Co-authored by Nick Schönfeld.
As a documentary photographer, I've found that life is about connections. Not the networking, business-card-carrying-kind, but a personal and surprising crossing of paths. I meet my subjects in the strangest ways or places and more often than not, when I least expect it. Not only that, but one story always seems to lead to another. It's how I found most of the women featured in Proud Women of Africa, and it's how I met Ruthy.
Ruthy was employed as a cook and cleaner in the same production office where I worked during my year in Cape Town in 2008. We were always the first at the office, opening the doors at seven-thirty in the morning. She'd arrive after her one hour bus ride, me after a five minute walk. We would make coffee, have a chat and sing along to the radio. We were both at the bottom of the office hierarchy and we immediately got along.
Our friendship grew during our mornings alone, before the rest of the office arrived. Ruthy began to tell me about her past. She grew up in the township of Manenberg, infamous for its drug fuelled gang violence. She was raped as a child. Her son, the product of this rape, is a drug addict. She supports her entire extended family, she's been falsely imprisoned for fraud, her brother was convicted of rape, she's even tried to commit suicide. In short, her life, like that of so many other women reads like a rap sheet of misfortune.
But I write about her suffering not for pity or effect. I write about it because if you looked at her, you wouldn't know.
Determined to shield the next generation from the violence that coloured her own childhood, Ruthy has become an active member of the community and joined the church brigade. There, every Sunday, she dons her uniform, and along with the other band members, sets out, playing music as they march through the township.
Many of the brigade's members are children, a conscious attempt by church leaders to give them a sense of purpose and to keep them off the streets.
When she had to leave the brigade, she was heartbroken, yet she continued to help others in her community.
I'm grateful that I met Ruthy. Not only because she is a beautiful person, but because she is one of those strange connections in life. At the risk of sounding dramatic, Ruthy is something of a hero to me, the ultimate Proud Woman of Africa. Because, despite everything life has thrown at her, she still cooks and cleans at the same office. She still lives in Manenberg, still travels the one hour by bus. She's my hero because she's still here.
Click on the link below to see all the images of my Ruthy Goes to Church series.
http://juliagunther.com/?page_id=55