By Khadi Mansaray
The best thing about Sierra Leone is its women. We are also the most underutilized resource we have. We are courageous, resilient and brave and more. We are also strong wise and beautiful. We are of the nation’s soul.
I’m proud to be a Sierra Leonean woman. We’ve had more than our so many tragedies. The war, natural disasters and climate change, epidemics and pandemics, but we survive.
Never giving up and always being patriotic. We never give up; we love our country. We are the backbone of families and communities. We are salt of the earth, the best of Sierra Leone.
We show up for Sierra because it’s the right thing to do and not for the applause. Sadly, our efforts are hardly recognized and we continue to be marginalized and excluded from key decision-making.
We’ve been instrumental in every peace-building initiative since the first Bintumani Conference yet our contribution to building is taken for granted.
We die in childbirth and we lose our sons in conflicts that we do not choose. We are raped and we watch our abducted to become companions for combatants.
Brokenhearted and exhausted we pick up the pieces and stitch back the fabric to keep our families together. We carry the burden of rehabilitating damaged men and bear the brunt of their frustrations. Gender-based violence is our reality yet men get a free pass for unspeakable acts whilst we get judged and vilified if we don’t toe the line and submit to patriarchy. We are the diamonds of Sierra Leone but we don’t sparkle. Each one is unique and made to become controversial because we are passionately committed to ending inequalities and injustices to us.
We are also human, we feel, our hearts and bones break, but we go on. Yes Sierra Leonean women, and we are divine.
This year’s theme is #ChooseToChallenge #IWD. So, we demand representation. We demand policies that protect us and institutions responsible for our welfare be adequately resourced. But most of all, we will be part of the change we seek. We must be taken seriously and we won’t be silenced.
©Khadijatu Mansaray
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