10 Ways to Celebrate International Women’s Day
March 8th is International Women’s Day! Starting in 1908, 15,000 bold women marched the streets of New York demanding shorter working hours, better pay and voting rights. In 1975 International Women’s Day became an official holiday, standing for women’s equality in education, health, safety and economic security.
Want to learn more? Here are 10 empowering ways to celebrate this all-important holiday!
1. Watch: Girl Rising, a documentary highlighting the global campaign for girls’ education. The film highlights the story of nine girls from Sierra Leone, Haiti, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Peru, Egypt, Nepal, India, and Cambodia. You can even host a film screening event to inspire all your friends as well!
2. Read: Malala Yousafzai’s inspirational biography I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban. Additional great reads include Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead, Azar Nafisi’s Reading Lolita in Tehran: A Memoir in Books, and Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns.
3. Listen: The Girl Effect organization, at the girleffect.org, spoke to hundreds of girls living in poverty across the world. Hear the girls’ stories on education, health, safety, economic security, and citizenship.
4. Donate: There are hundreds of great organizations out there that support women’s health, rights, education, and needs. Donate to one of these incredible charities: CARE, Women for Women International, Penda Health and Prerana Resource Centre.
5. Cook: Check out Women for Women International’s cookbook here. 100% of the profits will go to help women of war-torn countries rebuild their lives. The recipes are those of the women in battered regions, as well as renowned international chefs, and humanitarians.
6. Tell: Be brave. Be vocal. Tell those special women in your life how much they mean to you! Discuss International Women’s Day and its significance of this special day with those close to you.
7. Run: Run for a women’s cause. Run for Congo Women, affiliated with Women for Women International, hosts runs to support the efforts to alleviate serious issues facing the women of Congo. If there isn’t an event near you, be proactive and plan a run for your community!
8. Walk: Don’t feel up to running? No worries! With Walk In Her Shoes, you can walk 10,000 steps a day for a week and raise money to support sanitation and water wells for areas in desperate need.
9. Attend: Meet other international women’s day supporters in your area with events held throughout the day! Click here to check out International Women’s Day website to easily find events in your area.
10. Inspire Change: Be the change you wish to see in the world and inspire others to do the same!
Source: http://www.cafamerica.org/intlwomensday/
