Women’s Month ahead
Women’s month activities will start with the opening, on Thursday, March 1 at the Ayala Center, of the exhibit of Women Trailblazers – Sugbuanang Tag-una. A product of the partnership of the Cebu Provincial Women’s Commission and the Legal Alternatives for Women Center, this had been previewed during the foundation day celebration of Cebu province. Images of the heritage cards of these women are presented in panels. One hundred Cebuana trailblazers will be on display to highlight the continuing significance of women in our past and present.
The women are from various fields of endeavor: governance, education, entrepreneurship, science, art, community service, sports, and others.
The first set of heritage cards of 60 was gathered and prepared by a group led by Dr. Erlinda Kintanar-Alburo, then director of the Cebuano Studies Center of the University of San Carlos. Forty more were added by the team led by Esther B. Velasquez, who was president of the Cebu Normal University. At present, she is the consultant for education of the province.
The exhibit will stay until March 10. We hope many young people will be able to view the frames. This is really dedicated to them. We want young girls to realize that they can be whatever they dream to be. The display will also be a very good exposure to local history, hence encourage pride of place.
We were very eager to be part of the project because like other women advocates we want to increase the visibility of women both in the records and in the consciousness of people. The exhibit has much to offer to educators who aim for a gender fair education. Viewing these, young girls will experience a sense of joy in being female.
For two months Sidlak, the Central Visayas Gender Resource Center coordinated by Dr. Rhodora Masilang-Bucoy, has been planning women’s month activities. By February, the group had been informed that the theme for this year’s celebration is Women Weathering Climate Change: Governance and Accountability, Everyone’s Responsibility. Activities directly related to the theme are the tree planting arranged by the Cebu City Women and Family Affairs Commission together with Sidlak partners on March 3 and the Department of Environment of Natural Resources’ Forum on Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment/Hazards Awareness and Risk Reduction on March 15 at the DENR .
On March 8, International Women’s Day, the women will have a parade early in the morning. They are encouraged to come in pink. The assembly point is the Department of Health area. This is also organized by the CCWFAC. The group has arranged for women to be able to avail of discounts and sales from various Cebu establishments during their month.
On Friday, March 9, in the morning, all Sidlak members will gather in the UP Conference Hall for a forum with Dr. Caridad Tharan, Dean of Migration, Humanitarian, and International Studies of Miriam College as speaker. She will share the findings of her research on Filipino Migrant Women.
An important part of this gathering is the signing of memoranda of agreement by members of Sidlak. First there is the general commitment to the GRC; then there are the agreements between partners needing to work with each other. This is Sidlak’s way of celebrating the value of networking.
Because we are emphasizing the importance of integrating gender into the various courses in the curriculum in UP Cebu, throughout the month classes in sociology, education, history, philosophy will have film showings, exhibits, class discussions on women and gender issues. On March 14, the students of the National Service Training Program (NSTP) will have Gender Sensitivity Training.
In the second half of March activities to look forward to include: the Women’s Summit of the CCWFAC and Sidlak, the 12th Women’s Congress of the Cebu Provincial Women’s Commission; and the One-Stop-Shop for Women Part 3 of the Women’s Resource Center Visayas.
On Wednesday the painting exhibit of five female artists, “Leap of Faith” will open. The artists are Betsy Alterado, Marivel Galan, Gigi Ocampo, Palme Pe, and Arlene Villaver.
