‘I wish I was a woman today!’, told me one of our teachers laughing while we were just about to leave.

In the days before the race, as it is now cool to say, there was HYPE, super HYPE even though the majority of them does not even know what the word means. Along the road the women were asking for confirmation on the race, on the prizes and on the lunch … As a matter of fact, taking into consideration participation, fun, sportsmanship and joy this was one of the best editions; more than 400 participants who were amused more than they were fierce, colored and electrified the valley of Mukwamba Village like the light beam of an optic fiber which will reach this village maybe in 50 years.

Boss Lady … this is the shirt that Clare decided to wear during the Women’s Race. Boss Lady … 28 years old, but she is not really sure … She is from Southern Province and stopped going to school in third grade, when you ask her why she replies “Khaya” – I don’t know – shrugging with a resigned smile … at some point her parents stopped sending her to school … “Khaya” … She speaks only Tonga, but always laughs and smiles, she is interested in many things … I think she would have been a brilliant student.

#choosetochallenge!

(it is the official hashtag of International Women’s Day 2021)

Even this year in Mukwamba Village the race is female! It is for mothers, daughters and grandmothers. And at times even great-grandmothers, like the three over 80 who closed the arrivals at the top of the very steep final up-hill that ends at the gate of the school. Many generations of women, like provincial sport clubs, have been meeting one another for the past seven years at the Chakwela Makumbi School, taking a day of well-deserved rest from the many daily difficulties.

#choosetochallenge! It is to participate!