KINGSTON, Jamaica — On the eve of International Women’s Day on Saturday, the Sanmerna Foundation celebrated with a number of women at the Peace Garden at Hope Gardens.

Under the theme “Silent Battles, Unbreakable Women,” participants practised yoga and took part in a guided painting session designed to help them de-stress and reflect.

“Many times, women face battles that people don’t normally see. Apart from the battles at home, you have battles at work and just the gender inequality, mental health struggles that women face with hormones and just everyday struggles,” acknowledged Paige Dixon, project manager for the Sanmerna Foundation.

“Today we are just focusing on mental health, keeping our minds clear…just breathing and interacting with each other, so that everybody knows that they’re not alone in this world,” she said.

Dixon said the feedback on the celebration had been phenomenal.

“Women are saying to me that this is something that they’ve craved for and something that they wish would happen even more and it has really encouraged me to think about future projects like this,” she shared.

Attendee Jillian Jackson told Observer Online “Women’s Day is tomorrow [Sunday] and it’s so important for us to, as women, unite, bond…We go through a lot of stress, women carry a lot of burdens. So it’s good that we’re recognised and they put on this event for us. It’s extremely, extremely well supported and I enjoyed it.”

Also noting what she describes as a decline in etiquette among young women, Dixon said she is creating a women’s club to teach etiquette and other values. She noted that it was especially important for young girls to learn from older women about etiquette, dealing with the opposite sex, and femininity.

“Listening to these women and having spaces like this where we can speak to older women, their experiences in life, it does help us, it strengthens us and it passes on these values because it is definitely important to continue to build families and continue to keep families in the proper order,” she stated.

Dixon said the group will offer classes in manners, communication and personal development aimed at helping members become more confident and civically-engaged.

She urged women who may be dealing with stress to find a group to stick with.

“I just want to appeal to the women to just stay strong, find a group, find a social group because iron sharpens iron,” she said.