"This is Me" - Workshop Series

In mid-2015, the Cape Town Museum of Childhood partnered with SHAWCO Education (a student run organisation at the University of Cape Town) to provide learners the opportunity to tell other children and other South Africans, about their lives. We facilitated workshops at five of the SHAWCO projects, in five communities, to learners between Grade 5 and 7. Across the series of workshops, in various communities including Mannenberg, Nyanga, Kensignton, and Imizamo Yethu, the learners were asked to write a one page story on ‘This is Me’. This could include what their typical day looks like, to what makes them happy. The learners were each given one A3 page to use, which they could fill up as much as they wanted. The learners were then asked to take a photograph with their story which may be exhibited in the Cape Town Museum of Childhood. In this way the children were given the opportunity to put their voice into the museum, providing visitors with a genuine snapshot of the lives of children growing up in South Africa. The children involved in this initiative  will be invited to be the first visitors to the museum in November 2016, when it opens, in an exciting sneak-peak to the Museum’s new building and exhibitions.