Women on parade

Tuesday was International Women's Day. The centenary in fact. A day that was largely ignored in Eldoret with the exception of me telling all of the medical students that they should say thank you to all the women they know. And then watching in disbelief as the students went bed to bed to say thank you to the nurses and the women on the ward. My heart sank a little deeper when there was a party for International Kidney Day on 10 March and my ears had been deafened by the silence of International Women's Day.

Then on Saturday, as I was walking to market, there were 20 or so women on parade, big banners and an off-key marching band. Stopping traffic. They circled through the main streets of town grinding the city to a halt. "End gender based violence" "Embrace the new constitution and rights for women" "Stop violence against women." If only the messages from the media had such clarity. A few more headlines, this time taken in the week surrounding International Women's Day. And the last word goes to the president.