Happy Womens Day!

I had no idea when I woke up of today’s great occasion: it is International Women’s Day! So, let’s have a day to think about women and be thankful for them!

Some have called me an extreme feminist, although I feel far from that, I think some people just don’t get out enough to know what a hard core feminist is. Although, I do feel very strongly about women’s rights, but more than that, I believe men and women are created equal. Neither is better/superior/or more deserving of special rights or privileges. Living in Bolivia has brought these feelings out more and more. Right now, I live in a country where women are seen as objects (I cannot go out of my house and not see some sort of porn or objectification of women), where male dominance (aka machismo) is a cultural norm, and physical, verbal, and sexual abuse is something the majority of women endure at some point in their life.

It infuriates me how the Church here largely ignores this issue. It has become so much a part of the culture here, that many have become blind to the oppression and defenseless position it puts many women in. This fury does not drive me towards a hatred of men, or institutions, or society. It brings me to my knees, pleading God to open our eyes to the injustice and oppression we allow to continue. Today on Women’s Day, I am thankful for my job that allows me to bring this injustice to the attention of the Church, and call others to action. I am thankful for my husband who treats me with respect and dignity, not as an inferior. I am thankful for the many examples of women and men who have stood up to the injustices many women suffer, and called for this abuse and oppression that comes in so many forms to stop. Today I would like to share one of those stories. This is not just a story to me; it is a reality that I have the opportunity to see lived out each time I visit Cochabamba.

If you have at any length talked to me about my time here in Bolivia, and asked about what has impacted me the most, you have probably heard about Rosa. She is one of my very best friends here, and is one of the strongest women I know. She brought tears of joy to my eyes more than any other person I know because of her bold spirit, standing up against the injustices that she and those around her have suffered.
A few years ago, if she entered a room, she would make sure you wouldn’t notice her. Rosa always came late and left early from any social gathering. She didn’t talk to anyone upon arriving, and made sure she was out of the way of everyone else. Somehow we became friends, despite her extreme timidity. As our friendship grew, she shared more and more of her story with me. She was the classic Bolivian girl who got caught up in an unhealthy relationship in high school with a boy. She soon after got pregnant and had to drop out of school. After she gave birth, her boyfriend suddenly changed his character around Rosa. He came home drunk most nights after work, and began to physically and verbally abuse Rosa. After having two children, and enduring years of abuse, Rosa began to come to Church. There she began to learn and grow. She came to the meetings of our women’s cooperative, and after some time decided to take a leadership position.

As the Pastor shared our visions of how these women could make the cooperative a ministry to the community, offering classes on women’s and children’s rights, and what to do in cases of abuse (something all too relevant for the community we lived in), Rosa began to catch a bit of a vision. After I left, Rosa took charge and held a community meeting. She shared her story with the other women, and shared how this abuse was not acceptable, and there was a better way to live. Her sister-in-law happened to be in that meeting. Suffering many of the same abuses, her sister-in-law went home to tell her own husband she would no longer allow him to abuse her the way he had done for so long. This infuriated the men in the family, especially when they found out it was Rosa who had been so bold. For a while, Rosa was not treated well by her extended family, they frowned on her Church going. But she kept on, taking her two children with her.

Rosa still deals with these issues in her life. But she has a support system in the Church. If you see her today, she is a more confident woman. Sometimes she even dresses up, and giggles at the outfits she wears. She knows now that her confidence is not in the worth her husband puts on her, nor her family. Her confidence is in the fact that she is a woman, created in Gods image. That has brought freedom, joy and life to this dear friend of mine. Rosa is my hero this year for Women’s Day. May God grant me the grace to encourage other women here who suffer in many of the same ways.