To this day, many people think that women are just weak creatures who have nothing in life. There are still many places or countries that treat women arbitrarily. But as time goes by women have proven that they are able to do more than what a man cannot do.

In this workshop, I learned a lot that women are able to stand up. On their own, women are capable of doing whatever they want. I learned about the journey of a woman’s life from being a nobody to becoming an extraordinary person. Women can become painters, teachers, and writers, and some women will even set foot on the moon. One of the important things that I got from this workshop is that women are not weak creatures, but women are someone who is also able to match a man.

I feel very grateful and very happy to have met the famous writer Amanda Chong. She was very friendly and every word she said was easy for the workshop participants to understand. One thing I like about her is that one by one the participants got the opportunity to share their writing and she humbly explains how to make their writing easy for the reader to understand without telling the reader what is the story or the poem about.

Lastly, here is a poem written during the workshop by one of the participants, Janelyn Dupingay:

Present Murmur

I have forgotten what freedom tastes like,
to lie down on my bed-unbothered.
Count the sheeps running on my head
till’ I wake up with the sunlight caressing my cheeks.

I have forgotten how my feet meet the ground
carelessly- to run out the house like bandit
hiding from my father’s shooting stare.

I have forgotten how my mother caresses my hair-
the whisper of comfort if I fail,
to look at the mirror without fear,
to see myself with all adoration.

Instead…
I remember the countless burdens on my shoulder,
Swamped with plates waiting to be filled,
Lined up bills like sharp thorns pricking my eyes
And the deafening gong of deadlines.

I remember how the clock matches the pace of my rushing steps,
How the numbers on the calendar blurs when I glare
How the thoughts of returning home fades
as I continue to speak this borrowed language.

Today, I woke up, I am no longer eight.

That’s it for our last workshop of the year!

Written By
Sonia Serrenade