On May 30th, the workshop “Among Women, the Stories We Want to Tell: Writing Letters” was held with the participation of women — most of whom are part of the sewing workshop “Gunná Gula Sá” in Salina Cruz, Oaxaca.
The goal of this workshop is to help women continue recognizing their strengths through the psychosocial support provided by CodigoDH. This time, they expressed their life experiences through letter writing.
During the session, the participants shared how excited they felt about the activity, as many hadn’t written a letter in years. They considered letter writing to be a more intimate and personal form of communication compared to how people communicate today through WhatsApp messages.
The letter writing was accompanied by the reading of three letters taken from the book “Letters to My Grandmother” by Afro-Brazilian author Djamila Ribeiro. In this book, the author reflects on her ancestral lineage, care, affection, racism, and sexism in the everyday lives of Afro-descendant women. This book was chosen to inspire the workshop participants and show them that women’s stories are often very similar, even across different latitudes and territories.
After this activity, the participants were provided with educational materials to write their first letter, addressed to whomever they wished — sharing an anecdote, a story, a personal experience, or anything they wanted to express. Some wrote to their children, others to friends they hadn’t seen in a long time.
They were also asked to write a second letter describing the women’s space and what it meant to them. Some excerpts from these letters include:
“…She told me, ‘Come on mom, let go of that sadness, go listen to other women’s experiences — you’re not the only one.’ I started listening to the experiences of other women, and it has helped me a lot. You know, I was very shy, I didn’t know how to express myself, but here, little by little, I’m opening up…” (Sic)
“Hi friend, I want to tell you that I’ve been coming to a women’s group where we talk about what we go through and support each other… and you realize that, despite all our adversities, we are resilient and we look for solutions. Talking with the group we help eachother, and I feel it has helped me.” (Sic)
“I’m Mia, I’m 9 years old and I come to CODIGO DH because it teaches me to feel safe with myself and to be myself. Thanks to CODIGO DH, I learned about femicide and the marches.” (Sic)
“If you see me smile, it’s because I want to, and if you see me cry, it’s the same… no one has to stop me anymore—I need to recover.” (Sic)
At the end of the workshop, the women left feeling motivated and eager to continue discovering and rediscovering tools that help them narrate their everyday experiences — so that their stories can, in turn, help other women.