PRO.STORIES | HOW DARE YOU, WOMAN.

#BreakBias #GendarEquality #WomanWarriors | How I Randomly Spent My International Women’s Day 2022.

In the words of Margaret Thatcher, if you want something said, ask a man; if you want something done, ask a woman.

A Little History:

The predecessor of International Women’s Day, previously known as National Women’s Day, was first observed in the United States on February 28, 1909, at the suggestion of activist Theresa Malkiel.

The idea of an international women’s day was unheard of until 1910, during an International Socialist Women’s Conference that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark.

It was during this conference that Clara Zetkin, a German communist activist, universal suffragist, and advocate of women’s rights, proposed the idea that there be a designated day for women everywhere to “press for their demands.”

Why is International Women’s Day celebrated on March 8th?

The most consequential International Women’s Day protest took place in Russia on March 8, 1917. Thousands of Russian women took to the streets of the capital, Petrograd, now known as St. Petersburg, to demand the end of food shortages and World War I. This holiday has been celebrated on March 8 ever since.

Story Time: Women Fixing Each Other’s Crown.

What is the most random thing you did today? A twit post by Thellesi Trust on Twitter asked, I randomly celebrated International Women’s Day in style. Makes sense? No, let me explain.

I started my day by attending a women’s day event hosted by Zamara Group https://zamaragroup.com/

The Group was celebrating the women in their workplace by giving them a day to learn and network with other women on International Women Day 2022. The day was breathtaking, ladies were dressed in beautiful African attires. Ooh and the smiles on their faces. I learned a lot from the panel discussions, topics on mental health and relationships, both romantic, work and family. I also got a snippet of how dangerous anxiety can be. I learned that we all have mental health issues and that there are good mental health and bad mental health.

Among the crowd were two men who graced the event and shared a little bit of what it has been like working with the amazing ladies for the last 12 years.

I made friends and one of them was the super amazing lady photographer, of the day, the Dj, and the hotel waitress. If you ever happen to attend an event make sure you befriend these people because how else will you get your photos, charge your phone or get that extra plate of chocolate cake..lol.

Without women, the world will be incomplete. Sandeep Raichura, Zamara Group, Executive officer.

Women In Story Telling:

My second event was by Somanami books. On International Women’s Day theme focused on Women In StoryTelling and was interested in this particular event because I am passionate about storytelling, want to learn more from different people and one of my greatest goals is to publish a book someday. Also in my line of work, I met people and documented stories, like I recently wrote a script, shoot and edited a story on the Invisible people in Garashi, Kilifi County.

So when I reached to my boss who’s also my mentor Al Kags who is passionate about data and storytelling about the event, he was happy to support me to be among the beautiful brilliant women who are authors and career-driven in their field of work.

Network and make a community for yourself. They say.

I was hesitant at the beginning because I felt was young and out of place, but after some time got relaxed. Listened very keenly to what each woman had to say, from the way they talked and explained things to how they carried themselves, and was really amazed at their vocal attitude too.

During one of the group discussions something just happened and the ladies choose me to read out loud the questions, I panicked reasons being I am an introvert and sometimes this throws me out and I get anxious but they all made it easy and embraced me all throughout and I could see myself growing into this powerful.

Well until you do it you’ll never know how it feels, so even with fear do it anyway.

Photo by the author, who is me off course.

I love reading and so I got myself a book. Period Power by Maisie Hill. There were so many books to choose from, I remember asking Wendy soma nami founder to help me decide on what to will be my next read.

So Why Did I Choose To Take Up The Book.

1. Why I choose to get this book is because growing up I never got to learn deeply about my menstrual cycle. No one cared about my menstrual journey. I had to figure out everything on my own. Thank God for Google, podcasts and blog posts from women around the world but even with this I still felt the need to understand things about menstruation as a whole. I am still struggling with the complexities of some topics on periods. It’s personal to me.

2. My friends and I started a foundation in 2020 called The Us4Her Foundation that helps girls with free menstrual packages products each month and mentorship programs on hygiene. We also have a 14teen Mom program mentorship for teenage moms. My idea is to read and understand as much about periods so that I can shade more light and share my knowledge with the girls during our mentorship sessions.

My take Away:

The world is really changing and women are becoming more each day. They are creating spaces at the table for themselves.

They are freeing themselves from the biases around them. They are being vocal. They are being open. Women are simply being Women.

The beauty of life is about discovering yourself by understanding who you are and what you stand for.

Be positive in what you do and do it with so much courage.

As a woman, you have to go the extra mile and this is a personal decision. Push yourself harder because there are opportunities out here for you inky if you try.

Lastly, allow yourself to learn from those who have gone ahead of you, both from books and mentors.

A little something for you: Poem Time.