March 8 this year was the centenary of International Women’s Day. The annual event marks the economic, political and social achievements of women.
With a view to celebrating those achievements here’s a short gallery of some of the amazing women I’ve met during travels around the world. These women were working in the fields to put food on the table for their children, they were tending and milking buffalo, cooking meals, raising children, teaching their grandchildren and even representing the rights of those less fortunate in local politics.
The woman on the right was a social advocate for village people in India displaced by the creation of new national parks. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com
I think the key is for women not to set any limits.
~ Martina Navratilova
The amazing Aunty April loves teaching her grandchildren how to hunt on their traditional land in this Aboriginal community in north Queensland. Here they are eating crayfish she had just caught. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com
Sure God created man before woman. But then you always make a rough draft before the final masterpiece. ~Author ~ Unknown
A woman creating batik cloth for sale in a village almost destroyed by an earthquake near Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com
This woman had raised 10 children in a small village near Yogyakarta that was almost raised by an earthquake. With a son injured and no house built to live in she still had time for fun and merriment as this photo shows. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com
Women really do rule the world. They just haven’t figured it out yet. When they do, and they will, we’re all in big big trouble.
~Doctor Leon
A gujar girl sharpening her knife near Rajaji National Park. Gujar people migrated into India possibly from the north and make their living off buffalo products such as meat and milk. The women work with their men to drive, feed and milk their herds. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com
This woman working in the fields of Si Phan Don's islands in southern Laos could not stop smiling despite the hard work she was doing. She beckoned me over to take more photos. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com
A woman’s whole life is a history of the affections.
~Washington Irving
This woman had lost her house in an earthquake that struck areas near Yogyakarta in Indonesia. Despite her lack of teeth and an injured leg she smiled broadly during our interview. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com
A tea picker at work in Sri Lanka's hill country. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com
The day will come when men will recognize woman as his peer, not only at the fireside, but in councils of the nation. Then, and not until then, will there be the perfect comradeship, the ideal union between the sexes that shall result in the highest development of the race.
—Susan B. Anthony, 1876
This grandmother was sewing handicrafts to sell to tourists near Sapa while watching over her daughter's children. Pic: Joanne Lane, www.visitedplanet.com
It’s so clear that you have to cherish everyone. I think that’s what I get from these older black women, that every soul is to be cherished, that every flower is to bloom.
~Alice Walker
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Feel free to email Jo at admin@visitedplanet.com with your comments/thoughts/photo aspirations. See and learn more at www.visitedplanet.com
