This week’s SoroptiVoice blog comes from
Theresa Lyford, SI South West Pacific’s Assistant Federation Programme Director in charge of coordinating SISWP zones A and B. She got to celebrate International Women’s Day 2012 in China – and what an amazing experience it was! Many thanks to Theresa for sharing this article with us! 

I’m
sitting sipping a cup of coffee in the only ‘western’ coffee shop in the city
of Songjiang just out of Shanghai in China.  It’s the 8th of March and it’s International
Women’s Day and for those of you who know me the café is Starbucks and that’s
not my normal coffee preference. 
However, I digress – Starbucks is buzzing, the café is full of people and
those people are all women.  The shopping
street outside is full of laughing, chattering women enjoying the afternoon in
the company of other women.

Women
in China first celebrated
International Women’s Day on March 8, 1924.  Thanks to the support of the Communist Party
of China, the day has been commemorated each year in China since, with activities
focused on equal rights at work and at home. 
These days the day has lost a lot of its original political flavour and
become more an occasion to show respect, appreciation and love.  International Women’s Day to China’s young women is no
longer merely a reminder of their rights and equality.  Instead it serves as reminder that they are
also ‘holding up half the sky’ at home, in the family.

In
China IWD is celebrated with women being given the afternoon off work and they
get paid for this as well.  What a novel
concept! I don’t think I’ve seen this happen
with employers here in Australia and certainly not
getting paid to celebrate this auspicious occasion.  When I arrived at the University Campus this
morning I was greeted by the staff with a lovely card and a small gift – all
women employees are treated this way – and then when I went to my first class
the students also greeted me wishing me a happy IWD.  I think this might be the first occasion
where I’ve actually been acknowledged in such a way as this and it was really
nice.

So
here I am, sitting in Starbucks in a foreign country, enjoying the company of
women, who for the most part do not speak English, yet we were able to
communicate with each other on this special day and celebrate together the
accomplishments of women around the world.

I hope you all had a great day and spent
some of the day thinking about the wonderful women who went before us and laid
down the foundations for where women can go in the world today, and for what we
can achieve.