Dia da Mulher de Cabo Verde

Today is "Dia da Mulher de Cabo Verde" or Cape Verde Women's Day.  I attended a special presentation this morning in honor of the day.  One of the professors from my university gave a speech about the Cape Verdean woman past, present, and future.  She is an excellent teacher, and to no one's surprise, she was an excellent speaker.  She raised great points througout her speech, but there were a couple that really stuck with me.

1.  A man is simply a "viola sem cordas" without a woman.  Women are the strings to men's instruments.  We are a team.  We have to be a team if we are going to make music that is lovely.  We have to work in tandem with each other.  In a country and world where women are often afterthoughts, it is essential to remember just how critical we are.  Our humanity is real, and it is crucial.

2.  Women who are educated are moving this country forward and make excellent role models, but the women of the farms, fields, and fora (rural areas) are carrying the load of this country on their backs (often literally) and are raising a new generation of women.  They strap babies on their backs, caryy water and harvests on their heads, and wield monda (farming) tools in their hands.  Our job as women is to work for each other, not against each other.  This is not an individual contest; this is a team sport.  We all make it, or none of us make it.  There is no victory when we step on other women to rise to the top or when women are left behind.  Mothers and business women and grandmothers and farmers and wives and daughters:  we are all in this together, and we each have a critical role.

3.  We have to realize our worth if we ever expect anyone else to see and acknowledge it.  We are more than objects, and we have to start living out our worth on our own terms.  So many times (both here and in America) I see women perpetuating the idea that women are objects only.  We have to be the ones that insist on faithfulness, refuse violence, resist objectification, and value intelligence and integrity.  When we begin to realize our own worth, we can begin to show that worth to others. 

So on behalf of Cape Verde Women's Day, I wish you all a wonderful day.  Remind yourself of your worth today, and consider your sisters all around the globe.  Committ to unity, and let's work for each other.