I´ve been so fortunate to have grown up in a household full of women, they´ve always been the most important, influential and core figure in my family. I´m still privileged to be surrounded by intelligent, strong and courageous women who continue to be my greatest source of inspiration.
Today March 8th we celebrate International Women's Day, with the theme;
“Let´s all choose to challange”
Hard to think that in the midst of the 21st century, women still need to struggle with widespread gender inequality. I´m optimistic that in the near future we´ll close the gender gap so deeply ingrained in our society, it´s our duty to ensure that it happens.
In this new post I want to highlight few bright, independent and admirable women from around the world. Despite being so different from one another, their stories tell similar experiences of perseverance, determination and accomplishment.
I invite you to know a bit about them, their stories
and experiences during this singular period.
Magdalena Kirova
Treviso, Italy
Artistic Director, Axolight
I´m in charge of the global image of the company, branding, communication and social media. Previously I worked for many years as a fashion designer and also taught at IED in Florence. Three years ago I moved to Treviso and by chance I started working on the Axolight project, a company based in Italy and the USA. that specializes in high-end decorative lighting.
Liliana Donayre
Lima, Peru
Coordinator, IPM
I´m a psychologist and I´ve been working for the past 20 years at IPM (Instituto Peruano de Marketing), specialized in digital marketing. Aside from being the academic coordinator, I´m also part of the teaching faculty. In addition to my day job I recently opened a take-away restaurant 308 Cevicheria Clásica, where we specialized in the most emblematic peruvian dish el "Ceviche".
Carme Casas
Barcelona, Catalonia
Social Science Teacher
Over the past fourty years, I´ve dedicated myself to teaching. At the beginning of my career I tought todlers, five-year-old girls and boys. Later I changed to high school students, where I´ve been teaching geography and history, or Social Sciences as I like to call it. I´ve been very fortunate to enjoy doing what I liked the most.
Stefanie Mangru
North Carolina, USA
Registered Nurse, HCA Hospital
I am a Registered Nurse. My specialty is focused on patients who suffer from Acute Kidney disease Chronic Kidney Disease, and End stage renal disease who require Dialysis to stay alive.
Laura Rana
London, UK
Founder of Khushi Kantha
We make sustainable, multi-purpose baby blankets, hand-stitched by mothers in Bangladesh. Repurposings saris into multi-layered cotton blankets to meet global hygiene and safety standards, also bringing the cultural heritage of Bengali kantha to a wider audience. Launching Khushi Kantha alongside my day job, which is helping organisations to measure and communicate their impacts.
Have you ever encounter any obstacles
at work related to gender?
Magdalena Kirova: No I haven´t encountered any obstacles based on my gender. At the beginning of my career the biggest obstacle for me was getting a working visa, at that moment Bulgaria (my home country) was not part of the European Union yet, so it was quite complicated, even thought the company that was hiring me was internationally known.
Liliana Donayre: Fortunately at my workplace we´ve always enjoyed gender equality, in fact most of my co-workers are women. We´ve had the freedom to express our opinions and make our own decisions with work related matters.
Carme Casas: The truth is that I´ve never had any difficulties at work because of my gender. Perhaps when I first began teaching I encountered some difficulties trying to maintained order in the classroom, but this only happened with few students.
If they see a man they have more respect for him. As a woman, you have to earn it.
Stefanie Mangru: Male RNs tend to be treated with more respect and they are taken more seriously in their nursing practice. Patients always seem to feel like a male nurses' intervention is like being seen by the doctor. As a Latina I face a double disadvantage, patients seem to think that because I´m Latina my nursing education or my knowledge is somehow subpar, not as good as the Caucasian nurses, eventhough I practice under a 4 year BSN degree.
Mini Ara
(Worker at Khushi Kantha):
Sewing requires time and effort, each Kantha blanket takes up to 20 hours to be sewn by hand, and the pay we receive locally is very low compared to the effort. By partnering with Khushi Kantha, we can earn an income that will allow us to support our children with dignity.
How´s it been for you these past 12 months
under lockdowns and restrictions ?
Magdalena Kirova: Not being able to see my family, friends and having to stay home all the time has been hard. Combining working from home and motherhood was a bit difficult, especially in the beginning when schools were closed and you couldn´t go anywhere. However, it´s also been a time for growth and I look forward to better days when all of this is behind us.
Liliana Donayre: Lockdowns haven´t been easy, however it brought positive things and new opportunities to my life.
Among them, updating some skills related to my work and starting a new business with my husband in the restaurant industry, something totally unknown to us. However we decided to set ourselves new goals and challenges. Thank God I was able to keep my day job, as most people I learned to work from home, spliting my time between my job, my housework, my family and our new business, it hasn´t been easy, but I am determined to get ahead and not lose the opportunities that life is offering me.
Carme Casas: Lockdowns came without warning, suddenly I had to adjust and learn how to do all my classes virtually online. At the beginning students got lost, some didn´t have internet access, others didn´t even owned computers. Sometimes they had to take a picture of their work and send it from their phones. The digital gap was very noticeable. Those with scarse means were lost, and it was exasperating not being able to help them. Working hours were lengthened in order to help all students. I couldn´t take a break for Easter, we couldn´t go anywhere anyway, besides the students asked me not to leave them. After summer when schools reopened so many things had changed, facemasks and disinfectants were now a must. As the weather changed we had to wear coats indoors because windows had to be kept open. It´s been really hard to teach under those conditions.
Stefanie Mangru: Well my practice remains the same. My goals for patient care are to treat and promote health. Although we need to wear more protective gear, the goals remain the same regardless of the illness of the patient. We educate patients on how to stay healthy, encourage them to comply with COVID guidelines and to keep in mind that comorbidities put them at higher risk for infection and death. As nurses we have to put our fears aside and focus on our patients.
Laura Rana: I was planning to head over to Bangladesh in May to introduce my daughters to their Bangladeshi family and establish production. Then COVID-19 happened and like the rest of the world, I had to change my plans. I knew I had to start testing the market as soon as possible, because I didn’t want to raise expectations among the mothers I’m partnering with that I wouldn’t be able to meet if no-one wanted to buy the blankets. I ended up making a limited-edition collection of blankets made in London, thanks to the support of local volunteer stitchers, I sold them through an online auction. This success encouraged me to keep going and turn my attention to figuring out the logistics of setting things up in Bangladesh. We’ve just had our first samples made and we’re opening up pre-orders.
Rowsa Hasan: (Head of Production at Khushi Kantha) Movement restrictions have made it difficult to get going, but it has also given us more time to plan and research. Now we are ready to start production and we can use everything we´ve learned.
Do you think that in the near future
we´ll be able to close the gender gap?
Magdalena Kirova:
I hope so. There´s a long way to go to achieve that, but I hope it´ll come soon. In order to do so I think we need to be aware what we teach our children at early stages of life.
The gender gap is fed by society early on, there are girl toys and boy toys, girls wear pink and boys wear blue.
We have to start treating and teaching new generations that they have equal rights and give them equal opportunities.
Liliana Donayre: I think we´re moving in that direction, this new generation that precedes us are aware that both men and women should have the same rights and opportunities, I´m confident that my son will grow up in a world of equal rights for all.
Carme Casa: I think we´re heading towards closing that gap, little by little women no longer feel intimidated, however there´s much to be done. According to several studies, poverty and ignorance proliferate among women. Where to start? Well, I´ve started to fight against ignorance. In recent years I´ve been teaching adults, and I´ve encouraged many women to study, to learn, not to be left behind, to seek a more dignified job, not to get stepped on.
Stefanie Mangru: I believe that inequalities in healthcare doesn't exist between us workers. I feel very respected by male doctors and nurses. The double standard comes from male and female patients with outdated ideations of men as the knowledgeable, wise and capable figures, while women are mere assistants good for fetching water and assist with toileting.
Laura Rana : Khushi Kantha wants to harness the collaborative power of a global community of mothers to build better futures for the next generation.
One last message?
Sometimes the road ahead may seemed long and full of obstacles, but given up is not an option. "No matter where you´re from, your dreams are valid" said actress Lupita Nyongó when she won her Oscar for Twelve Years a Slave. A brave woman who endured repeated sexual harassment by a man of power and authority. As society we have the obligation not to look the other way, to give women our full support and end gender inequality, only then humanity will move forward.
I´d like to dedicate this post to all the great women I´ve known throughtout my life, especially to my dear grandmother Mami Marina, who will always be for me the best example of a caring, brave, strong, resilient, and hard-working woman.
We begin a desired and most important female period.
It is time to empower women.
Hail to Women, the world salutes you !
You can follow these fabulous ladies at;
Magdalena Kirva / Axolight
Liliana Donayre / 308 Cevichería Clásica
Stefanie Mangru
Laura Rana / Kushikantha
Be Sustainable ! Be Ético !
Love this song;
I am Woman, Pink Martini (Original by Helen Reddy)