women's day!

march 8, international women's day came upon us, and i spent the morning with a rally led by the DSWD (dept. of social welfare) with lots of women's organizations, and then ended my workday by attending a rally put on by the Innabuyog-Gabriela group. :) Innabuyog-Gabriela is an alliance of indigenous women's organizations in the Cordilleras. they are active in issues of VAW (violence against women), human trafficking, immigration issues (especially with the high number of OFWs), and they are bold. first heard about them when i was living in new york, and in my mission here in baguio city, i was able to find out more and spend some time with them.

in pictures, this is how i spent my day!

each barangay (town-community) had a poster for the parade. and yes there was a contest. here are some of the posters led by the women's organizations in some of the barangays:

something like, "don't ignore/pretend it's not happening - GET INVOLVED" 

:)

find out. condemn it/be against it. refuse it! fight it.

no rally is complete, without indigenous community dancing.

exciting things ahead, and i am realizing, wow, there are some pretty awesome communities out there really working hard to make a difference - in a positive way! and they are successful in doing so, also! :)

it's a blessing to have met so many of these community organizers and world changers, and it is such a blessing to be able to call them friends.