Each year around this time, a crowd made up mostly of women gathers on the Heffernan Street Footbridge on the edge of the downtown, part of an international call among women for peace and equality. It is held in conjunction with International Women’s Day, and put on by Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis.
Some years it’s cold, other years rainy, but participants are always warmed by the spirit of camaraderie and solidarity that is part of the annual event. A large banner is draped for a few moments along the side of the bridge. Pictures are taken. Sometimes the participants dance.
The Women on the Bridge event happens on Wednesday. It runs for one hour, starting at noon in the Mitchell Hall of Saint George’s Anglican Church, where there will be speakers.
The Guelph gathering is part of the international Join Me on the Bridge event, which was started in 2010 by the organization Women for Women International. The first event involved 1,000 women from Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The women bravely gathered on the Ruzizi Bridge which borders the two countries, countries that have experienced the ravages of war in recent years, and where atrocities against women have been routinely committed. Together the women stood defiantly for peace and an end to violence against women.
Inspired by the example of these African women, about 20,000 women around the world each year take part in nearly 120 events in 19 countries. All of them gather on a local bridge.
A feminist, community-based organization, Guelph-Wellington Women in Crisis provides inclusive and equitable services to women and their children in response to abuse and violence against women. It offers shelter, a housing program, family court support, a crisis line, and sexual assault centre, all free of charge.
G-W Women in Crisis believes the root causes of violence against women are societal, and that solutions are to be found through change. Achieving gender equality requires a change of values, attitudes, behaviours, structures and systems.
On Wednesday evening, Innovation Guelph will host the event “Ignite. Empower. Innovate.” It’s an International Women’s Day dinner at the Hanlon Convention Centre, 340 Woodlawn Road West. It runs from 6-9 p.m. This is the fifth annual edition.
The highlight is a presentation by award-winning humanitarian and bestselling author Dr. Samantha Nutt, a physician with experience working in war zones, and the founder and executive director of War Child Canada. She is the author of the 2011 book Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies and Aid.
On Thursday, March 9, Zonta Club of Guelph will sponsor the International Women’s Day Breakfast, with special guest speaker Joanne Young Evans, executive director of Family Counselling and Support Services Guelph-Wellington. Her presentation will focus on the mental health issues facing women today.
The breakfast is from 7-9 a.m. Thursday at the Italian Canadian Club of Guelph, 35 Ferguson Street. Tickets are $25, or $200 for a table of ten.
For tickets, visit www.zontaguelph.ca, call 519-836-9644 or 519-651-9727, or contact any current Zonta member.
