She began slowly. This was her history, her story.  It needed to be told slowly. Each word carefully handpicked and strung together like small stitches sewn in a tapestry. At certain moments the needle would prick sharply as the colourful thread would weave it’s way through, linking the different parts of the narrative.  

What had been a room full of nattering women sipping on hot cups of coffee suddenly turned into a still audience of captivated listeners. 

Little by little the faint crackles in her soft voice began to disappear and the words came out – thick and strong, clearly and confidently. Some moments she would smile warmly and at others moments her cheeks would be wet with tears, but all the time her voice grew stronger. 

Her story was one about love, about loss, about unspeakable pain but mostly it was a story about hope.

 My eyes left our storyteller for a few seconds, distracted by the small sniff of the woman to my right. When I looked from her to the other women in the room I noticed some rummaging for tissues and some just wiping their cheeks with the back of their hands. I realised in that moment that with each word spoken, and heard, we were making sense of something much larger than ourselves. We were all being reminded of our deeply human capacity to lean in to our own and other’s stories and in the process; love each other back into wholeness. 

By the time our storyteller finished, sunshine was pouring into the room; this, along with the smell of a fresh pot of brewing coffee, had melted away the chilly bite of the Spring air. It was a beautiful morning with a wonderful woman.

It is probably the thing I cherish most about the work we do at Strongest Story, it is a part of facilitating the course that requires no preparation, no power points, no manual to read and no books to study. Instead, in just three simple steps of asking, listening and telling, the most powerful thing is shared – our stories.

 It is through narrative that we become part of whole worlds being changed. Walls come crashing down and bridges begin to be built. Restoration happens. Prejudices start to slowly suffocate and the light of understanding and empathy glows. 

 Sadly, South Africa’s history has been marked by robbing people of their stories. This has destroyed so much. It is what happens when we deny people their rightful stories, we destroy them. De-story. Destroy.

September in South Africa marks Heritage month. It’s a month specifically dedicated to remembering our past stories. It’s through the sharing of these diverse, colourful, broken, painful, beautiful, redemptive and extraordinary stories that South Africa can begin to be restored. Re-story. Restore.

Our Strongest Story challenge to you as we leave a cold September Spring behind us and welcome in the warm summer ahead, is to embrace your part in restoring our beautiful country. Begin with three simple steps. Ask. Listen. Tell.