On Saturday the 21 July, CHEP held its first art journaling workshop led by one of the committee members, Julia Grey. It was a group of seven women of all ages, from various walks of life, but joined in their shared connection to the area of Constantia.

For the Jaftha women there were three generations present: Aunty Helen who lived in Strawberry Lane prior to forced removals, her daughter Lisle Jaftha, and Lisle’s daughter, Amy. We combined finger painting, collage, stitching fabric and pasting found objects like pressed flowers from Constantia to create a book of living memory. Music and sound triggered memories, along with the spoken meditation by Ernestine Deane, which transported all those present back to the visceral experience of the past.