Africa Day: A frank diagnosis of the state of the continent

Positions of power have the potential to make or break those who hold them. It is often disheartening to see young people, whose aspiration of a better tomorrow is placed upon, assume positions of different rankings only to feed their own self-interests. Complacency, self-fulfilment and ego, are not exclusive to the youth but have been […]

Africa needs activists, not “leaders” – Talk Radio 702 Interview

https://omny.fm/shows/weekend-breakfast-with-phemelo-motene/profile-interview-dr-shakira-choonara

“Our work, our research and our actions matter!” Shakira Choonara’s keynote address at JuPHASA conference

A very good morning young researchers, practitioners and activists! Given the extremely difficult circumstances which I grew up under, I would never have imagined standing here today opening this exciting Junior Public Health Association of South Africa (JuPHASA), 2016 conference! For those on twitter, #juphasa16! I am extremely humbled and privileged to be delivering this keynote […]

Time For Dialogue In The Dark In Health Care

Despite having seen firsthand the struggles faced by a person with a visual impairment, it was only when I went to a “Dialogue in the Dark” exhibition – where the sighted are blindfolded and guided by the visually impaired – that I began to have an inkling of what it was really like. I began […]

When Women’s Spaces Don’t Deliver!

It seems to take a lot to shock us. We get shocked when we see violent and racist situations, like the murder of George Floyd in the United States. In South Africa the killing of, Collins Khosa who suffered brutality during the Corona Virus lockdown, raised some protest. Although, in Africa, we are no longer “shocked” or even bother […]