Cuthbert Moore Primary student Michael Clarke did not let the stroke he suffered count him out of the Common Entrance Exam. Using his left hand, he typed his answers on the computer.

by Tracy Moore

BARBADOS and South Africa have several things in common – love for cricket, historical ties with Britain and women progressing in politics.

But there are other commonalities that are far less desirable – high levels of domestic violence and the alienation of youth.

These observations were made by South African writer, human rights activist and political analyst, Elinor Sisulu, in an interview Monday night before her public lecture at the Roy Marshall Teaching Complex, University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus .

"I think a lot of the challenges that are facing South Africa are the same here. I am very impressed with a lot I have seen but I am also concerned. There is a problem of domestic violence and abuse in South Africa and it seems that is also a challenge in the Caribbean, maybe in Barbados, so I think we can learn from each other in a lot of ways."

She added: "Since I have come to the Caribbean (from February), the issue of masculinity is an issue in society and like South Africa. I think men are challenged increasingly when women become more educated and more able to support themselves financially."

Sisulu said that in writing the acclaimed biography of her parents in-law, Walter and Albertina Sisulu: In Our Lifetime, she told their personal story because she thought it was not only the political story but that the marriage was important.

"There were lessons that could be learnt for other people. I tried to answer in the biography what made their marriage successful and how they managed to keep the family going despite being separated for 26 years when he was in jail," she said.

She noted that if young men and women looked at the lives of these two heroes, saw and understood their struggles despite harassment, death threats and imprisonment, that "people could learn, looking at their lives and see, especially young men, how they handled themselves".

Sisulu pointed out that in South Africa, young women were "conscious" about the issue of domestic violence but for young men "a lot of them were in a state of confusion".

She said there should be more discussion among men "so that they know that being a man does not mean you must abuse women".

"Peer pressure and the media are strong and push for young men to prove themselves. Many of them do not have the strong father figures so these powerful male figures [like Walter Sisulu] should encourage young men to know their history and to know about these people as positive role models," she said.

During the lecture, titled Mrs Sisulu's Husband: Gender Relations In An African Marriage, Sisulu stressed that discarding the male and female stereotypical roles was key to the successful marriage of her famous in-laws.

"Albertina consciously attempted to keep Walter involved with the household while he was in prison some 1 000 miles away on Robben Island. All decisions had to be run by him. Sometimes the children would confide in him and not her. He played an active role in the family even from prison because there was complete unity between their private and public domain," she said.

Sisulu, one of the icons of the anti-apartheid struggle in South Africa, died in 2003 at the age of 91. His widow, Albertina, now 89, shares his iconic status and is listed among the great women of South Africa because of her revolutionary role.

tracymoore@nationnews.com