Women's Health West :: Working with Bosnian women

Carla, facilitator of Becoming Butterflies

Carla Carla's story

To be a woman is a privilege. As a youngish woman I sometimes feel that I am floating in the world with huge sense of responsibility. To be the best woman I can be, to be a woman other women can be proud of. I also feel the responsibility, to tilt the world view of others to make the world a positive and safer experience for women. I feel that every day I learn more about this privilege and this responsibility.

In the past year I have learnt so much from this small group hidden away in the West. Every Monday I marvel at the strength, purpose and determination in these women. I hear stories shared humbly and openly about the obstacles that they overcome; many times, like a lot of women, not even recognising their own strength.

I have found it a privilege to work with this group of women which is lucky to have a core of strong purposeful and driven women I've learnt so much about and who have inspired me. These women, like so many, balance motherhood, families and all the other competing interests. They help and nourish each other and continue to grow. They are not content to be the amazing women they already are, instead they choose to grow, to spread their wings and to fly. Like the story of the butterfly, they know there will be difficulties but they will change. This is why they inspire me. Because even in the times when they are feeling low, they come to the group and they give so much of themselves to others.

Each time I join this group, I marvel at our individuality as women but also at the many common bonds that unite us, across cultures, ages and backgrounds. My hope is that you will see some of this in these women through this project and this art. They deserve to be recognised by all.