By Eden Foster
What does International Women’s Day mean to you?
International Women’s Day for me is about celebrating women and our strengths.
It is also a time to challenge gender stereotypes and encourage others to call out discrimination and gender bias, which unfortunately in some instances is still continuing to this day.
The importance of women in local government is crucial for bringing different skills and perspectives to the discussion table.
The women on Council in Greater Dandenong all offer unique experiences, knowledge and expertise that are tremendously beneficial to our community.
I’m so privileged to work alongside a group of talented and wonderful women on Council.
My story
My mother, an Anglo-Indian woman from India, migrated to Australia in 1969 with her family.
She was one of the lucky migrants, already having English as her first language she was able to navigate through a predominantly white country.
In 1981, my mother became a single parent, raising me on her own when I was just six months old.
My mother went back to work as a stenographer (a now virtually extinct profession) when I was six months of age, leaving me in the care of a Council childcare worker named Di.
So much so, my first word was not mama, but Di-Di.
My mother worked hard to pay off the mortgage of a small two-bedroom unit in Springvale.
Getting me up early to go to childcare from 6am to 6pm. Whilst she worked in the city in the public service, ensuring she was home in time for me to be dropped off.
My mother had to ensure she worked from 8am to 4pm in order to be home on time to greet me, as there was no other support around.
It got to the point her work wanted her to stay until 5pm, which of course was not suitable.
When informing her boss that she could not work the requested 9 to 5, she was told to choose between her job or her family.
How could she choose? Her job provided for her family, but her family was her life.
That ultimatum certainly did not demonstrate embracing equity. But in fact demonstrated a lack of understanding and empathy for working mothers.
My mother struggled to maintain the work and family life balance and soon had to leave her job, going on a single parent’s benefit and later the disability pension after numerous health conditions.
My mother never denied me anything, but how could she when I never asked.
We were living day by day trying to ensure that there was just enough to pay the mortgage and the bills.
I know this because I would bring out the calculator as a seven-year-old to work through the weekly budget with my mum.
Maybe that’s why at one stage I wanted to be an accountant. Who knows?
What I do know is that these early experiences and seeing my mother’s strength, determination, and never give up attitude has shaped me into the woman I am.
It built my resilience, my sense of courage and most importantly my own determination for a better life.
