March 8 is International Women's Day - a day to celebrate women's achievements and recognise the ongoing fight for women's equality.
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We want to highlight some local women in the Eurobodalla who have made their mark in the community.
The Red Nose MusselRowers
Michelle Cottington, Shannon Small, Taryn Carver, Ashley Bujeya, Anna McGlynn, Elle Pannowitz, Katharine McKeever and Topaz Eaton made us all proud on February 12 when they completed their 320-kilometre journey across the Bass Strait.
Their seven-day journey raised money for the work of Red Nose Australia trying to find a cure for Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).
The group made history by being the first women to travel from Welshpool Port, Victoria to Little Musselroe Bay, Tasmania in a surf boat.
Read more about the MusselRowers' story here.
Jaylah Hancock-Cameron
20-year-old Jaylah Hancock-Cameron of Broulee continues to grace podiums and smash records. In 2022, Jaylah completed a three-week tour in the UK, bringing home four medals in 1500m running.
At age 14, Jaylah was playing netball for Broulee, representative netball for Eurobodalla and running casually for Moruya High School.
As netball began clashing with athletics, she had to choose a passion to pursue. "I don't remember the first time I ran competitively," she said. "I just grew to love it."
Read Jaylah's story here.
Patricia Ellis OAM
Moruya local Patricia Ellis could sit in a single spot in the middle of the Australian bush and talk for hours about the smorgasbord of medicinal and edible flora all around her.
She has been teaching bush food and medicine for more than 40 years and is employed by local schools to run cultural awareness classes. When the weather isn't raining, she takes mobs of people out on walks in the Deua, Eurobodalla or Murramarang National Parks and teaches them.
She sees her role as to reeducate, to teach, to help people understand. She hopes it has a widespread impact.
Learn more about Patricia here.
Cath Leach
Ms Leach is a self-professed ocean nut and graphic designer based in Narooma. After seeing the repetitive black images posted on social media during the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020, Cath wondered how she could help.
Cath decided to offer six-month free mentorships to young Indigenous artists to learn visual graphic recording and illustration.
Her national callout was answered by eight people, including McKyus Levis' disability specialist teacher Deb Calder. McKyus and Cath two struck up a shared connection through their interest in the sea.
She travelled to the Torres Strait in November to attend the book launch for The Monsters of McKyus in November 2022.
Learn more about Cath and McKyus' story here.
Jan Frikken
Jan Frikken, owner of JJJ Oriental Supermarket in Batemans Bay has worked tirelessly to organise community dinners and meet-ups for those wanting to create social connections. Recently, Jan has teamed up with Nicole Okimura and Cel Desabella to create Batemans Bay Coffee Morning Group.
As well as being a social outlet, Ms Frikken hopes the group will be a place for supporting one another. The group will be a weekly forum for discussing ideas, sharing possible community initiatives and responding to arising needs in the community.
"We found out from the dinners just how isolated everyone is - it's unbelievable. Coffee mornings will hopefully bring a new group of people together," said Ms Frikken.
Learn more about her cause here.
