Celebrating International Women's Day!
On March 8th people around the world are coming together to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD). It’s a day where we recognize the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. It’s also a day where we raise awareness about women's equality, and look for ways to accelerate gender parity. The campaign theme for International Women's Day 2021 is Choose to Challenge and our call to action is: to challenge gender bias and inequality, to celebrate women's achievements, and to create a more inclusive world.
These themes are so connected to everything that we do at Free to Run. One of the missions of IWD also includes Women and Sport. In their words, “Sport primes women and girls to lead, not solely on the track or field, but in every aspect of life.” We could not agree more! Our programs are designed to give participants the tools and skills they need to become leaders who exercise self determination, challenge negative norms, and boldly reclaim public spaces.
International Women’s Day is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the achievements of our participants. We wanted to share some ‘Choose to Challenge’ moments through these images and direct quotes. The women and girls who participate in our programs, and their families, continuously inspire us to keep working towards the goal of having all women freely and fully participating as equals in society.
“My daughter has always been silent. She’s always felt shy around people and found it difficult to communicate with them. Since she joined the Free to Run team, I can see the difference: she's more confident, a good communicator, and a good listener. I always make sure to buy her new sports clothes to encourage her to participate in sport and run.”
-Alaa’s Father
“Now I know there is a life other than staying at home or going to school. I never thought that I'd go hiking and experience the kindness of people in the villages or such beautiful nature. Hiking today has changed the way I think and made me realise that a different future is possible; I don't have to get married at eighteen and have children. Hiking has also motivated me to do more physical activity.”
-Nadia
“When we were traveling back home after the race, the police stopped us at a checkpoint and told us to get out. Our driver told the police that we were disabled and unable to just jump out of the car in the street. He asked where we were going, and we told him we were on our way back from a race. They laughed at us and asked how it was possible for people with disabilities to do sports. Then I told the police, ‘We have all participated in a race, look at our medals.’ I showed them my medal, and I could see he was surprised. He did not say anything else and let us go.”
- Abtyanos
“My family encourages me despite all the hardness of our society against women and girls. When I got back home and shared my memories from the race, they were happy for my happiness.”
- Maryam
“At first, I was a member of the core team and I learned many things from LSS activities, hiking, jogging and participating in marathons. Now I'm a CDL and leading 16 girls. I feel great as a team leader, because I'm considered as a peer to these girls but also leading them simultaneously! Me and my other CDL friends have a huge responsibility to this team, so we decided to do teamwork and lead the team together!”
- Horijan
“No matter what, I will not be able to describe my exact feelings. It was amazing to run the marathon with thousands of people. I felt how strong I am to finish it no matter how hard it was. I know now I should always challenge these difficulties and push myself harder to achieve what I want! I know how strong girls are, we can do anything and challenge the negative people together.”
- Hanin
Happy International Women’s Day to the entire Free to Run community and stay tuned for some really exciting announcements later this week because for us, every day there’s a new opportunity to Choose to Challenge.