By Chris Shoust
SooToday.com
Tuesday, March 09, 2004

W is for women, Gisele Beausoleil.
Beausoleil knows that, though.
She's an advocacy worker for Women in Crisis.
Beausoleil stood at the entrance of St. Andrew's Congregation (the United Church of Canada) yesterday, greeting newcomers and saying goodbye to the women that were leaving.
All smiles, all around.
It was International Women's Day at St. Andrew's.
"What a remarkable experience," gasped Lisa Muncey.
She arrived at the event with friends, to share the day together as women.
Card tables and presentations lined the venue.
To the left there was a tarot card reading.
To the right henna tattoos were being applied.
Down the hall there was a Reike "healing" taking place; hands wafting over the body transferring "energy" from one person to another.
Downstairs, students from Mount St. Joseph College were bustling about; doing day-care for the women at the event.
Children cried out in laughter.
Kiosks were set up for Phoenix Rising Womens' Centre, the Algoma Health Unit, Women in Crisis and the like.
Across the room, the free lunches and desserts that were prepared hours earlier, dwindled down to nothing.
The chocolate cake was gone.
The chili was said to have been "pretty good."
"Look, students from Sault College are doing the ladies' hair and make-up," says Beausoleil. "It's a day for women to come out and have a free day."

The red tent

In the basement of St. Andrew's, something different was taking place.
The room was dim.
Voices were few.
There was the red tent.
"It's taken from a book. I don't know if you know it, but women would sit inside and share their stories about what it's like to be a woman," says Beausoleil.
The red tent is taken from a book by Anita Diamant, about a biblical character named Dinah.
Dinah is portrayed as a voiceless being. In Diamant's novel Dinah is given a voice.
This is reflected in the red tent, where woman converse and others listen.

History and purpose

Five years ago, the International Women's Day event started with only a handful of people attending.
"[Women] love it. A lot of the people that come here live on fixed incomes and they can experience things they wouldn't normally get to for free," said Beausoleil.
This year the event was experienced by at least 200 women.
Three thousand dollars of the cost was contributed by the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, along with contributions by local residents.