Limerick Clare Women’s Association brings light to its first International Women’s Day

More than 60 people attended the inaugural International Women’s Day event celebrated by Limerick and Clare Women Association.

Limerick Clare Women Association celebrated International Women’s Day with this year’s event falling on the same day as the Holi festival

by I Love Limerick correspondent Vinita Malu

Limerick and Clare Women Association (LCWA) recently celebrated its first International Women’s Day (IWD) event in Limerick’s Castletroy Park Hotel. More than 60+ women participated to enjoy womanhood.

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on March 8 worldwide to mark women’s political, economic, and social achievements. This day also marks a call for a gender-equal world that is free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination and is diverse, equitable, and inclusive, while differences are valued and celebrated.

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LCWA members welcomed the participants to the IWD event at 2 pm with attendees pre-registering for the event. It was amazing to see the women dressed in fabulous outfits. The event started with lamp lightning followed by stunning performances by the women.

The performances began with a beautiful solo dance by a woman to a magnificent Hindi song- “Bekhauff,” the song talks about how a woman wants to live her life- Free and Fearless. The next dance performance was by two gorgeous young women on a Bollywood song on colours.

This year, the Holi festival (the famous Hindu festival of colours) and International Women’s Day were on the same day.

After the dance performance, an exciting game was played that was quite relevant for the women’s day event. The game conveyed that each woman should try to break any stereotype against herself. For instance, women should not hush about anything. They should be free to talk or say whatever they want or like to. The game consists of 20 questions, with each answer having a BRA word- e.g., Name an animal, and the answer is ZeBRA. The women had fun playing it. The winners were rewarded with some gifts.

Next, the event’s chief guest- Dr Sucheta Johnson, a Gynaecologist- was welcomed to discuss women’s health. She spoke on the following topics:
Ways to prepare girls for puberty
Are tampons safe for young girls
Chromosomal anomalies in pregnancy
Some do’s and don’ts of Menopause

She said, “Women should start respecting their bodies. They should listen to their bodies. Women should care for themselves, never forget to relax, and take time for themselves.”

The women at the event learned much about the above topics from Dr Johnson and even clarified their doubts. After this healthy discussion, the Women’s Day cake was cut. The women enjoyed chatting over some snacks, cake, and beverages. Then came the much-awaited part of the event- the dance floor with DJ Shubhs. The women enjoyed dancing to some Bollywood music. Lastly, the women were asked to fill out the event feedback form, followed by a lucky draw.

This year the IWD theme is Embrace Equity. The International Women’s Day website says, “Equity isn’t just a nice-to-have, it’s a must-have. A focus on gender equity must be part of every society’s DNA. And it’s critical to understand the difference between Equity and Equality. While “Equality means each individual or group of people is given the same resources or opportunities. Equity recognizes that each person has different circumstances and allocates the exact resources and opportunities needed to reach an equal outcome.”

LCWA was formed last year, wherein they conducted their first “ME Time” event for women in September at the South Court Hotel. At present, there are seven women on the LCWA organizing team.

“LCWA was born from the idea to create a platform for all women in Ireland to connect, network, and grow. We plan to do various events over the year that will bring diverse women together and help them develop meaningful relationships with each other and contribute to the community,” said Team LCWA.

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Find out more about IWD here.