The Tribune

By ALESHA CADET

Tribune Features Reporter

acadet@tribunemedia.net

GRAND BAHAMA’S annual International Women’s Day celebration, Join Me on the Bridge, now in its sixth year, will host its annual high school essay and art competition to be held on March 8 at the Garden of the Groves.

Launched in 2010 as part of an international grassroots campaign, “Join Me on the Bridge” is an annual celebration held on International Women’s Day, which grew into one of the largest women’s rights campaigns in the world.

Lynette McInnes, “Join Me on the Bridge” member, said the organisation was originally sparked by a small gathering of Rwandan and Congolese women on a bridge connecting their two countries, countries traditionally at odds with one-another, but brought together by their common cause.

She said the event encourages a joining on a bridge, whether real or symbolic, to stand in solidarity with women and men, locally and from all over the world who are celebrating the achievements of women and showing support for their causes, demonstrating that they can build the bridges of peace and hope for the future.

“As someone who has been on that same bridge in Africa, and a longtime supporter of Women for Women International (WFWI), I was happy to get involved and organise the local event for the Bahamas. After three years of being under WFWI’s campaign, our Grand Bahama event branched out and blossomed into its own, stand-alone event with more of a local focus,” Ms McInnes said. “I continue to organise it each year as it grows and further engages with the addition of complementary components such as the high school essay and art competition, and more to come.”

Under the theme “Inspiring Women,” Ms McInnes said the high school essay and art competition will reflect on women’s rights and equality. She said what better way to help make positive change around women’s issues than by engaging the young and getting them thinking about it and talking about it, thereby inspiring to do something about it.

“This year we are including young men in our competition. Last year’s Join Me on the Bridge event theme was the importance of men’s roles in the equality and rights of all women, and that’s when we announced it. Again, what better way to make positive change than by educating, engaging, provoking and inspiring the young women and men, who are our future leaders and business people and parents,” she said.

Last year, Ms McInnes was named a “Woman of Inspiration” as part of National Women’s Month in Grand Bahama by The Freeport News, so when considering the theme for this year’s event, she was inspired by that.

At the event, the winning art pieces will be on display and the winning essays will be read during the ceremony. Ms McInnes said one of her goals for the competition is that it gives the participants a sense of accomplishment and confidence. This in turn, she said, will inspire her and give her a feeling of accomplishment, and in a sense make her a winner of the competition, too.

“I look forward to a lovely afternoon, which in the setting at the Garden of the Groves, is peaceful though filled with excitement and anticipation from the attendees. I look forward to the positive, supportive, celebratory bringing together of people who have a common goal, the positive feedback and media coverage that follows the event that continues to educate, engage and spread the word and reaches far beyond the 100 plus attendees as well as our special guest speaker from Nassau, Alicia Wallace. What an accomplished and inspiring young woman! She’s going to be awesome,” said Ms McInness.

Each year, she said, the event gets bigger and better, with last year’s event reaching nearly 140 attendees. She said the event’s success is owed to its sponsors, volunteers, speakers, guests and the media, as well as everyone’s enthusiasm, support and participation.

“Event attendees and speakers are from different backgrounds, countries, political parties, things that tend to divide us, who are joining together in order to allow for the change and advancement we all strive for,” she said. “In 2013, our main speaker, Minister of Social Services Melanie Griffin, in her speech commended me for organising Join Me on the Bridge, and said in so doing I successfully united the local and expatriate community for a common cause – the rights of women. I’ve seen some advancement of women’s issues in the Bahamas since I started the event in 2010. I know it’s from a combination of things and people – some who have been speakers at Join Me on the Bridge – but I do feel that the event helps to fuel that movement. We still have a ways to go, but I definitely feel positive change is on the horizon. The event is a conversation starter, a catalyst that gets people talking about the issues, and that’s a great starting point.”

Ms McInnes encourages interested persons to log onto the Join Me on the Bridge Facebook page for the latest announcements and information (www.facebook.com/JoinMeOnTheBridge).