Cynthia ‘Cha’ Gobrin-Sono is a sociologist by training who has extensive background in gender work in the Philippines. Cha has worked with the women and children sector in the Philippines for a while before coming to South Africa where she started as a volunteer and has since worked with several international and local NGOs in South Africa. As a cultural activist, Cha was a founding member of Teatrong Bayan, a cultural group in the Philippines. She is also an artist, who writes struggle songs, and performs them too.