Title: The born frees : writing with the girls of Gugulethu /
Authors: Burge, Kimberly.
Year: 2015
Subjects: Young women South Africa Social conditions.; Creative writing; Creative writing Therapeutic use South Africa.; Post-apartheid era South Africa.; Creative writing; Post-apartheid era; Young women Social conditions; South Africa
Abstract: "A creative writing group unites and inspires girls of the first South African generation "born free." Born into post-apartheid South Africa, the young women of the townships around Cape Town still face daunting challenges. Their families and communities have been ravaged by poverty, violence, sexual abuse, and AIDS. Yet, as Kimberly Burge discovered when she set up a writing group in the township of Gugulethu, the spirit of these girls outshines their circumstances. Girls such as irrepressible Annasuena, whose late mother was one of South Africa's most celebrated singers; bubbly Sharon, already career-bound; and shy Ntombi, determined to finish high school and pursue further studies, find reassurance and courage in writing. Together they also find temporary escape from the travails of their lives, anxieties beyond boyfriends and futures: for some of them, worries that include HIV medication regimens, conflicts with indifferent guardians, struggles with depression. Driven by a desire to claim their own voices and define themselves, their writing in the group Amazw'Entombi, "Voices of the Girls," provides a lodestar for what freedom might mean" --
Contents: Prologue: in my own being -- Voices of the girls. Our pride -- OVCs -- Disclosure -- Amazw'Entombi -- You strike a woman, you strike a rock. A force to be reckoned with -- Paradise road -- You can wear your Gucci or your Prada, but I don't have to feel insecure just because I'm wearing my Mr. Price -- Do you even ask yourself who is she? -- All these thoughts in my head and heart -- Be you to the full -- And guess what? I'm still alive -- Make the choice to life and not just exist -- Ubuntu in abundance: Gugulethu, two years later. As old or as young as democracy -- Still trying to find my way through -- Epilogue: youth day.