Today as I write this, I sit behind a computer, typing perkily away at my keyboard in my comfortable office environment that has, in the time I have been working here, empowered me very deeply. I feel strong, I believe in myself, I feel good, and I actually have for work-colleagues ‘sisters’ who project as wonderful a sense of warmth and self-confidence as I do. I am untroubled … and I am lucky.

Lucky. It is not particularly the most affirming word one will like to hear, but there it is. I am lucky to have been working in a time where the female actually has rights for work … employment … labour, call it what you will. A few decades earlier, I would have been working in a time where not only would I have swooned in joy for any odd job, domestic role or agricultural work thrown my way that actually put profits in my own savings, but would also have been shocked if I was noticed and appreciated as an actual worker who contributed to that venture in question. These would not have been extraordinary circumstances at all; I would only have been first a female, and secondly a black/African female. I was doubly ‘invisible’ and multiply discriminated against.

What makes me lucky is the fact that my predecessor, who lived these negative conditions, did not just ‘take for granted’ that it was her lot, but fought hard to change it for the better. They all fought hard to make it better. Now see us enjoying it … perkily playing the empowered little Missus, standing abreast with the best of the men and even leading them in the work-places; boldly ensuring our work is fairly remunerated; fighting for all possible allowances, leave-days, holidays, on-the-job training obligations, and indeed, salary increments when we believe our contribution is worth it; well, maybe not perky, but definitely bolder, stronger, and very much visible. A modern-day working woman.

At this point, a standing ovation for all the women who have gone before, in the fight for what we enjoy today; for those who continue to represent female needs in the ranks of the Trade Unions and Labour organizations world-wide; and those who ensured the improved rights of the African woman worker today. May Day for us here at AWDF, is not to take a jab at any sensitive aspects of labour issues, but to appreciate the role which black and African women played, and continue to play in improving the work and employment conditions of women, and to also review the long history behind it. We are therefore delighted to share with you, the story of Women on Farms Project (WFP) and Sikhula Sonke:

In November 2011, AWDF ‘shook hands’ with a South African NGO, and signed over, in confidence and trust, a grant of $US 25,000.00, targeted at helping over 3500 direct people and over 17,000 indirect beneficiaries. Today, we acknowledge the efforts of this grantee, whose work is an invaluable one that is impacting not just the approximately 3500 members, but their families too. This NGO, Women on Farms Project (WFP), won the grant under our Human Rights scheme, with the objective of training selected farm workers on their rights and provide them with legal assistance to defend their rights as well as actively participate in minimum wage negotiations.

What WFP does, is empower and support women who work and live on farms, and educate them on their human and labour rights, since they often work in very harsh conditions and have poor representation in most trade unions. “We do this through socio-economic rights-based and gender education, advocacy and lobbying, case work and support for the building of social movements of farmwomen”, Fatima Shabodien, the Executive Director says.

This is not a new project or concept for them. As far back as 1999, three years after their own formation, the WFP team were already concerned with the futures of the farmwomen they ‘looked after’ via their foundation, and wondering what would happen to them should it close down due to funding issues or other unforeseen challenges. This prompted them to begin work on finding solutions, and conversations and deliberations with the farm-women led to the formation and registration of a women-led, women-focused trade union for Southern Africa women farm-worker. This happened in 2004, after two years of planning and organization. They named it Sikhula Sonke (‘We grow together’ in isiXhosa).

To entrench the specialness of the achievement, and its fulfillment of a crucial need, Sikhula Sonke was constituted by WFP on 9^th August, 2004 which is South Africa’s National Women’s Day, and registered by the South African Trade Labour Commission as a legal Trade Union on 10^th December, 2004 – International Human Rights Day. As a Trade Union they were there not just to join the ranks of other pre-existing ones but to be the union that represented women’s labour issues, fought to end the neglect and exploitation of for women farm-workers, and to get them better wages and representation at the negotiation tables of ordering companies from outside the country. In addition, and importantly, Sikhula Sonke also empowered the women, helped them to improve themselves in all aspects, and helped them out of substance abuses and addicitions.

What AWDF’s grant to WFP makes possible includes a better life and work situation for South African women farmworkers like Sikhula Sonke cares for. Their work areas cover: Women’s Labour Rights, Farm Workers’ Living Wage, Women’s Land & Housing, Trade Justice, Social Security, Farm Workers’ Human Rights, Human Rights Awareness Workshops, and crucial international campaigns against unethical practices affecting the farm workers.

There is a strong, clear link between the values and objectives of both WFP and AWDF. Whilst AWDF’s values include “the personhood of the African woman and her rights as an inalienable, indivisible, and integral part of universal human rights; acknowledging, valuing and rewarding women’s paid and unpaid labour in the private and public sector”, WFP envisions “an engendered society that treats women who live and work on farms with dignity and respect in accordance with the constitutional rights guaranteed to all South African citizens, where women lead the restoration of the social fabric of rural and agricultural communities so that respect, tolerance and accountability prevail.” Furthermore, both have a similar vision for African women – AWDF empowering, educating, and bearing feminists, whilst WFP works towards an “alternative South African rural landscape in which women play active leadership roles within family, community, labour, economic, and government structures.”

Women sustain the community; they nurture, care for, pass on knowledge to the members of the community. Due to their child-bearing abilities, and their accommodating personalities, their approach to issues are different, but no less important than that of the men. It is for this reason that we find it necessary to highlight the efforts of women-founded, women-led, women-focused entities like WFP, who against much odds, have sustained their fight to ensure better living and working conditions for the farmwomen workers of the Southern Cape of (South) Africa, and did not just stop there, but went ahead to consider possible crucial needs for their collective futures, and added yet another responsibility to their heavy load – Sikhula Sonke – the Trade Union for women farm workers in SA, saving and impacting over 17,000 lives and growing every year.

This is what a woman is – a living link to many; aprogenitor, warrior, awesome being, and in teams like WFP, we see sisters and sororities not only worth cheering on, but worth promoting. Show your worth today. Support a sister find her way. Donate to AWDF’s grant schemes. Partner our programmes. Share your stories. Leave a mark.

Golda Addo. Communications Associate – AWDF.