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There are many memories and tales that are told about the West
Kootenay Women's Association and the Nelson Women's Centre. We cherish
a speech written by Vita Story; it tells of the struggles and successes
with humour and detail.
She writes, "The scene opens in 1972 and the context is the Local
Initiatives Project…We sent an abortion survey to doctors in Nelson.
Got a few responses." That year women gathered in different living
rooms and determined that they wanted a local women's centre. By
1973 they had $7600 and a location on Baker Street. The organizers
were happy, but one writer at the Nelson Daily News used his editorial
space to state, "Women's lib is little more than a vehicle for members
of the fairer sex who cannot cope with the pressures of society."
And he went on to say, "it is nothing short of ludicrous for the
government of this country to spend taxpayers money on any project
associated with a façade such as women's lib. The recent granting
of the $7600 to the Nelson Women's Centre is incredulous and does
little to instil confidence in the Trudeau government."
"The Centre ran childbirth education classes on Saturdays. The room
would get filled wall to wall with foamies, pelvic models, posters
of foetal development and new fathers. It was very busy place. The
centre was into self-examination and self help. The book Our Bodies
Our Selves by the Boston Women's Health Collective was a must for
reading. We spent a lot of time looking at cervixes. Someone commented
that the way you know if women belonged to the Women's Centre in
those days was if she has a speculum in her drawer. It was a time
of exploration, awareness - we learned about pap tests that should
be done yearly, and what the different classes meant. We asked our
doctors at the clinic to please warm up the speculum and give us
a mirror during our pelvic exams. When they could not provide us
with mirrors, we brought our own".
In 1978, the Women's Centre moved to the Jam Factory. Speaking of
jam, one of WKWA's first projects was Emma's Jambrosia. Thirteen
women were involved in this federally funded project. From 1983-1985
their jam was distributed in health food stores across Canada. They
ran their jam operation from their factory in Crescent Valley.
"The subject of money for the centre was always a concern; $7,600
does not stretch very far, and we weren't financial experts. In
fact in our April newsletter in 1974 there was a notice to all members
read, 'the Women's Centre in Nelson has just run out of money. Due
to an error in bookkeeping, this happened about 2 months ago.' The
plea for donations for money that followed must have worked, or
we would not be here today to enjoy each other's company in this
way."
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