Amplifying Ratego Stories and Knowledges: A Co-Research Initiative with Young Mothers in Social Movements in East Africa

Young mothers can be negatively affected by dominant and degrading cultural narratives; their stories of resistance and activism are often rendered invisible in broader social contexts. Informed by collective narrative practice methodologies, we undertook a counter-storytelling research project to elicit and acknowledge the stories of survival and sustenance of young mothers in social movements responding to sexual and gender-based violence in East Africa. We facilitated storytelling circles, incorporating various story and knowledges collection methods. Our approach involved documenting collective experiences and counter-narratives, exchanging stories between communities, and inviting young mothers to respond to other participants’ stories. The telling and retelling of stories of survival and resistance in the face of hardship appeared to be a healing and reinvigorating process which affirmed young mothers’ desire to create social change for themselves, their children, and their communities. The ethics of interweaving individual and collective voices, language justice, collaborative editing, and telling stories in participants' preferred ways involving songs, dances, and artefacts beyond the written word proved to be significant in the process. Enabling the telling and witnessing of personal and collective stories through means beyond written and spoken words proved valuable in eliciting important topics and ethics for collaborative inquiries with activist young mothers.