International Women's Day

On Thursday 10th March 2016 students of the course ESOL E2 Speaking and Listening class and their tutor Debora Sinclair Murray visited the organisation SimpleGifts: Unitarian Centre for Social Action in Bethnal Green.

This organisation runs community programmes from Bethnal Green, East London premises. Her programmes - including After School Club, New Neighbours/Old Neighbours Lunch, and ESOL classes - are all run by a team of dedicated volunteers.

On that day the volunteers organised activities to make this day more special for all women of the E2 class. Some wanted to have make up, some only facial massage, some a manicure and some a Henna painting. Henna has been used for centuries to adorn young women's bodies as part of social and holiday celebrations:

 

Henna as body art

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It holds for a few days, then gradually wears off by way of exfoliation.

 

On this day volunteers have tried to make their wishes come true. It was a day when women fulfilled wishes of women. All women felt beautiful and more important than any other day. Volunteers served everyone warm lunch, which smelled of love and warmth between people of any colour, from any country of the world that have come to London and what united them above all was English language. And while happily munching their lunch, they all felt that they were part of a large family.

By Milica Miletic