International Women's Day

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - SATURDAY, MARCH 7, 2020 5 Celebrating International Women's Day EACH FOR EQUAL Happy International Women's Day NIKI ASHTON, MP CHURCHILL—KEEWATINOOK ASKI Niki.Ashton@parl.gc.ca LEAH GAZAN, MP WINNIPEG CENTRE Leah.Gazan@parl.gc.ca DANIEL BLAIKIE, MP ELMWOOD—TR A NSCONA Daniel.Blaikie@parl.gc.ca Brian Mayes City Councillor Conseiller municipal St. Vital 204.986.5088 bmayes@winnipeg.ca Markus ChaMBers Deputy Mayor City Councillor St. Norbert - Seine River 204.986.5920 markuschambers@winnipeg.ca On Sunday, March 8 from 2 to 4 p.m., the mother- daughter duo will speak in Winkler at The Bunker at an event organized by Genesis House. The intention is to empower women to recognize that they're stronger than they realize. "Genesis House is a small women's shelter located in Winkler, but we serve a large region of the Pembina Valley," said executive director Angela Braun. "Our clientele is women who have experienced violence either by a family member or an intimate partner." When the organization launched in the mid-2000s, it filled the need for a women's resource centre for the community. "Women in the rural area are more at risk of intimate partner violence than urban. Manitoba is the second highest across Canada, excluding the North," Braun said. "In 2019, 136 women and girls were murdered across Canada. The youngest victim was five months and the oldest was 94." These statistics hit home hard, particularly for families of women or girls who have experienced violence. In November 1984, Derksen's 13-year-old daughter Candace went missing on her way home from school. Nearly seven weeks later, Candace's body was found in a shack near her home with her hands and feet bound. The teenage girl had died from exposure. For Derksen, her story is strategic because she purposely decided to live a life of forgiveness. "After the murder of our daughter, a man came to us the day they found her body and declared that life would be over for us because trauma would take over. I decided then that I was going to forgive. I had no clue what that really meant, but in some ways, it's the old definition of resilience," she said. "We didn't know who the murderer was. Most people think about forgiveness as relationship and that wasn't our understanding of it. Our understanding is that forgiveness is about love. It's choosing love and it's overcoming whatever has happened with goodness. It's letting go of anger and it's freeing the imagination to do something new. These are things that are taught biblically in terms of forgiveness." Another aspect of resilience stems from sharing their story. "We need to talk about it and we need to tell people what we're going through. That's happened for us naturally. We also hope to invoke the stories of others," Derksen said. "Some people think we're an example of resilience. We offer hope in the sense that my daughter Odia and I still have fun together. It's a testimony that it can be done and we're witnesses of each other. I can validate that she's working at resilience and she can validate me." In a sense, they sometimes fumbled towards forgiveness through uncharted territory. As an installation artist, Reimer often turned to creative outlets to move through her emotions. "It was a messy journey. That's where the humour comes in because we didn't do it very beautifully. We hope to model for other women that we can do this. We're not going to do it perfectly, but we can do life," Derksen said with a laugh. "International Women's Day is important for women's issues. We need to grow together as women and help each other." Derksen is also happy to endorse and support the work of Genesis House. "We just want to inspire because we know how low you can get. We understand how isolating grief and loss and feelings of failure can be. But there is tremendous power in gathering together," she said. "I'm thrilled to be doing this with my daughter. It's really a delight. In some ways, we're doing it as a party for ourselves. We'll be together, and it's always a joy to be with her." Tickets for the event are available through Eventbrite for $15 each, which includes coffee and desserts provided by local bakeries. The outing will also feature a selection of monologues by Sarasvàti Productions. ◗ Resilience in the face of trauma Wilma Derksen and her daughter Odia Reimer will share their heartfelt insights at an International Women's Day event that focuses on trauma and resilience. "We just want to inspire because we know how low you can get. We understand how isolating grief and loss and feelings of failure can be. But there is tremendous power in gathering together." - Wilma Derksen Mother-daughter duo Odia Reimer (top photo) and Wilma Derksen (bottom photo) will speak in Winkler on Sunday, March 8 at an event organized by Genesis House. Photos courtesy of XXXXX

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