We celebrated here in Koutiala. I had my outfit made and was looking forward to the day. The night before I went by Koro’s for a visit. She had a head ache and said she was not going to participate in the next day’s festivities. I was so disappointed. The next morning started with my usual bike ride. When I got home I left the house with the top of my IWD outfit and a skirt on my way to the market down the street. My host mom was dressed in her IWD outfit and invited me to go with her in the car. Now this doesn’t happen very often and I wasn’t sure where the celebration was so I took her up on the ride.
This year marks the 100th aniversary of International Women's day. In 1910, the first international women's conference was held in Copenhagen and countries around the world began celebrating the event annually beginning the following year. In places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, IWD is a national holiday today.
Every year, there is a theme to the day. The UN's theme for International Women's Day 2010 is Equal "rights, equal opportunities: Progress for all." Here in Koutiala there were two themes to this year’s IWD, one a National Malian theme because 2010 marks 50 years of Malian women’s freedom from colonial rule and the second a local Koutiala theme was Husbands helping their wives space the birth of their children for the health of the family. There were speakers, women from the audience giving testimonies, and theater skits with a woman dressed as a man that got a big response from the audience.
I sat with Fanta Diallo my host mom but kept an eye out for my friends the artisan women. Fanta was cooking the food for the event so she left when the time came and low and behold Koro showed up and stayed through lunch. At lunch time my friends the artisan women, Koro and I all ate lunch together. Even though my language is not that good we laughed, talked, and teased each other and just had fun together.
P.S. Kounandy is doing so much better this week.
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