In a year when women have taken the majority of the Queen’s New Year honours, Barbadian women’s rights advocate Maizie Barker-Welch has been bestowed with the title of Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE).
“I am very happy to have been recognized for the work I have done,” the long-standing campaigner said yesterday. “There are so many other people who are doing and have done outstanding work in Barbados who have not been recognized, and I am thankful for the honour.
“My one regret is that my husband is not here to share it. He would have been so happy and proud for me,” she said.
Pedro Welch, her husband for 55 years and a constant figure by her side throughout the years, passed away seven years ago.
Honoured for services to national, regional and international advocation for the rights of women, Dame Maizie described her passion for improving the lot of women as a “legacy” passed on by parents who impressed on their five daughters the value of hard work, love for people and helping others.
“That is what I have tried to do all my life,” she said, recalling that a story told by her father, a Moravian minister, of a Russian woman who combined the roles of homemaker, tiller in the fields and pianist, had made an indelible impression on her as a child, and opened her eyes to the scope for women to develop themselves.
But though the island’s latest dame acknowledges the progress made by Barbadian women, she maintained “there is still some way to go”.
“I can’t be satisfied because there are still some loopholes. We have to remember most of the people who got murdered recently were women. There is still a lingering feeling among men mostly that women are not exactly up there with them, but there is no doubt in my mind that women are up there or better. We must never be satisfied.
“You have to keep on until the objective is reached even though we have made some strides,” she added.
At age 86, Dame Maizie has resolved to continue the campaign she waged in her prime as president of the National Organization of Women, as coordinator for the Caribbean and North America as a member of the International Business and Professional Women’s Club, and as Barbados’ representative on the board of the Inter-American Commission of Women which she headed as president.
She worked relentlessly towards the completion of the Organization of American States’ Convention for the Elimination, Sanctioning and Eradication of Violence Against Women, initiated during her term in office.
There is no pulling up brakes for this indefatigable trouper who in 1986 unseated the Barbados Labour Party parliamentarian and Speaker of the House Lindsay Bolden, the man who for 16 years had represented the constituency of St Joseph in the House of Assembly. She was the only woman to sit in the House for that term.
She has been politician, teacher, women’s rights campaigner, advocate for the care of the elderly – today sitting as chairperson of the National Committee on Ageing – and is also chairperson of the Royal Commonwealth Society, activities tempered by her love for music and the piano to which she turns for relaxation.
In 2001, Dame Maizie was the recipient of the Barbados Centennial Honour.
• gercinecarter@nationnews.com