Zola Brunner, a 23 year-old graduate of Wits, took a trip to Europe to understand the universal language of women. To spread the message to all women that we are more alike than we are different.
The media and politics graduate travelled to Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Germany on a six-month journey that she said has changed her perspective on life and the importance of finding oneself through insights of another. Brunner explained that she would interview women from various backgrounds, all strangers to her, that she would either meet at a café or merely walking the cobble streets of Madrid making friends along the way.
Brunner recounts how she met women who inspired her through their insights and their own personal experiences. Be it a woman who lived through two world wars, lost her husband but vowed to give children everything even though she had nothing. Or the concept of love to a young girl living in Verona.
“The purpose of my travels was so that I could impart to women that we are more alike than they knew,” said Brunner. “I wanted to show the commonalities between us, showing the relation between women of different nationalities or even races.”
The Randpark Ridge resident further explained that after her journey she came home and started sharing videos of women with the objective to answer the question, what does it mean to be a woman? These videos, which she shares on Youtube, are a way for her to get women to share their stories and in this way, hopefully, spark the interest of someone who could some how resonate with their message.
Brunner said that she wanted women to recognise themselves in someone else’s story and realise that they are not the only one going through something.
“I feel that women are still too conservative and I wanted to create this platform for us to be able to speak freely and voice our opinions, without hesitation,” said Brunner.
Brunner concluded that we should all inspire one another, and learn from each other while also empowering one another.
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