The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Reporter
EIGHT young women will soon travel to the United Kingdom on a writing and cultural exchange programme that seeks to initiate digital collaborations in arts projects between Wales and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The programme, dubbed “When Women Write”, is aimed at empowering women from marginalised communities through poetry and writing.
The participants, who have been attending online sessions and one-on-one mentorship sessions, will meet their peers in Wales, who are engaged in a similar programme.
In a statement, Mambakwedza Women’s Centre said the programme seeks to create a platform that enhances women’s voices.
“Eight young women — Innah Makonde, Olivia Mabhugu, Daisy Nzomba, Nobukhosi P. Ndlovu, Lubelihle Moyo, Ottilia Matemadanda, Evemary P. Zunza and Kundai Manyera — will be travelling to Wales on a writing journey and cultural exchange programme,” the statement said.
It further said the Zimbabweans will be in Cardiff and Ty Newydd, Wales, for a week under the project “Can You Hear Us: Voices from Wales and Zimbabwe”.
“Godess Bvukutwa of Mambakwedza Women’s Centre, the Zimbabwe project lead for the When Women Write series of projects, will be travelling with them.
“A project that enhanced young women’s writing skills and gave them a platform for their voices to be heard is what Godess Bvukutwa and her partners Dr Christina Thatcher of Cardiff University and Dr Kate North of Cardiff Metropolitan University had in mind when they created the When Women Write project about three years ago,” said the statement.
“This is what they outlined in their response to a call for proposals from the British Council Wales’ Go Digital: Sub-Saharan Africa-Wales Programme. The Go Digital programme sought to initiate digital collaborations in arts projects between Wales and Sub-Saharan Africa.
“The British Council awarded them the grant to implement the When Women Write project for 19 young women from under-represented and underprivileged communities in both Wales and Zimbabwe in the first phase of the Go Digital programme.”
The purpose of the programme is to also create literary leaders in communities.
“The aim of this particular project is to amplify their voices through poetry readings and panel discussions; and empower them, through a series of workshops, to become literary leaders in their communities. The young women wish to thank both the British Council Wales and the British Council Zimbabwe for making this journey possible.”
