Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. Two young men in Langa are taking a stand against gender-based violence by mentoring and educating young boys. “We need to educate men about gender-based violence and gender equality, so women and young girls can be free,” explain the two co-founders of #LangaforMen, Siyabonga Khusela and Luyolo Lengisi. Siyabonga and Luyolo are young, just 21 and 22. They started #LangaforMen in response to the violence against women they witnessed as...
Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. Ntombi Mbinda gestures around the kitchen in her home; it’s a room only of women. One woman bends over a pot, stirring the day’s rice. Another cuts vegetables, their headwraps shine brilliantly in the slanting light of the afternoon sun. The women — Theodora, Lorna, Phindiwe, Nobuntu, and Noxolo — arrive every weekday at 8:30am to begin cooking from Ntombi’s home. Outside the kitchen, a garden Ntombi planted...
Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. Photos courtesy of Breadline Africa. Breadline Africa started as a grant-giving organization, where those in need applied for funding and Breadline Africa raised the funds to meet them. Almost 25 years later, those in need can still apply, but assistance comes in a new shape and size — infrastructure! Marion Wagner, Director of Breadline Africa, says that much of South Africa’s infrastructure is unsafe. For parents who work,...
Megan Gieske is a storyteller and photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. In South Africa, women are at risk. South Africa has one of the highest rates of violence against women and girls in the world, and a femicide rate that is five times the global average, with an estimated 12.1 in 100,000 victims each year. South Africa’s gender-based violence statistics (GBV) are equal to a country at war. South Africa held its yearly 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence,...