A Growing Thing

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

With only a 5th grade education, Jabulile Ndaba, a tall black woman with a contagious sense of humor, never thought of herself as a manager. Now she is a leader-in-training at a women’s project near Johannesburg. The project, Kopanang, enables women to earn money through embroidery – and enables Jabulile to learn management skills.

Jabulile is the sole provider for her large family. Her husband drinks away his earnings at the local bar. When Jabulile discovers that their teenage son has started smoking the highly addictive street drug “nyaope,” she determines to do whatever it takes to help him quit.

Kopanang is run by an Irish nun who is training the women to run the project by themselves. When she announces that she will be moving to Australia, Jabulile and her fellow leaders are expected to take over the management of Kopanang: Can they rise to the challenge?