Greetings …
Sunday 15 October is the International Day of Rural Women. It’s dedicated to millions of women all over the world living in remote, rural place. It celebrates their achievements and contributions, and the reflection below was written particularly for this day.
Today the world celebrates you.
You whose voice is almost silent.
You who the rural society ostracized.
You who are still fighting against stereotypes of who you are.
Today you have risen up
breaking free from the shackles
of prejudice and discrimination,
you who have believed and attested
in who you are.
While the world may stand and jeer
as you walk along the narrow path
of vulnerability and dutiful resignation,
still you rise.
Going through all the challenges
you have become stronger,
you have become more resilient,
you stood up and succeeded
in what you can do.
Praise be to those women living in remote rural areas.
They have overcome all kinds of adversity and prevailed.
They have gone through all the challenges and succeeded.
Let us praise God for them.
(© spill the beans, issue 48)
May we, who live in metropolitan areas, never forget those who work in the rural and remote places within our own country. May we acknowledge, with gratitude, the contribution they make to their own communities and to who we are as a nation.
Blessings – Heather (she/her).