson Blake, Chief of Schools at SPARK Schools commented, “At SPARK Schools, we live by our core values. They are essential to nurturing our scholars who will shape society for the better in the future. We encourage our scholars to be critical thinkers, and think about how they can make a difference in their communities and their country,” she concluded.
