Shirley A. Johnson: Storytelling in South Africa:

NJSN member and storyteller, Shirley Johnson, recently made an extraordinary visit to South Africa.  There she visited Orange Farm and Sister’s Inc. where she shared the joy of storytelling with preschoolers.

Both Orange Farm and Sisters’ Inc. support women and their families some of whom are in crisis situations. Orange Farm is a semi-rural township about 30 miles south of Soweto, the biggest black township in South Africa. About 40 years ago, during the height of the Apartheid Era, many blacks left Soweto to find work in the citrus industry, albeit.... Orange Farm. These working parents needed childcare.  Thandeka Mpalza with very modest means started keeping children in her home in the late 1980s. Sister’s Inc. is a sheltered home for women and their children located in the suburbs of Cape Town. There women surviving abusive home situations can find shelter for themselves’ and their children.

Shirley considered it a special honor to be able to share her stories with children in South Africa.

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