She Shapes The City is a platform celebrating African women who are shaping the cities that they live in. Using a multimedia approach (photography, text & audio) we tell the stories of women change-makers. These opinion leaders are working in sectors as varied as health, aviation, publishing and human rights.
We are highlighting the women that are leading their communities, women who are facing the challenges in our city and finding solutions to them.
These are just 4 incredible women who have been featured on She Shapes The City and we know there are so many more. Let’s get inspired by the women that are building our city!
Anne Mitaru
International Human Rights Lawyer
“I grew up as a person that constantly sought fairness…trying to find fairness for everybody, between me and my siblings, between my siblings and my parents. Lawyers looked like they were making this happen. With my work I ask how can we create solutions for this region that cannot live with these conflicts and disasters? How can we build a region that is able to bounce back from itself?”
Wambui Waithaka
Doctor at Pwani Maternity Hospital and co-founder of Kenya Medical Practitioners Pharmacists and Dentists Union (KMPDU)
“During my medical internship I had my moment of radicalisation. One night I was resuscitating a baby … suddenly some mothers ran into the room and their babies also needed resuscitating. They were holding out their babies to me… I was told there was only one oxygen tank and all four babies needed oxygen…all four babies died that night. I realised this is not how it is supposed to be and had the audacity to see what it should be. That’s when everything started.
I believe the health sector should be good for everyone…it is a lifeline. With KMPDU our aim was to reclaim the health sector in Kenya.
Judy Kibinge
Filmmaker and Executive Director of Docubox - The East African Documentary Film Fund
“Kenya from back in the 80s has always had a lot of female filmmakers … people are actually writing PHDs about it, it’s a question that people are always asking in film festivals, why so many women? …I think it’s that women are natural born storytellers.
I’m a person that loves to see films made and with Docubox we’re actually in a position where we’re changing things and people respond. We’re creating a community and creating support for filmmakers in this country. I’ve learnt that you can transform a space, you don’t have to float along with the tide, you can control where you’re heading.”
Angela Wachuka
Executive Director of Kwani Publishing
“I am curious about the portrayal of Africa…how ideas about Africa itself are being shaped and projected back onto the continent. Kwani was so different to anything else I’d seen published…I remember thinking, wow, there’s something huge here that is happening in terms of creative expression…
Kwani is a pulse for creative output, you can look at any of our publications and see what people of a certain age are concerned about… It continues to reflect different realities that exist…it’s what we call mtaa narratives..what’s going on in your neighbourhood?”
Words: Cynara Vetch
