“These women matter, and their stories matter”

In our first episode, oral historian and National Geographic Explorer Sylvia discusses her work documenting the life histories of women across West Africa. She reflects on interviewing 100 women in Benin, Togo, Sierra Leone, and The Gambia, and the emotional and logistical pressures of preserving stories that risk being lost. Sylvia explains the motivation behind the Women’s Oral History Project, the challenges of working against time, and the responsibility to do justice to women whose lives have often been overlooked or undervalued in historical records. She delves into the journey and inspiration behind founding the Library of Africa and the African Diaspora (LOATAD), a decolonising library, archive, writing residency, and research institute based in Accra, Ghana.

Click on the link below to follow Sylvia and her work

https://sylvia-arthur.com/loatad/