Researching Women Leaders: Placement Opportunity in Cape Town

12 August 2024 by Olivia and Vanessa
3 minute read

First off…

A Black woman holding multiple items such as a spoon, sickle, books, iron, baby bottle and spanner with the caption, "a woman's work is never done". — Ilrig’s headquarters was covered in powerful imagery like this one!

To prepare for our placement, we needed to develop the necessary research skills that we both had no prior experience of. CAHR hosted specialised workshops for those completing placements in York and Cape Town. For instance, developing each team’s code of conduct and recognising our responsibility as students representing the University of York. In addition, we attended a mandatory unit that focused on fieldwork strategies, such as appropriate interview practice and researcher positionality awareness.

What’s more, each team was allocated a personal project supervisor within CAHR. This was to support and educate us on good research practice and address any worries we had throughout the experience. We were worried about our lack of research experience and that we could not hold multiple interviews and meet our partner organisations’ expectations. However, our supervisor was present alongside us during our placement and was constantly available for advice and encouragement. For instance, when we faced challenges – like having less chatty interviewees. Or surprising developments – such as when a participant cried when sharing her story.

Onto the good part…

The outside of one tall building in the cissie gool occupation with high fencing and barbed wire surrounding it, with a poster of cissie gool on the side. — the lady herself is never forgotten

Throughout our placement, we were able to investigate the female activism going on in Cissie Gool House. The occupation of an abandoned hospital stands as a protest against the gentrification of areas of Cape Town. Our interviewees shared their stories of evictions and their motivations to fight the housing crisis and battle the legacy of Apartheid. In partnership with the local organisation International Labour Research and Information Group (ILRIG), we were able to hold interviews, focus groups and get to know the people of Cissie Gool. Much like the lady the occupation was named for, the people were passionate about the cause and excited to share their experiences with us. For example, they invited us to their resident meetings and even organised a goodbye picnic for us.

A beach with palm trees and bushes, houses in the background and a large mountain (lion's head). — still cannot believe we climbed this!

It wasn’t all work; we were able to explore Cape Town on our days off as well! We went on a safari and saw the big 5! We went swimming in the ocean and hiked the Lion’s Head alongside Table Mountain (we were lazy and took the cable car). Best of all, we got to visit the adorable African penguins of Simon’s Town. We enjoyed the diverse cuisines the city had to offer, surrounded by live music and traditional performances! Don’t worry about not having time to appreciate Cape Town!

Coming back…

Whilst we were sad to leave the South African sunshine, it was good to be back in York to work on our placement report.

Newspaper articles with headings such as "we won't go" and "cautious optimism for city's housing plan". — cissie gool houses’ fight for their cause is making waves in the media

After getting some direction from ILRIG and our post-placement workshops, we spent time developing the key themes from our interviews. We were able to use the knowledge we gained from our classes and the placement itself to address the important challenges female activists face and the priorities of the residents. We really felt we were able to put our theory into practice! It was a daunting activity but we worked together as a team to support each other and do the best we could do for the cause. For this reason, we stayed in contact with Cissie Gool House and ILRIG, to give them updates on our progress and hear about the developments of their goal!

All in all…

Despite our initial hesitations, this experience was worthwhile and inspired us to even consider research as a career opportunity. We believe we developed valuable transferable skills that we know we will use again. Things like: being at ease directing research participants, and holding our own in handling the project design. On top of everything, we had an incredible time in South Africa and got to experience the sites, people and culture!

We definitely recommend taking advantage of the placement opportunity CAHR provides!

Hi my name is Olivia, I study Peace and Conflict within the politics department. I am interested in studying human rights issues, specifically conflict prevention, whistle-blowing and freedom of information! Hi everyone, I am Vanessa pursuing an MA in Applied Human Rights at the Centre of Applied Human Rights from the University of York. I am an international student from Italy and hold a previous Politics and International Relations undergraduate degree. I am very passionate about migrants and refugees’ rights, especially from the bottom-up and local approach. I would describe myself as a people enthusiast, as I am always very keen to learn about different communities and their stories.