Det har varit Internationella kvinnodagen och temat för veckan blir just detsamma. Jag vet inte hur mycket vi firar detta i Sverige – men kanske är det olika mycket på olika ställen och i olika sammanhang. Detta är ett tema med många möjligheter, men jag har valt att hylla de starka kvinnorna i min familj, min mor och min dotter. Jag skulle haft med min mormor, som var starkast av oss alla, men har tyvärr inga digitala foton av henne.

Första bilden visar min mamma när vi firade hennes 75-årsdag genom att åka till Madeira igen och vandra. Detta gjorde hon första gången för ca 15 år sedan, och hon ville gärna tillbaka. Frisk och stark och vacker! Hon har arbetat hårt sedan hon var 14 år gammal och lägger nog aldrig riktigt av med det…

Den andra bilden visar min dotter när hon volontärade på Nya Zeeland med naturvårdsarbete. Hon skulle åkt ett år tidigare, men fick besvär med alla stora leder i kroppen. Ett år tog det för läkarna att konstatera att hon hade en inflammation i armbågen som måste opereras och att hennes kropp var så van vid hård träning och tävlande sedan barnsben att detta uppehåll i träning påverkade kroppen så negativt att den kärvade. När hon väl började träna igen blev hon helt återställd. Hursomhelst blev det en fantastisk tid för henne på NZ, med hårt arbete från tidig morgon till kväll – hela tiden i svårt kuperad terräng, bush och regnskog – tungt lastad med bland annat såg, yxa och machete. Hon älskade sitt arbete och vill gärna tillbaka dit.

Ailsa has decided on International Women’s Day as her travel theme this week to coincide with International Women’s Day yesterday .

I don’t have enough words to say all I would have liked to say about the women in this world. I admire so many strong women, but I also feel grief and sometimes hopelessness for mankind in its endless search for money and riches. So many times it is the women who are the losers and the victims.

For my entry I have chosen the two women closest to me, both whom I admire immensely. There should have been three photos, the first one of my grandmother, but I have no digital photos of her. She was the strongest of us all. A hardworking fruit and berry farmer with roots in the poor Sweden of the early 20th century.

The first photo shows my mother, who is a strong, beautiful woman. She has earned her own living since she was 14 and hasn’t slowed down yet… This photo was taken when we were on a hike Ribeiro Frío – Portela in Madeira. The trip to Madeira was to celebrate her 75th birthday.

The second woman whom I admire immensely is my daughter. A tough girl who went alone to New Zealand to work in a nature preserving project.

She was on her way a year earlier but had severe pain in and trouble with her joints. However, after a whole year, the doctors came to the conclusion that this was not rheumatism or any other feared illness – it was an infected elbow which she had to operate on. And, they also found out that because of her hard training and competing in gymnastics ever since she was a young girl,  now her body simply couldn’t function properly without this training. So, when she started training again – she was as good as new. No pain, nothing.

This project in NZ meant hard work from dawn til dusk,  in difficult terrain, bush and rainforest – all the time heavily loaded with tools like axe and machete. But she loved to work hard in this magnificent nature – prepared to do everything for the plants and the animals. She is determined to return some day.

So, to all magnificent women out there – stay strong, believe in yourselves and don’t give up even if life is hard on you. We have always had to struggle in a patriarchal society. Let us be there for each other.