This year’s venue of Stichting Bayanihan’s celebration of the International Women’s Day was packed with enthusiastic men and women. Fortunately, there was enough room for everyone.
On this sunny and joyful afternoon, equally motivated men and women gathered to recognize the significance of celebrating international women’s day. Despite everyone’s hectic and eventful life, we chose to take a pause and highlight the work that needs to be done when it comes to celebrating the strong, free and empowered women in us!
This year’s celebration focused on the theme: “Take pride of your authentic story: Let’s be diverse and inclusive in inspiring one another.” What a timely reminder knowing how women of today tend to forget one’s own unique self – a tapestry woven from our countless significant threads – our experiences, challenges and triumphs that make each one of us genuinely unique. Everyone showed excitement and interest at how our speaker dwelt on topics that were specific, timely and relevant.
Ms. Judy Ann Santos- Sarzuela’s presence in the room made a significant impact to all IWD attendees this year. Her discussion of the theme provided a space for critical thinking, open discussion, and diverse opinions. It was lively, personal and the topics elicited active discussion among the attendees. Her simplified explanation of three important words – diversity, inclusion and equity generated positive responses as well as deep thinking. The understanding of these concepts led to knowing what needs to be done in order to achieve these significant concerns.
While everyone’s eager to know more and understand more, Ms. Sarzuela went deeper into the most important issues on creating an impact and achieving the three Cs -Connection (Inspiring Others), Capability (Empowering Yourself) and Clarity (Owning Your Story). Her special way of connecting to the audience by telling personal anecdotes about special people in her lives also gave more meaning to what she said. Her life experiences were strong manifestations on what she believes in and what she tries to convey to her audience. Her use of clear but powerful words and the clarity of her intention to empower those women in the room were touching, impressing and influencing.
The topic on what kills and cultivates empowerment paved way to more active discussion and sharing of personal experiences. Those moments of sharing facilitated the sense of social connection among the attendees and everyone seemed to enjoy that opportunity to freely express themselves. The conversations were informal, non-structured but focused on the specific topics on their personal challenges, lessons and how they perceive their future.
It was beautiful to see how Ms. Sarzuela evoked pleasant reactions and positive conversations during her talk. It personally made me realize deeply the importance of embracing the chapters that shaped me as a person. Realizing that we need to celebrate more the quirks that make us wonderfully us! Eventually ascertaining that our journey – however long, winding, and full of unexpected turns or events – is a testament to our personal stories of resilience and growth.
Our IWD event was another celebrated moment as it conveyed clear messages of self-appreciation and recognition of our goals, purpose, beliefs and core values as women. Redefining them is part of the process of rewriting our life’s novel. The dreams we dare to chase, the laughter we made with friends, the series of hurdles we need to overcome, the twists and turns we need to take are all essential parts of our unique stories… and our stories do matter!
A reflection by Agnes van de Beek-Pavia
IWD 2024, Dona Daria Rotterdam
Photo Credits: Jofelle Tesorio
