Women's Day for political and NGO types in Kinshasa

On March 18 I attended an "invitation only" women's event here in Kinshasa:  my friend Charlotte Djimbo works for the Ministry of Gender, Women and Family and gave invitations to me and my colleague Béatrice (receptionist at MCC office).  It was the start of a three-day extravaganza of speeches, performances, schmoozing, promotion of NGO and UN programs for women, workshops, wheeling and dealing, etc. etc.  

There were hundreds of women in gorgeous clothes, many of them made from the cloth designed for this year's theme:  "Parity between Men and Women for a more developed nation."  I was the only white face among the "ordinary" people in the huge meeting hall at the fairgrounds on the outskirts of Kinshasa.  (The setting reminded me of the St. Joseph Co. fairgrounds, on a more shaggy and crumbly scale.)  The only other white people were diplomats and their body guards (Béatrice and I joked that I was her bodyguard), United Nations organization people, European Union soldiers/police, and journalists who all floated around the edges and left as soon as was seemly.

After hours of speeches, a delightful theatrical presentation explaining what "parity" means, music by a Kimbanguist band and the band of a Ghanaian UN division, Béatrice and I headed out of the building before the press conference could begin.  

Outside we discovered that a huge fair had been set up all around the building:  hundreds of women's groups, including some Mennonite groups, had set up stands to show what they do and to sell the products they make.  There were groups singing and dancing, wearing matching colorful dresses and the stands were decorated with gorgeous cloth.  One group showed off their agricultural products by wearing peanuts on their heads and draping other vegetables here and there on their bodies.  Fruits, vegetables, soap, perfume, cleaning supplies, clothing, purses of every size-shape-color and material, natural medicines, a pig, cooking implements, on and on.  A fantastic market, alive with color and loud talk and laughter.  I saw how shikwang, the sour manioc gunk wrapped in banana leaves for long-term storage, is made.   We bought a few things, chatted here and there, and then headed for home as the hot sun blazed down on the event, which will last all weekend.