A new children's book is hoping to get young South African girls looking to their own African female role models for guidance and inspiration, and is accompanied by extraordinary illustrations of the women, drawn by students themselves.
"Her Story. Daughters of Modjadji" – or in Zulu, "Umlando Wakhe. Amadodakazi endlovukazi uModjadji" –tells the tale of 30 South African women, across generations and from different sectors and spheres of life, whose narratives are all linked around themes of affirmation, identity and gender.
The book, created by new publishing house Khaloza Books, targets 7- to 12-year-old girls – for whom very little literature exists around the book's themes. Some of the big names in the book include Terry Pheto, footballer Portia Modise, journalist and HuffPost editor-at-large Ferial Haffajee, and ballet dancer Kitty Phetla.
"The empowerment of girls is a fundamental building block of the publication, as seen by most of the writers, editors and illustrators in the book being female," Khaloza says of the book.
Khaloza is currently auctioning some of the illustrations for the book, with all proceeds going to the students who drew them.
Check out the details in the tweet below: