Shannin breathes life into stories of hope

A Scottsville woman has started a Facebook page that is giving a voice to people who are inspiring others with stories of how they have overcome challenges in their lives.

Sharing Stories by Shanz was started by Shannin Jones in September and it now has more than 350 followers.

There’s a range of stories on the page’s Trailblazer Edition, from surviving deadly illnesses to climbing the corporate ladder.

“The platform was started in September this year and the feedback has been positive and overwhelming in a good way,” Ms Jones said.

She studied English literature at UWC and now works there as a graduate lecturing assistant. She is also part of Future Pathways Consultants, a non-profit organisation fighting youth unemployment, and the Scottsdene Community Outreach, which promotes youth development.

Ms Jones said she realised many people had stories to tell but nowhere to tell them.

“Stories that may seem insignificant to some people but may have huge influence to others,” she said.

Her mother’s death in July had made her realise that life was too short to only dream about something without taking action, and from there the page had been born, she said.

Her mother, a single parent and former factory worker, had been the inspiration for the Trailblazer Edition, said Ms Jones.

“She passed away in her sleep with so many untold stories. Stories that might have people in shock and streams of tears,” she said.

“My mother was not a woman who would share her pain and thoughts with other people. She would just go on with her life, trying to keep peace between everyone. She would prefer to be a lesser person in her family or between people. She was a person who was happy with the little she had, and when she had nothing, she never felt comfortable asking people around.”

The page encourages contributors to address different topics each month. This month’s topic dealt with the 16 Days of Activism for No Violence Against Women and Children Campaign.

“The previous topic was about absent fathers and I gave them questions to answer, and everybody answered in their specific way, and this is how I can highlight the uniqueness and individualism of each person because I might have grown up without a father and same story to the next person but our circumstances and experience are not the same,” said Ms Jones.

“It is about emphasising the impact and the need to speak up and the importance of making your voice heard.

“The aim was to say look at how children grew up without fathers and to show the struggles and consequences. Some have difficulty with relationships and friendships because of that void left by their fathers. The aim is to address these topics and get people to speak about topics that they do not speak about in public and their families.”

Morne Metala, a history and life orientation teacher from Sir Lowry’s Pass, is one of the site’s contributors, and he describes how he overcame difficult personal circumstances to receive a merit certificate from his teacher in Grade 10 for being the best achiever in history. And he ultimately made it to UWC where he completed a BA.

Writing about those experiences had been therapeutic for him and he hoped to motivate others, he said.

“It provided me with a platform to share my journey from childhood to adulthood. It gives hope to those that felt destitute and feel that their dreams are invalid.”