Doc World

A Growing Thing

By Sarah Gross

Twenty-five years after the end of apartheid, a Black South African mother is training to become a leader in her township community. A GROWING THING offers a glimpse of post-apartheid life from a woman’s perspective.

With only a fifth grade education, Jabulile Ndaba is a leader-in-training with Kopanang, a women’s project that enables women to earn money through embroidery. When the Irish nun who is running the program announces that she will be moving to Australia, Jabulile and her fellow leaders are expected to take over the management of Kopanang. The clock is ticking, and Jabulile and her coworkers must learn to lead the project or risk losing Kopanang.