“While we have managed post-Apartheid to give access to schooling to many children, we have not changed much of the content of what children read. We have not enriched African languages with the necessary content for the African language readers. Furthermore, women are still marginalised in post-Apartheid South Africa. A lot of South African history books value men as heroes who inspire our youth and are silent on the role that many South African women have played in advancing our lives as artists, storytellers, writers, politicians, and educationists. In writing these books, our vision is to recognise, acknowledge, and make known our elders and heroines from the past, who have not been recognised in South Africa because of Apartheid and our current Eurocentric school curriculum. The book aims to expose children, parents, and teachers to the names of women who have been left out of history and the “his”tory books. The hope is that these women will become general knowledge for young children.” ­ – Carol Broomhall on the importance of creating the Imbokodo: Women who shape us series

On the 16th of March 2022, we launched a groundbreaking series of books titled, Imbokodo: Women who shape us. 

We are so honoured to have had a powerhouse of female speakers at the event. The authors, Dr Athambile Masola and Dr Xolisa Guzula, were present at the launch and spoke about their journey to creating these fantastic books. We also had Carol Broomhall from Jacana Media share her sentiments around the importance of having this book made for South African children. As an added bonus to the teachers present, we invited Marlene Rousseau, literacy specialist, to share some tips on incorporating these books into the teachers’ daily lesson plans. To read more about the books, click here.

We would once again like to thank the National Arts Council for making our role in this project possible.

We live-streamed the event because of limited seating; you can watch the event below.