Connecting Women Around the World
In late 2022, our partners in Ecuador started stitching a story cloth that they intentionally left unfinished. It depicts their yearly vigil honoring victims of femicide in Ecuador. Each year the Federación de Mujeres de Sucumbíos (FMS) joins together in collective action and recommits themselves to ending violence.
“In this story cloth, we tell what we did at the vigil. We came together to symbolically wash. By washing clothes that were dirtied by violence, we wanted to wash away the violence from our lives. And we also washed the hearts that stop beating because of misogynist violence.”
From there the textile passed to our partners at Sajha Dhago in Nepal, so that women in a recent Kathmandu circle could continue where they left off. They added to the cloth the story of a daughter, a young woman, and a girl who encountered many struggles throughout her life. But amidst these struggles were elements of hope and possibility:
“When a dried plant is buried under a soil, there is the possibility that new leaves or branches will grow under suitable conditions. Similarly, a woman also struggles for living under any condition. … The sun represents the source of light, which can also be taken as hope in the life of a woman.”
They also included a heart in solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community and their ongoing struggle for acceptance in Nepal.
The story cloth has most recently passed into the hands of CTP in New York, where local women made their contributions.
What the group in Ecuador started will continue to be added to and carried forward by women around the world.
“No matter in which corner of the world women are living, their story, their struggle are similar.”