Facebook connects feisty females for International Women's Day

I only found out it was International Women's Day this weekend from the photos of a few bemused former colleagues and school friends who live overseas. They tweeted 'girl power' headlines and posted photos on Facebook and Instagram of how they'd been treated to flowers and free coffee while out and about.

But this isn't just a calendar quirk. Annually celebrated on 8 March, International Women's Day is a growing movement where concerted efforts are being made to highlight women's achievements and lead us all in making the world more gender-equal.

Photo Credit: Shoana Solomon

Interesting that it was Facebook that alerted me to Sunday's significance, as the social network ran a series titled Facebook Stories, which highlights the stories of 12 inspiring women who've used Facebook in part to make an impact on their communities and motivate others. It's no 'flash in the pan' campaign either, with 2,369,193 likes on the official page when last I checked.

Intrigued to find out more, I tracked down one of the participants, Shoana Solomon, known as the #IAmALiberianNotAVirus activist - and an entrepreneur, photographer, host of online Liberia Travel & Entertainment Network series, when she has the time - to tell us more about her involvement in the Facebook Stories campaign...

Let's start with how you got involved in the 'Facebook Stories celebrated on International Women's Day' movement...

Solomon: It was so random. I received an email from a contact at Facebook, Brittany, and was confused at first, thinking: "Why me?" Then I found she had done a lot of research on me before we spoke, and she explained that Facebook wanted to share my story. "Really?", I asked. She replied: "Yes!" The rest is now on social media.

Moving on to your story, tell us how you were personally affected by the Ebola outbreak.

Solomon: My country, my people, my family were hit pretty darn hard. As we struggled to combat the disease in Liberia, Liberians outside of Liberia were battling against stigmatisation. We were being insulted for simply being from a region that had been afflicted with the Ebola virus. Even if we had not been to West Africa in decades, we were still stigmatised. My daughter was insulted in school. "You are from Liberia, that means you have a disease", one child said. It hurt a lot, but I knew it was due to ignorance and a lack of knowledge about the virus.

That clearly spurred you into action. Tell us more about how these experiences gave rise to the #IAmALiberianNotAVirus campaign...

Solomon: This campaign was started by me and three Liberian women who were talking about how frustrating it is to be looked at as if we were diseased or walking viruses from Liberia, rather than as human beings who just happened to be Liberians. Comfort Leeco wrote a moving post (quoted here) about what it feels like to be a Liberian during the Ebola crisis. This inspired Aisha Bruce to suggest that we start a campaign to do something about the spreading of stigmatisation. Dr Katurah Cooper saw Aisha's post and sent out a call to other progressive Liberians to join in. She suggested the slogan "I am a Liberian, not a virus". I came up with the idea of using imagery to express our feelings. I then took a self-portrait with the words suggested by Dr Cooper, written on a sheet of paper, and the rest is history. Within hours, that image went viral.

It's an impressive call for change. Let's talk about your other work, as entrepreneur, photographer, host of online Liberia Travel & Entertainment Network series - what do you enjoy most, and how do you relax after all that?

Solomon: It's a lot to fit in and honestly, I don't know what it is to relax. I'm a workaholic and almost need to stay busy to keep my sanity. I enjoy everything that I do. Hosting on Liberia Travel & Entertainment Network is the most recent of my endeavours, and I am focussing a lot of my efforts towards this project right now. I went to school for radio and TV broadcasting, but left the field years ago. Getting back into it is exciting for me. It's rewarding to be able to impact so many lives with each episode of the show. I meet so many interesting people daily, especially through social media, who want me to share their stories of inspiration. I just feel so blessed to have a career doing everything I love to do.

Certainly worthwhile work. Lastly, do you feel enough is being done to celebrate women, globally?

Solomon: I don't think there will ever be enough done to celebrate women, but that's just my personal opinion. Many of the women who need to be recognised are simple, everyday people like a market woman who opened her first bank account at age 46, and now teaches other market sellers the importance of having a savings account. There is a story about a woman who survived Ebola but watched a mother die in the hospital bed next to her. The mother that lost her fight to Ebola had a two-year-old son. He watched his mother die, and as the child had no other relatives, this saint of a woman took the child and decided to raise him as her own. There are so many stories like this all over the world that have not been celebrated. But it's OK, women like these are not looking for recognition. We do what we do out of love and a passion for what we believe in. Being celebrated feels great, but it's just an added bonus.