~ a message from Julie
Happy International Women’s Day!
In today’s world, being a woman is defined in so many ways. It can be hard to keep up. being a woman is often defined by what they can do, how they personally choose to define themselves, and/or how they are standing up for themselves. The definition continues to evolve and be perfected as each generation of women steps up to give added meaning and purpose in helping to identify and fight for herself.
Today, I take a moment to celebrate the silent women of Malawi. These women don’t have the same platform to stand on and fight for themselves. They don’t have the luxury of time, nor the option or opportunity. Millions of women are trapped in the cycle of extreme poverty, and today they aren’t spending any time celebrating themselves or their achievements individually or as a collective whole. Instead, they are repeating their daily course of walking the miles in silence, baby on back, 20L bucket of water on their head in the hot blazing sun, from borehole back to the mud hut they’ve built, firewood in hand. They are building fires, boiling water, stirring flour and filling the small hungry tummies that sit in front of them.
They don’t celebrate or measure their success as women. They don’t even know they can!
Instead, they are silently celebrating any good weather that comes, praying for a good harvest. They are celebrating the small success of tomatoes they grew to feed their family, and any extras they can sell to buy oil and salt. They are celebrating their child’s survival from diarrhea, malaria and disease, because losing another child would be unbearable.
For me, these women are to be CELEBRATED! They are to be HONOURED. And quite frankly, they are to be helped and cared for.
TODAY I CELEBRATE THESE WOMEN. They are some of the happiest women I've ever met! They are STRONG, RESILIENT, BRIGHT, CAPABLE women! I stand back in awe and admiration of these ladies. I have so much to learn from them.
Be blessed women of Malawi - you are, and always will be my silent heroes!
~ Julie