The role of rural woman in driving change within their communities

When thinking about rural communities, the first thing that comes to mind are the men who sustain their communities. This is because society is conditioned to view men in primary roles, but what about the people that support those men? What about the women? The wives, the mothers, the girlfriends, the sisters, the daughters, and the friends? They are the people who become the mothers, health-care workers, business owners and the fundraisers; everyone’s biggest support. They are the people who, not only support the men, but their whole community. These women are the backbone of their communities. These women are the backbone of my community.

There are many inspirational women within my community, so many that it would be impossible to name them all. However, the most inspiring to me is my mother, Terri. She is not just inspiring because she is my mother (although I am biased), she is inspirational because of her spirit. The way she can single-handedly run two businesses, a farm, while simultaneously raising myself and my two sisters, just leaves me in awe.

Why should just one moment make a person inspiring? Sure, one moment can stand out, but to me, a person is inspiring for the little things that they do. It’s all the long-distance sport trainings, going above and beyond for students and waving and saying hello when they feel like doing anything but. All these things might not seem like much, but they can be everything. It’s all the little things that can have the most impact. It’s all the little things that make a change because a change doesn’t happen overnight. That is what rural woman do, that is how they drive change, by doing all the little things that can inspire change.

Rural women are the quiet achievers who strive for change but not recognition. These women are the people behind the scenes that run the businesses, volunteer for community organisations, and provide a sense of leadership. It’s surprising the number of women that work behind the scenes. Michelle Obama once said, “there is no limit to what we, as women, can accomplish”, this became especially apparent during the past five years when many communities suffered through a series of natural disasters that depleted the resources of many rural communities. Both men and women rallied together to support these communities, but it was the women especially that united to create Buy from the Bush. Buy from the Bush is an innovative platform for rural businesses that are predominantly female owned and run, the platform is used to showcase and support a range of small businesses. The support of these businesses was, and still is, crucial to the rural families that rely on these funds to supplement the income lost due to the drought, fire and flood. That is how they drive change, that is how we drive change, by banding together and supporting each other no matter what life throws at us.

Rural women don’t necessarily set out to change their communities most of the time the change is subtle, happening over time, without conscious thought, by little acts. You don’t just have to be a man or a person in power to drive change, you can be a single mother, an office administrator, a small business owner or a rural doctor. As Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody sang ‘… power and privilege cannot move a people… from little things big things grow’.