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Mar
27
2024
By VELMA PAMELA, BIRD STORY AGENCY
Search and rescue diver Susan Mtakai shatters stereotypes and barriers at sea

Search and rescue diver Susan Mtakai shatters stereotypes and barriers at sea

LIFESTYLE
AS the water closes in over Susan Mtakai's head, she can't help thinking about how the depths she's about to descend to are so very alien to the life she was once used to. Born in the highlands of Taita, a county inland from the coast, her early experiences were of a landscape of hills and verdant forest. Growing up far from the sea was hardly what one would expect of someone who was to become a professional diver. Yet, in the deep waters of the Indian Ocean, Susan Mtakai is a calm and considerate team leader. Donning a well-worn…
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Mar
29
2023
By The African Mirror
South Africa’s grannies kick out stereotypes on the soccer field

South Africa’s grannies kick out stereotypes on the soccer field

NEWS
SIYABONGA SISHI WEARING blue tracksuits and waving their national flag, South Africa's Vakhegula Vakhegula soccer team jogged into the stadium to cheers ahead of their first match against Team USA. It was the first day of the Grannies International Football Tournament in Limpopo province, and this team - like the others - was made up of women aged 55 and up. Vakhegula means "grandmothers" in the Tsonga language spoken in South Africa. Advertisement · Scroll to continue "At my age, I think if I was not in this sport I should have been confined to a wheelchair," said 66-year-old striker…
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Dec
20
2022
By The African Mirror
The Kabareh Cheikhats: challenging gender stereotypes in Morocco

The Kabareh Cheikhats: challenging gender stereotypes in Morocco

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT
IMAD SAOUDI FOR BIRD STORY AGENCY DRESSED in colourful caftans and sporting wigs, bold make-up and glittering jewellery, the Kabareh Cheikhats troup is singing and swaying their hips, exploring issues of femininity in ways that might seem surprising in a conservatively patriarchal society. The all-male band is paying homage to the Cheikhats, Morocco's most famous historical female traditional folk singers, once renowned in the region and responsible for chants, called Aitas, that remain extremely popular. Sometimes compared to Geishas, Cheikhats have been intriguing and controversial figures throughout Moroccan history. They were singers, dancers, poets, and preservers of esoteric musical lore.…
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Jul
20
2022
By The African Mirror
This Cameroonian teenager & her schoolmates are breaking down stereotypes and raising awareness about women’s health

This Cameroonian teenager & her schoolmates are breaking down stereotypes and raising awareness about women’s health

HEALTH
BRENDA KIVEN AT 12 years old, a shy Wendy Musi had never heard of a menstrual cycle. The fourth child and one of two girls in a family with six boys, menstruation was simply not a topic discussed at home. Then, one day, Wendy’s world changed. When she got to school, she felt pains in her lower belly. When her French language teacher failed to show up for a lesson, she leaned on her desk and slept for the whole 45 minutes. When she woke, she felt liquid running down her legs. “When I got up, a girl screamed my…
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Dec
02
2020
By The African Mirror
Football in hijab: Thai Muslim lesbians tackle stereotypes

Football in hijab: Thai Muslim lesbians tackle stereotypes

LGBT+
RINA CHANDRAN ANTICHA Sangchai did not come out to her family until she was 30 and married with a child. It was her own struggle confronting the conservative community in southern Thailand that led her to create a place where women like her might feel more at home. In the bookshop she set up in Pattani city, discussions on gender and sexuality led to the birth of Buku Football Club for lesbian, bisexual and queer (LBQ) girls and women four years ago. Buku means book in Malay - and the club is now thriving. Last month, Buku FC hosted its…
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Jun
15
2021
By The African Mirror
Stereotypes about young jobless South Africans are wrong: what they’re really up to

Stereotypes about young jobless South Africans are wrong: what they’re really up to

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
SOUTH Africa has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. A whopping 63% of its young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years are jobless. A large proportion of these young people have never worked in the formal economy. HANNAH J. DAWSON, Senior Researcher, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand The media frequently portray young people excluded from wage work as inactive, aimless and alienated from mainstream society. This image feeds into fears of crime, violence and social unrest in which people who are jobless are cast as a “ticking time bomb”…
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