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Volume 4 - 6
| Contents | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 |
  6. Women In ResearchInsight Into Women In Cities By Professor Vanessa Watson Dr Frances Ames is an important role model for women for two reasons: Firstly because of the way she used her professional skills for humanitarian purposes, and secondly for the way in which she has raised awareness (through her book) about how difficult it is for women professionals to manage the double burden of work and motherhood. As a city planner and mother I can identify with Ames on both accounts. My work and research as a planner and my involvement with the grassroots women's and civic organisations in the 1980s, have made it clear to me that the way in which cities are planned can make a major difference to the everyday lives of the most marginal groups in society - especially women, children, the sick and the aged. Apartheid planning succeeded in removing the poorest sections of society to desolate and distant townships on the far edges of South African cities. This in turn placed a major burden on people who had to travel long distances to work, at considerable expense. For women especially, who frequently had to combine work with childcare and household management, cities became very difficult places to live in. Apartheid is now gone, but our cities have not changed much, with market forces rather than racial segregation now driving marginalised groups to the poorest locations in the city. Transport routes in particular, mostly planned and built many years ago, still cater mainly to the male commuter and do not take into account women's movement patterns which often have to combine trips to work with trips to daycare centres, schools and shops. Planning as an area of expertise has to have as its ultimate goal the promotion of cities that accommodate the needs of the least advantaged (and women are an important category here), as well as cities that are sustainable, safe, and recognise diversity. Regarding Frances Ames's second concern: The double burden of women who work. The solutions are not easy to find. Many women who attempt to combine the two feel that they are continually stretched and feel guilty that they fulfil neither role properly: I certainly feel this. Many women find male-dominated work environments are very unsympathetic to this problem and this holds them back. Only when we have more women in the workplace - and they can give mutual support - will we move forward. There are two messages I have for women students and learners. The first is that this country is in great need of good city and regional planners, and I would urge you to consider this as a career. It is one important way in which people with skills and knowledge can contribute to their society. The other message is that if you are determined to succeed, in whatever field you choose, then you can. All it takes is hard work and determination. This is a shortened version of the lecture by Professor Vanessa Watson, Winner of the 2003 Distinguished Women Scientist Award of the Department of Science and Technology. She is a lecturer from the School of Architecture, Planning and Geomatics, University of Cape Town.  The Excitement Of Being A Scientist
By Professor Tebello Nyokong As a professor of chemistry, I lecture in chemistry from first year to fourth, and I supervise MSc and PhD research projects. I enjoy my first year lectures the most. I believe in exciting students right from the first year about chemistry and instilling the values of hard work and passion in them. Young people look at what we do rather than what we say. I always hope I can be a good role model for my first year class. My main area of research is on the development of drugs (dyes) for use in combination with laser light for the treatment of cancer. In this treatment, the patient is injected with the drug and time allowed (3-96 hours, depending in the cancer and the drug) for it to equilibrate within the body, then laser light is directed to the cancerous tissue. In the absence of light, the drug is not harmful. The dyes show some selectivity for tumour cells and the drugs emit light that helps in the location of cancer. Becoming an established researcher has been a hard and lonely road. As a female researcher, I have no one to talk to among my peers when things go wrong, or I get very excited about, my research. But I derive my greatest pleasure and support from MSc and PhD students. Being a mentor to these students involves listening to every problem and simply guiding them as a mother would. One cannot be removed from the daily lives of the graduate students, they are part of you. In my own life, my father played an important role in instilling values such as discipline and hard work in me. Also my high school teachers proved good role models for me. Reading widely was my passion as I grew up. Reading widened my horizons and I would like to see a culture of reading being developed in young people. Having grown up in relative poverty, every small achievement was a cause for celebration. I never saw myself as a victim, overwhelmed by hardship and who in the end, feels too paralysed to do better. It is crucial for all to move away from the victim mentality. In the future, I hope to continue to train highlevel manpower with appropriate skills, to position South Africa in the forefront of scientific development and to support and motivate other women and produce medicines for cancer treatment using light. This is a shortened version of the lecture by Professor Tebello Nyokong, a member of the South African Reference Group on Women in Science and Technology. She is a lecturer in the Department of Chemistry, Rhodes University, Grahamstown. |
| The Francis Ames Memorial Lecture at the University
of Zululand was delivered by two distinguished women, Professors
Tebello Nyokong and Vanessa Watson. Dr Ames, a psychiatrist and
neurologist and head of neurology at the University of Cape Town, was
awarded the Star of Africa award by former President Nelson Mandela in
1999. She died in November 2002. Ames's award was in recognition of her campaign, despite significant pressure, to ensure that doctors stand by their medical ethics and put patients' needs first. She was successful in getting one doctor struck off the medical roll and another doctor reprimanded for their role in approving the transport of Steve Bantu Biko in the back of a police van, naked and manacled, when he was dying from injuries sustained under torture. Another issue Ames felt particularly strongly about was the double burden of work and child care that many women face. Ames was widowed young and brought up four sons. She wrote a book about how she always felt her life was stretched between work and home and how she often felt she was neither a good mother nor doctor. |
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