The Women Who Shaped Us

On Monday, we looked at the women who shaped us personally — the mothers, grandmothers, teachers, sisters and mentors who helped make us who we are.

Yesterday, we spoke about the women we don’t always see — the women whose sacrifices and contributions happen quietly, often without recognition.

Today, we’re taking the conversation one step further.

Because sometimes a woman doesn’t just change the life of one person.

Sometimes she changes an entire community.

• Think about the women who are at the heart of communities across our country.
• The woman who starts a small business and creates employment.
• The woman who teaches children after school.
• The woman who organises food for families who are struggling.
• The healthcare worker who spends her days caring for others.
• The woman who starts a community project because she sees a problem and decides that somebody needs to do something about it.
• The woman who notices that young people are losing their way and creates a programme to give them purpose.

These women may never receive an award or become famous. But they are changing lives. And that’s an important lesson for all of us:

• You don’t have to be famous to make an impact.
• You don’t need thousands of followers.
• You don’t need a position of power.
• You don’t need a large organisation behind you.

Sometimes all you need is the willingness to look at a problem and say:

“What can I do about this?”

That is often where change begins.

And if we look at the history of South Africa, we see countless examples of women who understood this.

The Women’s March of 1956 is one of the most powerful reminders.

Thousands of women came together because they believed that something was wrong and that they could not simply remain silent.

Women from different backgrounds stood together with courage and determination.

Their action became part of our country’s history.

And what is particularly powerful about that story is that those women didn’t necessarily know exactly what the future would look like. They simply knew that they had to stand for something. And sometimes that’s what leadership looks like.

You don’t always know what the result will be.

You simply know that something needs to change.

But let’s also remember that women have been shaping communities long before modern campaigns and social movements.

If we look at Islamic history, we find remarkable women whose influence reached far beyond their own homes.

Take Aisha رضي الله عنها, for example.

Her contribution to the Muslim community wasn’t limited to her immediate family.

She became a major source of knowledge.

People came to her to learn.

Her understanding, intelligence and ability to teach helped preserve knowledge for generations.

Then we have women such as Umm Salamah رضي الله عنها, known for her wisdom and insight.

And there were many other women in the early Muslim community who participated in education, service, community life and the transmission of knowledge.

These examples remind us that women have always had the ability to influence society in meaningful ways.