Reflecting back on Women's Day & Mothers Day in Zambia

On March the 8th 2018 the world celebrated International Women's Day. What a great thing to celebrate right?

I am, categorically, undeniably and emphatically a woman. My more than generous curves, my ridiculously strong mothering instinct and my predictable monthly Bitch on Steroids, stage make that impossible to deny!

When it comes to filling in forms - there has never been a moments doubt for me that the box next to the gender option Female is where I put my tick (or as the Americans call it - my check).

So..... I was all in - Hooray for Womens Day, us gals are awesome, I will celebrate every decidedly feminine trait that I posses (and some of the other traits too!) Go girls! Woooohooooooo!

And then it happened; a young woman from the farm village arrived at our home for help. Her husband had beaten her badly. She had been hit so hard that she needed 5 stitches above her left eyebrow. She was bruised and battered and worst of all she seemed resigned to her horrific situation. Her name is Catherine.

Catherine is tiny in stature and honestly, although she has a child - she barely looks old enough to be out of school, yet, here she was - on my doorstep in a desperate situation. After beating her, the abusive husband had thrown her out of their home and had even taken the child (barely 2 years old) away, stating that Catherine would not see her daughter again.

Galvanised in to furious action - my Husband and I took Catherine to the nearest hospital for treatment and then to the Special Victims Unit of the local Police Force. I say my husband and I, but honestly, we were just the drivers and back-up support.

Catherine received inspiring support that day. In a culture in which the women are seldom educated and more often than not - they are seen as second class on the gender scale (to put it mildly) Catherine's main support that day and for the weeks following came from two dynamic Zambian women. Mary and Sharon - both from the same village, same culture and same background - Mary and Sharon are inspirations.

These 2 ladies rallied around Catherine, even standing up to a large group of men in the village who had assembled in defense of her husbands despicable behaviour. Sharon and Mary supported her, fed her, accompanied her to court hearings and best of all - they gave her courage. The result was that the offending husband paid a hefty fine and spent some days in jail. Catherine's daughter was returned to her and Catherine eventually decided that she would get a divorce and re-build her life from there. The result was not perfect but it is at least an improvement for Catherine and her child.

Mary and Sharon are inspirations - in a culture where gender equality is still years behind the first world - these two women were fearless.

It was their courage, character and solidarity that inspired my most recent painting called

Womens Day - Zambia Tiyende Pamodzi (Lets go together)

Here it is - still on my studio wall. My effort at reclaiming Womens Day as a celebration; a celebration of the courage, the character and the solidarity that women often exhibit in times of hardship.

So............ back to being a woman - there is much to celebrate. Frankly, I am delighted by my female status, if I wasn't a woman, I wouldn't be a Mum and that has been and remains to be, a hectically fun and inspiring journey for me! Here in Africa we celebrated Mothers Day 2018 on May the 12th. Messages came in and went out via w

Whatsapp, Facebook, Twitter and every conceivable social media platform imaginable. Every cliche quote about Mums revolved around the internet with nauseating sweetness. LoveMyMum and BestMumEver were hashtagged to hell and back.

The bottom line is this - Mums are worth celebrating and its hard not to be sickly sweet about them. Lets face it, more often than not Mumming is a job that doesn't come with a shiny resume attached or a gold Rolex once the offspring have survived to adulthood. It comes with so much more!

That, however, is another topic for another day (or I stand to be accused of aforementioned sickly sweetness).

Lets also remember and celebrate the Dads that deserve to be part of Mothers day. Those single Dads or guys who found that through circumstances they had to be Mum and Dad. You guys rock! No really........... you do and we all love you!

Those girls and women who grew up without a Mum and yet still became the epitome of love and just general awesome woman-ness - you girls blow my mind and...... if you have a Dad who was always there for you then spoil him on Mothers day and Fathers Day.

So...... in honour of women: girls, sisters, Mums, Grandmothers, Aunties, friends, women of all shapes and sizes from the slim and athletic to those of us with figures that are notable for their more abundant proportions - I celebrate you all in this painting. Thanks for the inspiration.