A small altar covered in the colours of Zimbabwe — black, red, green, yellow and white — and topped with three candles was placed at the front of St. Joseph's Parish to celebrate this year’s World Day of Prayer.
Nearly 100 women — and a few men — attended this year’s event on March 6, which featured the theme “Rise! Take your mat and walk.” Women from Zimbabwe prepared the outline of the service; the country is located in southern Africa and is one that is predominantly Christian.
World Day of Prayer is an international, inter-church event that began 98 years ago to bridge the social, geographic and political barriers in more than 170 countries. The three themes woven throughout the event focused on justice, peace and reconciliation so that women everywhere can stand together in prayer and action.
Volunteers Tendai Toriro, Remedios Mills and Rosalie Boots helped communicate the three themes during the service by wearing small posters around their neck with each word printed on it. For Toriro, participating in the service was exciting and had special meaning since she moved to Canada from Zimbabwe more than three years ago, while her family was also in attendance.
“This is so perfect. We feel welcome and more at home because (Zimbabwe) is Christian,” she said before the service started. “For people to take the time to recognize Zimbabwe, it makes us feel more welcome.”
During the service, four women read short letters from Zimbabwe that talked about the country’s history and the challenges it faces today. One letter talked about how the country has gone through several changes in government since 2017, while another letter talked about how unemployment and out-migration have affected communities.
Another letter talked about how women are treated as inferior, with almost half having experienced physical violence and one-third have experienced sexual violence before age 18; up to 50 per cent of brides are under the age of consent; 2.7 per cent of females between ages 15 to 17 live with HIV, while that number jumps to 13.9 per cent for women ages 23 to 24.
“These statistics are very sad and challenging, but we can change these, and be proud to be Zimbabweans,” one speaker said. “We value the community-based culture and our closely-knit families, even though individualism and domestic violence affect our families.
“Awareness and lobbying for gender equality have increased and there are laws to protect women against gender-based violence … . We are encouraged to report that women held 33 per cent of seats in the 2018 parliament.”
Offerings received through the World Day of Prayer go to project grants that empower women and children in Canada and throughout the world.
For more information visit www.wicc.org.
