“How is it possible that we are so many and we are seen so little”? With a question as simple as it was direct, one of the honorees on the occasion of Women’s Day in Santa Cruz, and who last night received recognition from the City Council of the capital, summed up the need to focus attention on a world, the rural world, in that women are essential pieces so that, every day, the products of the land and the sea reach the tables of consumers. Pilar Carballo is the one who asked this question during her intervention in the institutional act held yesterday in the Municipal Plenary Hall. This 47-year-old rancher, who left the office to take charge of a livestock farm, recalled that “70% of world agriculture is in the hands of women who live on small farms carrying out tasks that are essential for the operation of these farms” . She advocated “support” for local and local products, more so at this time, since “although impossible sovereignty is impossible, if we produce and you consume, it is the best way to continue our work.”
In the act, presided over by the mayor, José Manuel Bermúdez, Estefanía Martín, current president of the Cooperative of the Market of Our Lady of Africa, recognized for her career linked to the rural world, was also recognized. During her speech, she wanted to pay tribute to the women of her town, those of El Tablero, “women who have been and are fighters and proud, who began to work when they were very young, and who multiplied to reach all the tasks . The same in the garden, as with the cattle, who got up at midnight to get on the back of a truck to go to La Recova to sell, and at the same time take care of children and elderly people.
Martín went on to say that thanks to the work of these women, “today we can live much better.” “In the most difficult moments, El Tablero has always been there, being Santa Cruz’s pantry, and we owe that to those women,” Martín concluded.
The third of the honored women, Carmen Soto Barrera, 33, a native of Candelaria, is the Patron Saint of a professional fishing boat. In her speech, she spoke of the difficulties that a profession like hers continues to have for women. “This is a very masculinized sector, in which women are in the background, although there are many of us. It is difficult to enter this sector because generally only men go on board the fishing boats, the belief continues to prevail that it is bad luck to have women on board, or that we do not have strength or capacity. I am an example that this is not a utopia”. She ended her speech by defending the need for equality policies as well as the defense of a sector that is so necessary for the Islands, such as traditional fishing.
Bermúdez congratulated the winners on behalf of all the chicharreros, “for a distinction that recognizes their worth and bravery, but above all their courage, determination and perseverance.”
