Women's Month

As many know, March 8 is International Women's Day and 2011 was the 100th year this holiday has been celebrated. At home very little is done on this day though it originates in the United States. In Burkina it was a huge deal and there were pagnes (fabric) put out each year and everyone got outfits made. In the city different events were planned but in village it mostly involved a female soccer game and lots of talk about how the men would cook for their wives even if it was never followed through. I was excited to hear that Michelle Obama held a ceremony for this holiday and two young girls from Burkina Faso were invited to attend. One girl even had the honor of introducing the first lady!

Hear in Belize I've discovered the holiday is taken to a whole other level with the entire month of March recognized as Women's Month. The Women's Department which is somehow a part of the federal government has offices in each of the six districts and these offices organized most of the events along with partner organizations. I sat on the committee for Stann Creek which involved going to a few meetings to discuss the events going on here. The theme for this year is "Valuing Ourselves: Promoting Shared Responsibilities."

We kicked off the month on March 1 with an art gallery opening with a display of artwork by local women. Pen Cayetano is a world famous artist who is Garifuna and from Dangriga. He and his German wife own a studio in town displaying their artwork and donated space for this month-long event. They also put on a very nice event for the opening. The focus of the exhibit was a portrait Pen did of a pregnant woman that was hanged about 40 years ago after being convicted of killing her common-law husband. The story is she was in an extremely abusive relationship and after having enough one day she poured petrol on the outhouse. When he went in to do his business and lit a cigarette, it blew up killing him. The gallery display was in honor of this woman and all victims of domestic abuse.

Another event for the month was the Community Spirit Award which recognized about twenty older women in the community for their volunteerism and involvement in the community. My landlady/neighbor received this honor so I went to take pictures for her. It was fun to see how thrilled all of the recipients were to be recognized.

This past Saturday was a bike rally beginning at 6 am. About 40 people met at a monument on the edge of town and biked as a group throughout town to a park. We then did some stretching together and prizes were given to participants. It was a fun outing involving both men and women that encouraged exercise and healthy living.

My organization is focusing on the theme for this year about promoting shared responsibility and encouraging men to take their young children to school for the last week of the month. There are specific gender roles in this culture including that the raising of children is a woman's responsibility so this activity is trying to encourage parents to share this responsibility.

Other activities for the month include a weekly radio show focusing on a variety of women's issues, a fair at the end of the month featuring community organizations, open house at the women's department and a documentary about sexual abuse created by a survivor of incest. I heard that the U.S. embassy had an award ceremony recognizing women from around Belize for their work.

It was excited to see the many events being offered in our community to focus on women and recognize them for the work they do in creating a productive society. I've heard comments from men about why a whole month needs to focus on women and asking when is men's month. Of course the answer is that the rest of year focuses on men so its important for us to take time to celebrate women until the day when their is true equality.