Nellie Weekes

Muriel Odessa " Nellie " Makonni (26 ga Agusta 1896 – 11 ga Mayu 1990) ma'aikaciyar jinya ce kuma ungozoma wacce ta kasance mai fafutukar kare hakkin mata. Yaƙin neman samun ƙarin albashi da aiki a ayyukan jin daɗin jama'a, ta koma siyasa a cikin 1940s a lokacin da yawancin mata ba su da siyasa a Barbados. Ko da yake ba ta yi nasara ba don neman kujera a Majalisar Dokoki sau uku a cikin 1940s, an zabe ta zuwa Cocin Christ Vestry a 1958, tana aiki na shekaru da yawa.

 Rayuwar farko 
Muriel Odessa "Nellie" Walcott an haife shi a ranar 26 ga Agusta 1896 ga Daniel Walcott a Saint Michael Parish a yankin Barbados na Yammacin Indies na Burtaniya .   Iyayenta sun mallaki kantin sayar da abinci kuma suna sarrafa su.  Ta girma a Dutsen Ubangijina a matsayin ɗayan yara 13 kuma ta halarci Makarantar ƴan mata ta Belmont.  Bayan ta kammala karatunta na sakandare a makarantar sakandare ta Lynch, ta yi karatun aikin jinya a lokacin da take aiki a babban asibitin Old Barbados da ungozoma a St. Michael's Almshouse.  

 Sana'a 
Walcott yayi aiki a matsayin ma'aikaciyar jinya da ungozoma. Tana son inganta kulawar da ake samu a cikin al'umma, ta kafa Makarantar Nursing Bedside da Makarantar Culinary na Mata.   Har ila yau, ta kasance mai aiki a cikin Choir don Animation of the Sick and Incapacitated,  wata kungiya da Harold Rock ya kafa, wadda ta yi amfani da magungunan kiɗa don faranta wa marasa lafiya da ke cikin gidajen yara, asibitoci, a gida ko a kurkuku.  Kasancewa cikin ayyukan jindadi na jama'a, gami da kungiyar ta Dorcas, wacce ta nuna goyon baya ga ma'aikatan, da kuma jinya na duniya .   Walcott ya auri Charles Nathaniel Weekes, tsohon sojan yakin duniya na daya  kuma mai masaukin baki. Tare suka gudanar da kasuwancin abinci. Sun shiga cikin ayyukan Otal ɗin Colonial, Otal ɗin Ritz, Otal ɗin Standard, da Kantinan Makonni. 

Bayan shekaru da yawa na aiki a matsayin ma'aikacin jinya da mai ba da abinci, Weekes sun gane cewa idan ana so a inganta matsayin mata, dole ne su shiga cikin tsara manufofi. Ko da yake an sha suka sosai saboda imaninta na gaskiya game da daidaito, ta tsaya takara a matsayin dan takarar majalisar wakilai mai wakiltar mazabar St. George a 1942.  Ba ta yi nasara ba, ta sake yin takara a 1944 a matsayin wakili na birnin Bridgetown.  A waccan shekarar an bai wa mata yancin kada kuri'a da tsayawa takara a kowane dan majalisar dokoki, idan sun cika kaddarorin da ake bukata ko kuma suna samun kudin shiga na fam 20 a shekara.   A gangamin da ta yi a ranar 13 ga Oktoba, duk wadanda suka yi jawabi mata ne, amma kuma ta sha kaye.  Ta yi takara amma ta sake yin rashin nasarar neman kujerar St. George a shekara ta 1946 amma ta yi nasara a zabe ta zuwa Cocin Christ Vestry a 1958.  A cikin 1959, ta zama mai kafa kuma ta yi aiki a matsayin mataimakiyar shugaban kasa ta farko na Kungiyar Mata ta Barbados Labour Party. 

Batutuwan da ta tura a lokacin da take cikin rigar sun hada da mafi karancin albashi; karin albashi ga ma’aikatan gwamnati da suka hada da ‘yan kwana-kwana, ma’aikatan jinya, ‘yan sanda, ma’aikatan waya, da malamai; kafa ayyukan jama'a; da matakan buƙatar gwamnati ta samar da abinci mai gina jiki ga mutanen da ke ƙarƙashin kulawar gwamnati. Ta kuma yi tsokaci game da bukatar samar da koyarwa kan al'adun Afirka.  Mamba ce mai ƙwazo na Ƙungiyar Mata ta Barbados, ta kuma ba da shawarar yin gyare-gyare ga Dokar Bastardy da kuma yin gwajin fyade a cikin ɗakuna masu zaman kansu, daidaitattun dama a ilimin 'ya'ya mata, da isasshen horo kan tsarin iyali.   Ta ci gaba da aiki a cikin al'amuran zamantakewa a Barbados a farkon shekarun 1980, lokacin da aka yanke mata kafafu. 

 Mutuwa da gado 
Makonni sun mutu a ranar 11 ga Mayu 1990 a Bridgetown, Barbados.  Ana tunawa da ita a matsayin majagaba da kuma "masu bin diddigi" a gwagwarmayar neman 'yancin mata a kasar.  

 Manazarta 

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 Littafi Mai Tsarki 

Rukuni:Haihuwan 1896
Rukuni:Shafuka masu fassarorin da ba'a duba ba