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08/03/2016
A spiritual comment and prayer to begin the day Shirley Jenner, Lecturer at the University of Manchester.
Last on
Tue 8 Mar 2016
05:43
ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
International Womenβs Day
Good morning.
For more than a hundred years, the 8th of March has been marked as International Womensβ Day. Itβs intended as a day to consider the achievements and struggles of women towards greater justice and equality.
This day allows us connect in various ways with the thoughts and experiences of diverse women from around the world. Β Stories, poems, interviews and films will reveal much to celebrate. But there are also shocking accounts of the suffering experienced by women through war, displacement and poverty.
What can we do in response to such need?Β
My friend Helen was a primary school teacher in the small town of Kitale in the Rift Valley of Kenya. In her role as a teacher she often saw young children coming to school with no food. Β Touched by Jesus teaching to love her neighbour as herself, she decided to help local women to set up a βshambaβ β a community smallholding Β where they started to grow maize and beans. Then she helped the mothers to set up street food cafes, to earn enough to feed their families. Those cafes became the only places in Kitale where you could buy a doughnut.Β
Helen saw young girls orphaned by Aids leaving school with no hope of work, at risk being trafficked as sex workers. She negotiated micro-finance to enable them to buy a sewing machine, and set up a small tailoring school, so the women could learn to create their own businesses. Β Helen never made a film or wrote a book. Her legacy has been the flourishing of hundreds of children, young women and families.Β
Lord God. Β Prosper all those who work for peace and social justice. Give each one of us the creativity and compassion to make a difference wherever we are. Β Amen
For more than a hundred years, the 8th of March has been marked as International Womensβ Day. Itβs intended as a day to consider the achievements and struggles of women towards greater justice and equality.
This day allows us connect in various ways with the thoughts and experiences of diverse women from around the world. Β Stories, poems, interviews and films will reveal much to celebrate. But there are also shocking accounts of the suffering experienced by women through war, displacement and poverty.
What can we do in response to such need?Β
My friend Helen was a primary school teacher in the small town of Kitale in the Rift Valley of Kenya. In her role as a teacher she often saw young children coming to school with no food. Β Touched by Jesus teaching to love her neighbour as herself, she decided to help local women to set up a βshambaβ β a community smallholding Β where they started to grow maize and beans. Then she helped the mothers to set up street food cafes, to earn enough to feed their families. Those cafes became the only places in Kitale where you could buy a doughnut.Β
Helen saw young girls orphaned by Aids leaving school with no hope of work, at risk being trafficked as sex workers. She negotiated micro-finance to enable them to buy a sewing machine, and set up a small tailoring school, so the women could learn to create their own businesses. Β Helen never made a film or wrote a book. Her legacy has been the flourishing of hundreds of children, young women and families.Β
Lord God. Β Prosper all those who work for peace and social justice. Give each one of us the creativity and compassion to make a difference wherever we are. Β Amen
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- Tue 8 Mar 2016 05:43ΒιΆΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 4
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