By Times Chronicle Staff
Our freelancer (Madeline Baker) came up with a great idea for how we can honour women on International Women’s Day. She suggested that each of us write about the most important woman we know. So here goes.
Don Urquhart
In recognition of International Women’s Day I would like to shine the light on women journalists. A 2020 study by UNESCO showed 73 per cent of women journalists had experienced online violence such as prolific online harassment and abuse, including targeted attacks that frequently involve physical threats and/or sexual violence.
Canada is in no way immune to this problem where misogynistic attacks frequently occur, particularly against racialized journalists.
Even here in Osoyoos during the so-called “Freedom Protest” at the border where an Indo-Canadian reporter was spit upon and had racial slurs hurled at her.
As a society we sadly have a long way to go to overcome this hateful ignorance, but ever forward we must push.
Madeline Baker
The coolest woman I know is one that I’ve never met in person, but who’s been with me through thick and thin online for over a decade.
Her response to facing massive losses and tragedies throughout that time has been to build herself a warm and loving found family both local to her and across the Internet, offering support to others who might feel just as lonely and never asking for a thing in return.
Sometimes it seems as though every knock that life delivers to her just makes her even more determined to look at the world through positive eyes and bring enough joy to single-handedly outshine the darkness. Her name is Autumn but her presence is pure summer.
Sherani Theophilus
To encapsulate what it means to be the greatest woman I know is not easy.
I decided to write about my paternal grandmother, Hilda Theophilus. She was born Hilda Angelina Daniel, on July 14, 1902.
Before she passed away, my mother asked her to write a few of her experiences down. I knew her as a loving grandmother I would visit, but when I read her words as an adult, they had a profound effect on me.
She married for love, at a time when all marriages were arranged in India. She waited until the elders passed away. She also had the opportunity to be a real community leader in spite of living in colonial India.
Mama (she didn’t want to be referred to as a grandmother) was on the board of the new YMCA being introduced to the town of Calicut.
What was extraordinary and what made the greatest impact on me was her decision to leave the prominent role and return to being a full-time mother. She missed her sons too much.
That way back then, she understood that equality included women having the ability to make the best choice for themselves is extraordinary.
Lyonel Doherty
There are so many great women I know that it’s hard to choose just one to mention on International Women’s Day.
When first asked the question my thoughts immediately went to socialite Dot Cranston, a long-time Oliver woman who passed away a few years ago. She was like my second mom, always turning a grey day into sunshine.
If I had to choose among the living, I would recognize every palliative care nurse who brings comfort and dignity to the dying.
Kennedy Edwards
I have sat at my computer for ages trying to narrow down which woman in my life I wanted to write about, but every woman in my life is incredible in her own right.
The first person that came to mind was my grandmother Florence, strong yet kind; then my mother, Val, selfless and embracing; my stepmom, Lindsey, nurturing and thoughtful; my mother-in-law, Margaret, accepting and caring.
My friends, each unique and powerful in her own way. All of them, incredible women. I count myself lucky every day to have them in my life.
Derrick Robson
Writing about the greatest women I know was a challenge.
Outside of the usual, my mom, my wife Dianne or my sisters, I based my thought around an incredible wife to my best friend Ward. Khas is her name. Khas has endured through the most unbelievable event in their lives and has stood by Ward through a very difficult event.
Ward was injured in an accident rock climbing last July at Skaha Bluffs, severing his spine. He is home, recovering and Khas has provided incredible care, compassion and love to this man.
Greatness of a successful woman is one who can build a foundation with the bricks life has thrown at her.
Sebastian Kanally
While her impact is not that of Mary Wollstonecraft, Nellie McClung, or Joan of Arc, my sister Charlene is a closer example of the many everyday hero women that humanity would only benefit from recognizing.
She is an amazing single mother of four, works hard when she can cooking for seniors at the retirement home in our hometown, and still finds the time to have hobbies and create shirts, gift baskets, and crafts for the kids and her friends and family to enjoy.
She is a person that gives and gives, never asking for anything in return. The greatest thing about her is her intrepid spirit, her joy, and her positivity in the face of trials.
This is the true impact of women from the stone age to the present day: the woman who has too much on her plate but somehow flourishes.
