March 9th, 2008
International Women’s day: Shaping Progress
When thinking of Deb’s challenge about who influenced us, I suddenly remembered as a child of about eight, my fascination with a book about Florence Nightingale. She led the way for women and shaped the future of nursing because she had the courage to live by what she thought was right. She also saw people who were suffering and stepped in to help.
Reading the story of Florence was a “light bulb” moment for me as a child as it helped me to understand that we do not have to accept the status quo and that we can change things for the better by determination and hard work.
On International Women’s Day, many women are raising money to help women from other parts of the world, who do not yet enjoy the basic human rights that we enjoy. I am a member of Soroptimist International and our local group is raising money to support, “Project Sierra.” If you are interested take a look at this site: www.projectSIerra.org . It doesn’t matter what we do as long as we find ways of giving people opportunities to live without fear or poverty.
Reaching out to women, who may not have the freedoms we enjoy, is a way to shape the future in a positive way and celebrating the achievements of today’s women will give future role models to the next generation. Who knows what influence that will have?
