Women's Day

International Women’s Day is held around the world on March 8 to celebrate women and promote their advancement, and is an especially big holiday in Cameroon. In my town, activities started early in the morning. Women marched along the main road (also the only road) in a parade to the soccer field. Once there, they sang songs and marched in groups past the bleachers (really some chairs set up under a tent). Then they began different competitions, ranging from balancing a bottle on their heads, to an egg balancing race, to a 100m sprint. As part of my own work, we also included HIV education. Nurses from the health center announced basic information, pre-selected women performed a skit, and then we talked about prevention methods. This included a condom race. That’s right, 11 women represented each of the town’s communities in a race to put condoms on plantains. The women could not stop laughing. They were so excited. 

The four fastest women were awarded boxes of condoms as prizes. The women were literally squealing with delight, jumping up and down, dancing, shouting, and making rather inappropriate comments and gestures, which were met with roars of laughter and loud applause. It was an incredibly fun event. To close the ceremony, the women played a soccer match (a traditionally male sport in Cameroon). After that, the town turned into one giant party with food and drinks for the women all night long.