The Graduate Student Association of Ghana, (GRASAG), University of Cape Coast branch has organised a forum to commemorate the International Women’s Day on the theme “Be Bold for Change”. International Women’s Day is marked on March each year to bring the issues concerning women to the fore for discussions all over the world. It was in this vein that GRASAG UCC put up the programme to sensitize the University community on the need for women to be given the required support to achieve their dreams in lives. Making a presentation at the event, a lecturer at the Department of Tourism and Hospitality Management, UCC, Dr. Alberta Bondzi-Simpson said women cannot afford to sleep if they want to succeed in life. “For you to succeed as a woman, you have to have a purpose so that in spite of the odds you can get to the top”. “Women should prepare by strengthening themselves to start from the grassroots and persevere through determination to reach the top”. According to Dr. Bondzi-Simpson, women could achieve their aims in life if they become conscientious by paying attention to details in their endeavours and not be flimsy. “Do not use your femininity as an excuse, work hard, you have what it takes to succeed, you must succeed”. The Lecturer called for a change of perception that, it is men who should take care of women and also advised women who believe in this to jettison such an idea. “If you are a woman and you become a burden on a man then you are not the helper you are supposed to be”. Dr. Bondzi-Simpson urged women to use their hands to earn a living since it was not shameful for any women to do so. “If we work with our hands, we will not have ladies stealing Brazilian hair. We will wear the Brazilian hair, but we will buy them”. She called on women Graduate students not remain jobless after their training, rather elect to be entrepreneurs so that they could pay themselves by employing others to work for them. “Please, let people respect your mind and not your bodies”, she emphasised. She described women as the independent variables and men as the dependent variables; therefore, men need women to succeed in life and not vice versa. The Vice President of GRASAG UCC, Maureen Adoma Debrah in an interview, said the Women’s Commission hoped more women would come out to manifest change in their lives and society at large after the commemoration of the day’s activities. She also indicated that it was important for women to be included in the major decision making processes in the country since women have critical roles to play in nation building. The Provost of the College of Humanities and Legal Studies, Prof. Dora Francisca Edu-Buandoh chaired the function.
