Stating that “the pen is mightier than the sword,” Audrey Chihota-Charamba, executive director of Zimbabwe Women Writers (ZWW), spoke with a group of senior writing and sociology students at St. Mary’s Secondary School to discuss her organization’s goal of promoting positive social change through creative writing. As she explained, the only way to instigate action on an issue is to first make the situation known. This, she said, can be accomplished through writing.
Reading testimonies from the ZWW publication, A Tragedy of Lives, Ms. Chihota-Charamba used the stories of women prisoners in Zimbabwe to address the issue of gender inequality. One story described how a woman named Sabena, facing grave poverty, rustled cattle in order to support her family. Another story told of Beti, a women who killed her husband after years of physical abuse that went ignored by the authorities.
The book, published in 2003, has led to positive social change within Zimbabwe. Prison officials were horrified by the prison conditions described by the women interviewed, and they have taken steps to improve the situation. As well, a bill was passed in December 2006 addressing gender-based violence and the protection of women in abusive situations. Yet there is still much work to be done before true equality exists.
Ms. Chihota-Charamba explained that the patriarchal society of Zimbabwe – and many other countries worldwide – puts women in a subservient role, leaving them to bear the burden of daily life without the support of their male partners. Her organization is trying to counter these beliefs and create equality between men and women by addressing gender issues in their publications, and providing women with a space to express their opinions in the written form.
Ms. Chihota-Charamba presented two senior writers’ craft classes in the morning and focused on the writing techniques used to highlight the anxiety and difficult situations facing women prisoners. In the afternoon, she focused more on the social constructs that perpetuate the marginal status of women and their consequences when she addressed a group of senior sociology students.
The classroom presentations were part of Ms. Chihota-Charamba’s speaking tour for International Development Week, sponsored by the Ontario Council for International Cooperation. Her stop in Cobourg on February 8 was organized in partnership with Horizons of Friendship, a local charitable non-governmental organization. International Development Week is held every year during the first week of February. This year the Canadian International Development Agency chose to pay special attention to the issue of gender equality.
In addition to the talks given by Audrey Chihota-Charamba, Horizons of Friendship and the Social Justice Club at St. Mary’s also invited Lori Pearson of the Northumberland Coalition Against Poverty to give a workshop at St. Mary’s on Friday February 9 on using theatre as a medium for addressing social issues, such as gender rights.
Following Ms. Pearson’s introduction to the methodology of interactive theatre – an acting style that encourages audience reaction and participation around the topic being dramatized – a roomful of grade ten drama students and social justice club members presented short skits based on recent news articles that discussed the status of women in Canada, India, West Africa, China, and Iran.
The talks and workshops were designed to begin conversations on the topic of gender equality and social justice that will continue in the classroom during this new semester.
