Black Girls Rising trains girls in South Africa, between 12 and 18, to lead climate action in their communities.Female education is ranked sixth among 100 sustainable solutions to tackle climate change, according to Project Drawdown.On Mother's Day, Xoli Fuyani's smartphone was flooded with messages from the young girls in her non-profit organisation, Black Girls Rising.
Mgogwana's success is a mix of courage and preparation. Growing up in an informal settlement in Cape Town's Khayelitsha, she shared one communal tap with 55 other families, and when the taps ran dry during Cape Town's infamous "Day Zero" water crisis in 2018, her family struggled because they could not afford the water sold in shops.
Inspired by their success, two years later, Fuyani established Black Girls Rising to extend this training to other girls from disadvantaged backgrounds. The survey suggests that empowering these vulnerable groups could contribute to developing a more inclusive and resilient foundation for addressing climate change.
The training gets more intense as the girls move up the levels. At the second level, they are equipped with leadership and advocacy skills."Because now they have a sense of who they are and know how to set boundaries," Fuyani added. The fellowship is a hybrid programme. Fuyani meets with the girls three times a month, once in person in Cape Town and twice online. All of their meetings begin with a movement-based practice. It could be dancing, singing, drawing, craft making, yoga or mindfulness exercises.