Qudsiya Karrim visited a learning centre that helps abused women gain skills and financial independence
Rudo* (45) fled Zimbabwe in 2006 for a better life in South Africa. She has lived at the Central Methodist Church in Johannesburg for the past three years, praying for safety and wondering where her next meal will come from.
”Now I know,” she says.
The Khula Udweba Creative Learning Centre in Bertrams is a second home to Rudo and local women who are survivors of domestic violence. Run by the Curriculum Development Projects (CDP) Trust, the centre offers women’s empowerment programmes using creative art as a form of healing and community building.
Charlotte Schaer, director of the CDP, says the centre’s projects prioritise skills development and the potential for income generation. ”Personal freedom comes from economic independence, especially for vulnerable women without resources.”
Rudo and her group members are working on a 2010 public mosaic mural project, headed by artist Andrew Lindsay, owner of the Spaza Art Gallery in Troyeville. Lindsay has partnered the CDP to produce a mural that commemorates the 1922 miners’ strike and the battle of Ellis Park. It was commissioned by the Johannesburg Development Agency (JDA).
Mary* (49) is another member of Lindsay’s group. Since joining the CDP’s programmes in 2008, she has used her tie-dying skills to earn a livelihood.
”When I first came here, I had a very low self-esteem. Then I met other women like me and opened up to them. In the process it became a kind of therapy. Now I am able to take a stand and know my rights.”
Since 2007 Rudo has learned to tell her story of survival through art, using papier-mâché, paint, clay masks and tie-dye. ”The art helped me to restart my life again. It has been a way out of suffering — a slow but very healing process,” she says.
With these skills she plans to sell tie-dyed T-shirts and handmade jewellery. She has been paid for products she made in the CDP programmes and uses the money for food and clothes.
Schaer says the creative process has been healing for the women, many of whom have no other support system or source of income.
Lindsay, who has been commissioned by the JDA to spearhead numerous public artwork projects in the inner city, regards them as ”developmental processes”.
”Public art is a means to building a better society. It’s not only for the rich, it’s all around us and part of our lives. Art fosters better standards and values in people, it instils pride and a sense of involvement in their own communities,” says Lindsay.
Bertrams, in the Ellis Park precinct, is a historically disadvantaged community where infrastructure has been in decline, but the 2010 World Cup has been a catalyst for regeneration, with the City of Johannesburg spending about R2-billion on upgrading the precinct.
Parks, hotels, buildings and schools are benefiting from facelifts and public art is exhibited for beautification and as a marker of heritage and history.
Lindsay and Schaer welcome the city’s commitment to public art and the opportunities it provides for women such as Rudo and Mary.
”But our projects go beyond 2010. We plan to extend training and workshops so the women can convert their skills into something useful,” says Lindsay.
The women’s excitement about the mural is infectious. ”It’s more than a pastime or a hobby. If I learn how to use mosaics, I will have a new skill to earn more money,” Mary says.
* Not their real names