| Digital Stories |
|
We all have stories to tell about our lives. Through sharing and listening to such stories, we come to know each other, our communities, our world, and ourselves. Stories can inspire us, educate us, and move us deeply. As a result of being touched by someone else’s story, we make connections between their life history and our own. When it comes to confronting complex social issues, these connections can enable us to bridge the vast differences that often divide us and instead act with wisdom, compassion, and conscience.
Sonke Gender Justice and the Center for Digital
Storytelling’s Silence Speaks project are working together to enable men and
women affected by violence and HIV and AIDS to share their stories.
Through an intensive, participatory workshop process, we are bringing
people together to speak out in digital format. Our hope is to deepen
existing conversations about gender norms and the spread of these twin
epidemics by highlighting every-day voices of courage, survival, and
action.
Learn more about the workshop process. what can digital stories accomplish?
Stereotyped representations of men, women, and the realities of
gender-based violence abound in popular media. The Sonke digital
stories offer an alternative vision, one that emphasizes the importance
of reflection, hope, and a commitment to social change. Some of the
stories are raw testimonials about survival; others challenge
misperceptions about men and masculinity and offer examples of the role
both men and women are playing in confronting gender inequality and
other forms of injustice. thanksSpecial thanks to the International Organization for Migration and the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa, who generously contributed stories to this online collection. |
