LifeLine Vaal – International Women’s Day 2015 Celebration
Each year International Women’s Day (IWD) is celebrated on March 8. The first International Women’s Day was held in 1911.
Women on all continents often divided by national boundaries and by ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic and political differences, come together to celebrate their day, looking back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. International Women’s Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history.
South Africa also celebrates National Women’s Day on 9 August to commemorate the great women’s march of 1956, where women marched to the Union Buildings to protest against the carrying of pass books.
LifeLine Vaal’s staff and volunteers celebrated International Women’s Day by attending an event at General Smuts Secondary School in Vereeniging on Saturday, 14 March 2015. Our own Shirley Hughes (Centre Manager) was a guest speaker and informed the audience of LifeLine Vaal’s services.
The ladies living at Bella Maria Shelter for abused women and their children, also worked hard in making bracelets for the guests (The bracelets mark LifeLine’s gender based violence awareness campaign by wearing black on Thursdays).
On this day the guests enjoyed entertainment by the Soul Sisters, from General Smuts. It was a fun morning, celebrating ordinary women.