IWW - Women for Change

[Sooh]

WOMEN IN YOUR LOCAL COMMUNITY

 

The week is coming to a close, but we all know that there are women in our own community, maybe our own family, who are unsung heroes. Sure, they may not have changed international policy, but these women are part of the backbone of our society, and we would all be way worse off without them.

 

So I challenge you now:

 

Tell me about your local heroes. Women who give love, time and labor to make your corner of the world into a better place. 

[E James Todd]

I don't want to kill another thread, so I'll hide my contribution behind a spoiler tag.

 

 

 

When I was going through secondary school I was in band.  Consequently, there were lots of band parents I had the chance to interact with.  One of them, Mrs. Mercer, was more than just a band parent - more than just a normal parent, even.  She single-handedly organized most of the field trips we attended and kept track of most of us; in groups sometimes upwards of 100 children, she would know where at least sixty of us were.  She also reorganized, catalogued, and inventoried over fifty years' worth of music and instrument information, by herself, for free.  When we got into marching band, she attached herself to the uniforms and became the unspoken "head of uniform dispensation."  During her daughter's and my second year of four in marching band, when there was a dispute with the cleaning service in charge of removing the stains and general upkeep for over 150 uniforms, she took it upon herself to wash every single one, in her own personal washing machine and dryer, over a two day period every single week for the next three years.  And once again, all for free.

 

Did I mention that she also participated in the local Girl Scout Troop?  She was one of the most active members in that troop, responsible for everything from making sure girls got all their badges to bringing in local experts to teach them classes, to overhauling the system they used to vend their addictive cookies.  She organized community projects and attended campouts, she rendered first aid and fostered a tutoring program.  Not long ago I ran into her old troop selling cookies outside a grocery store; and when I asked the mothers what happened after she left, they told me they had needed four parents to do everything she had done.

 

And that is still only the tip of the iceberg as far as what she did.  She was also:

• A full-time substitute teacher

• Both patron and enabler of learning of the sciences in primary and secondary schools

• Engaged in academic clubs

• A moderator of a camp for special needs children, and an advocate for their rights and programs to help them

• Involved in setting up maths competitions as a student activity

• A hostess that frequently opened her house to many of my classmates as a place for us to relax or have a party

• Active in music education and concerts outside of the school system

 

This, I should mention, is just what I know she did within a six-year period of her life.

 

 

 

 

-retreats into dead-place corner-

[Guest]

I don't know much about my local community, and I am not really interested by it since most of its initiatives are led by politicians. Their objectives is rarely the greater good but how to gain more for themselves and people from their parties.

 

But it seems that the town I live in is going to feminize the name of the streets. On +/- 1750 streets only 2 % were named after a woman. So the city hall made a list of 15 names that they are going to use when they'll have to name new streets.

Those names are from well known local women.

 

First one on the list is Julie Dessy who created the first recipes for the "Materne" jam (a jam that is well-know in Belgium).

[Elgee]

James, that lady sounds like a national treasure!

 

Chae, that's a wonderful idea that your city hall has come up with.