A global voice for women 3/2013-2014 No 234
President Ulla Madsen speaks out‘Let’s Go Green – Working for a Healthy Environment’
Best Practice Awards 2014Honouring OutstandiingSIE Projects
With Your Eyes Only – Part OneWinners of the PhotoCompetition
The LinkLink 3_2013-2014_S. 01_Cover_E 4_Layout 1 04.08.14 17:23 Seite 1
THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Note from the Editor • Contents • Imprint2
Soroptimist International (SI) is a worldwide organisation for women in management and professions, working through
service projects to build a better world for women and children. There are currently some 85,000 members in more
than 3,000 clubs in 126 countries. Soroptimist International of Europe (SIE) is one of four SI Federations. It has some
35,000 members in over 1,250 clubs in 59 countries. Soroptimists in spire action and create opportunities to transform the lives
of women and girls through a global network of members and international partnerships. For more information about the
aims, activities and projects that characterise our organisation, please visit our SIE website at www. soroptimisteurope.org..
What do our Federation and the victorious German foot-ballers have in common? A lot! I am not a fanatic football fanby any means, but somehow, like many others, I got caught upin the enthusiasm of the World Cup. As the championship pro-gressed, I narrowed down my allegiance from three – England,the US and Germany – to the Germans, for the simple reasonthat they were truly a team. No prima donnas, no multimillion-euro stars (at the time), but instead a mix of individuals, eachwith his own unique talent and cultural background, united bya common cause: to succeed!
Does that sound familiar? Well, it should. With the Gover-nors’ Meeting so fresh in my memory, I can draw many com-parisons. We too are an organisation comprising many individ-uals each with her unique talent and different cultural back-
ground. And yet we are all united in the common cause to suc-ceed in improving the lives of women and girls – through ourprojects and our personal commitment. And we too achieve ourbiggest successes through teamwork. Soroptimist does not showits strength through a single person, but rather a combinationof many impressive women, all working towards a common goal.That was demonstrated in the preparations for and during theactual event in Copenhagen. Like the football captain, we havea President who sets the tone, but each of us has her role to play.So, thank you, President Ulla, fellow Board members, Gover-nors, Union Presidents, Single Club reps and staff members atSIE HQ for working to make SIE a winning team!
Christine Cromwell-Ahrens, Editor, The Link
SIE Pres ident Ul la Madsen speaks out 4
SIE Best Pract ice Awards 2014 6
Winners of the Photo Compet i t ion 8
GM: Too Much to Cover in One Issue 9
The Nordic Forum 10
Global Summit in London 11
Federat ion News 12
News from Unions and Clubs 16
Soropt imists in theNether lands arecol laborat ing withUNI CEF to ensurethat the refugeechi l dren of Syr ia arenot a lost genera-t ion. Photo: UNICEF
Note from the Editor
PLAYING FOR A WINNING TEAM
C o v e r p a g e C o n t e n t s
Soroptimist International
Page 6
Page 14
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THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • President’s Letter 3
President’s Letter
Dear Soroptimist Friends
the support of our Unions and Single Clubs it would nothave been possible to carry out the largest MembershipConsultation in SIE history. The findings were commu-nicated to the Governors beforehand and discussed indepth on the eve of the meeting. The results of the con-sultation will be reported in the next edition of The Link,and the feedback from the Governors’ discussion will bepresented on the SIE website.
Congratulations to prizewinners
I congratulate all participants and winners of the BestPractice awards for their fantastic projects, and especiallyto SI Italy as overall winner. We can be so proud of all ofthese outstanding projects, which are reported in thisissue. I am also very happy with the participation in thePhoto Competition. Thank you for the creative entriesand for making this first round such a success.
There are so many exciting things to say, but due tospace constraints, I will have to save some of my com-ments for the next issue. However, I would like to expressmy deepest gratitude to my Board, the Committees andappointed officers for being so supportive and diligent.Last but definitely not least, I would like to praise SIEExecutive Director Anne Simon and her hardworking anddedicated HQ staff for their efforts in helping our Feder-ation move forward. They are an essential extension ofour organisation and crucial to its continued strength.
Yours
I have just returned from the Governors’ Meeting inmy home city of Copenhagen, and although the mainreporting of this important event for our Federation willbe in the next issue of The Link, I would like to take thisopportunity to thank the Governors on behalf of theentire Board for being so constructive and active. I amvery grateful to them for taking wise and courageous deci-sions for the benefit of present and future SIE members.
One of the ground-breaking proposals the Governorsapproved was to simplify the Constitution and move asmany rules as reasonable to the Bye-Laws. Soroptimistswith professional expertise in Constitution matters areinvited to volunteer for the Task Force Group, which willdraft a new Constitution and revised Bye-Laws. If thetimetable proceeds as planned, a final proposal will bepresented to the Governors in 2017. Please contact Chairof the Constitution & Bye-Laws Renata Trottmann, if youare interested in joining the Task Force.
SI Convention in 2015
In the interest of transparency and to quell rumors,I would like to share with you the announcement I madeat the Governors’ Meeting concerning the SI Conventionin 2015. Due to the geopolitical situation in the MiddleEast and the massive coverage by the international media,some members of the four Federations have expressedconcern about going to Istanbul next year. In anticipationof the possibility of reduced participation and in line withnormal risk management procedures, SIE will togetherwith the Chair of the Local Committee, Emine Erdem,the Local Committee members, the Turkish Union andthe Chair of the Convention, Janny Spierenburg, adjustits budget so that the SI Board hopefully will be able toaccept a revised version.
All of us in the group will do our utmost to succeed sowe will be able to meet next year at the Convention inIstanbul, one of the world’s most fascinating cities, andtogether enjoy the endless warm and friendly Turkish hos-pitality. From the bottom of my heart, I would like tothank Emine, the Local Committee members, Presidentof SI Turkey Mine Kavala, the Turkish Union and Jannyfor all their hard work and efforts. The decision will beannounced as soon as possible.
Membership Consultation was a great success
I would like to thank the 19,000 members from 700clubs who responded to the membership survey. This isequivalent to 55% of our total SIE membership. Without
SIE Pres ident e lect Mar ia E l i sabetta de Francisc is , S IE Pres i -dent Ul l a Madsen and Immediate Past S IE Pres ident KathyKaaf were a strong team at the Governors ’ Meet ing in 2014.
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4 THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • SIE President Ulla Madsen Speaks Out
The latest report of the UN’s IntergovernmentalPanel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that,‘Throughout the 21st century, climate changeimpacts are projected to slow down economicgrowth, make poverty reduction more difficult, fur-ther erode food security and prolong existing andcreate new poverty traps, the latter particularly inurban areas and emerging hot spots of hunger’.
As statistics show, women form a disproportion-ately large share of the poor. Women in rural areasin developing countries are highly dependent onlocal natural resources for their livelihood, because
it is so often their responsibility to secure water,food and energy for cooking and heating. Theeffects of climate change, including drought, uncer-tain rainfall and deforestation, make it harder forwomen to secure these resources.
Women suffer the worst effects
Indeed, when it comes to climate change,women and girls in the least developed countriesare the most likely to suffer, but they also have thecapacity to drive change and adaptation withintheir communities. A sustainable and well-pro-tected environment improves women and girls’ livesand facilitates access to education and empower-ment.
Today, the need to create a comprehensive globalenvironmental policy is urgent yet it somehow alsoremains unlikely. On the one hand, what we designfor the future determines how we behave in the
The following is an abridged version of SIEPresident Ulla Madsen’s speech at theGovernors’ Meeting in Copenhagen in July.It demonstrates her passion for the currentSIE biennium theme to work for a healthyenvironment.
‘ L E T ’ S G O G R E E N – W O R K I N G F O R A H E A LT H Y E N V I R O N M E N T ’
S I E P re s i d e n t U l l a M a d s e n s p e a k s o u t
SIE Pres ident Ul la Madsen is pass ionate about preser v ing a hea l thy environment for generat ions to come .
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5THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • SIE President Ulla Madsen Speaks Out
present. On the other hand, we create the future onthe basis of today’s projections which, unfortu-nately, often ignore the prospects of an actual andimminent environmental catastrophe. As impliedin the ‘Green Cities’ theme chosen by the UN forEarth Day 2014, all civic movements should priori-tise sustainability. ‘Going green’ is no longer only achoice but an imperative.
Environmental policymaking in particular offersa unique opportunity to highlight the importanceof women’s leadership in an area that concerns thetotality of communities worldwide. As empoweredactivists, women can make an immediate andresults-driven difference to the preservation of ournatural heritage – the most important value sharedby all people.
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO),where SI also is represented, estimates that ifwomen had the same access as men to natural andsocial resources, the agricultural output of develop-ing countries would rise by 4%. Yet, the limitationswomen face in obtaining credit, capital and educa-tion complicate their chances of leadership in envi-ronmental policymaking. The only way out of thisimpasse seems to be to promote women’s leader-ship and to adopt a holistic practice of gendermainstreaming in all issues of social concern.
A global voice for environmental issues
What can Soroptimists do to make the impactof environmental degradation on women and girlsbetter known? We can be ‘A global voice forwomen’ on environmental issues locally, nationally,and internationally through Awareness, Advocacyand Action. ‘Let’s Go Green’ asks all Clubs andmembers to make sustainability and environmentalprotection not only a priority for their projects, butalso their personal responsibility.
Our representatives at international organisa-tions including the UN express our viewpointsloud and clear, but it is equally important for us tobe active in the local community and at nationallevel! We have to keep the politicians to their prom-ises and the agreements.
We have been and are implementing so manyeffective and creative projects for a sustainable envi-ronment by purifying water, planting trees andseeds, creating gardens, producing materials in acleaner way, building toilets for girls, promoting
solar energy, securing safe water where there wasnone and improving sanitation in many remoteplaces around the world.
As UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said,‘Planet Earth is our shared island, let us join forcesto protect it’. I urge Soroptimists across the Feder-ation and also all Soroptimists worldwide to priori-tise the concern for a healthy environment in theirprojects and personal lives.
Let us show leadership and take every opportu-nity to work together for a healthy environment forthe future generations. We owe it to them! Formore inspiration, please look at the SIE websiteunder Programme for more inspiration.
Turkish Union President
Mine Kavala ( le ft) con-
gratulates one of the
prizewinners of SI
Gaziosmanpasa’s paint-
ing contest t i t led, ‘Envi-
ronment and me’ .
S I Antananar ivo Man-
drosoa’s project to
plant hundreds of trees
in Ambohidehi lahy,
Madagascar, wi l l eventu-
a l ly create a botanica l
garden, and th is won
them the S IE Best Prac-
t ice Award for the Envi -
ronment .
The second Best Prac-t ice Award for the Envi -ronment went to S ILyseki l o f Sweden. Theclub ra ised more than € 50,000 for i ts projectto improve water supplysystems, such as here inTanzania , by organis ingwomen’s races .
L E T ’ S G O G R E E N TO G E T H E R A N D A C T N O W !
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6 THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • SIE Best Practice Awards 2014
The success of the bottom-up approach wasdemonstrated by the significant increase in nom-inations for the Best Practice Awards to 113 intotal. For the first time ever, we appointed an offi-cial jury, composed of VP Advocacy Elena Savu,Assistant Programme Director Emine Erdem,Communication Officer Gerda Huisman, Exec-utive Director Anne Simon and Programme andAdvocacy Assistant Bintou Koita. Each jurorreviewed the projects and scored them accordingto seven stringent criteria. Two Skype conferenceslater we had 11 Awards: two for each of our fiveobjectives – Education, Empowerment, Violence,Health and Environment – and the Overall Proj-ect of the Year. The latter is a new prize whichencompasses all the objectives.
A brochure containing a detailed descriptionof the prizewinning projects was distributed atthe Governors’ Meeting. The layout and presen-tation have changed so as to be a better public-ity/advocacy tool for external public relations andto show our knowledge of the issues. Copies areavailable through SIE HQ.
Congratulations to all the winners, who arepresented on the adjacent page. Many of the proj-ects have already been featured in earlier issues ofThe Link.
Maria Elisabetta de Franciscis, SIE President elect
1and 2 – The project in i t iated by S I Apeldoorn sought to help teenagemothers bui ld conf idence to pursue their studies , thus ga in ing access tobetter economic oppor tunit ies .
3 – I ta l ian Soropt imists ra ised an impress ive € 90,000 towards a shoppingcentre , which has a l lowed 17 women to re-open their bus inesses a f ter theear thquake in 2012.
B e s t P r a c t i c e A w a rd s 2 0 1 4
H O N O U R I N G O U T S TA N D I N G S I E P R O
2
3
Every year SI Europe honours the mostoutstanding projects for each of the five SIObjectives. The jury has a difficult task,even though only a fraction of the some1,500 SIE projects funded by nearly €22.5million are submitted for consideration. Thewinners of the Best Practice Awards 2014were announced at the Governors’ Meet-ing in Copenhagen on 13th July.
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7THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • SIE Best Practice Awards 2014
Overall Project of the YearSI Italy – 56 protected courtrooms for minorsOver the past two years, SI Italy, in partnership with theItal ian Ministry of Justice , funded the building of 56 specialcourtrooms in which children can give testimony in a pro-tected environment adapted to their age .
The following projects have been chosen as the top twowinners in their respective categories.
Best Practice Awards 2014Educate:Increase access to formal and non-formal learning oppor-tunitiesSI Bamako Espoir (Mali) & SI Schwyz, SI Burgdorf, SI Lan-genthal and SI Bad Ragaz (Switzerland) – Construction of aschool and related infrastructure in the vi l lage of Foura SI Murau (Austria) – Language, a bridge to integration Empowerment:Improve access to economic empowerment and sustainableopportunities for the employment of womenSI Italy – Cavezzo 5.9 to build a highly innovative shoppingcentre after the earthquake in 2012SI Apeldoorn (The Netherlands) – ‘Just do it! ’ empower-ment training for teenage mothers Violence: Eliminate violence against women and girls and ensurewomen’s participation in confl ict resolutionSI France – National f i lm gala followed by a debate on vio-lence against womenSI Ulm/Donaustadt (Germany) – Shelter for women victimsof violence Health:Ensure women and girls have food security and access tothe highest attainable standard of healthcareSI Lomé Aurore (Togo) – Support for neonatal unit inLomé SI Lviv (Ukraine) – Improvement of sanitary conditions inburns ward Environment:Address the specif ic needs of women and girls by improv-ing environmental sustainabil ity and mitigating the effectsof cl imate change and natural disastersSI Antananarivo Mandrosoa (Madagascar) – Botanical gar-den projectSI Lysekil (Sweden) – Women running for water
5 – The overa l l project of the year went to S I I ta ly for the 56 specia lcour trooms i t has insta l led for quest ioning ch i ldren, l ike th is one inTorino.
4 –The neonata l unit of the Kokoin Hospita l , suppor ted by S I LoméAurore through funds and in-k ind donat ions , provides spec ia l i s t care tos ick fu l l - term and prematurely born babies .
R O J E C T S
4
5
1
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8 THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • SIE Photo Competition 2014
W i t h Yo u r E y e s O n l y – P a r t O n e
W I N N E R S O FT H E P H OTO C O M P E T I T I O NThe Programme and Advocacy Team metin October to discuss ways to implementSIE President Ulla Madsen’s ‘bottom-upapproach’.
Thus, the idea was born to organise a PhotoCompetition with the themes, Women and Girlsfor a Healthy Environment and Women andGirls Stop Wasting. The winners wereannounced at the Governors’ Meeting in Copen-hagen.
The jury composed of President elect MariaElisabetta de Franciscis, VP for Advocacy ElenaSavu, Executive Assistant France Laurent and twoexperts in photography: Vanna Naretto from SIValle d’Aosta, Italy, and Erica Sollberger SIEmmenthal, Switzerland. The four criteria forevaluation were how well the photo depicted thetheme; artistic perfection; originality of the sub-ject and orientation to Advocacy.
In little over a month’s time, the jury received48 pictures from nine Unions and 20 Clubs. Allauthors conceded their copyrights to SIE, and allpersons in the pictures allowed publication.
So, we now have the first step to a database ofpictures for advertising and advocacy.
Two winners were chosen for each theme. Oneadditional photo in each of the two categoriesearned an ‘Honourable Mention’ award, basedon their cleverness and sense of humour.
In this issue of The Link we are presenting thewinners of the Women and Girls Stop Wastingtheme. The prize photos for Women and Girlsfor a Healthy Environment will be featured in thenext issue of The Link.
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9THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • SIE Photo Competition 2014 • SIE Governors’ Meeting in Copenhagen
T h e s e c o n d p r i z e f o rWo m e n a n d G i r l s S t o pWa s t i n g w e n t t o t h ep h o t o t i t l e d ‘ R a t i o n a lu s e o f a v a i l a b l e s p a c ef o r m e a l s w i t h v e g e t a -b l e s ’ , a n d t h e p h o t o g -r a p h e r i s M a r i a n n e M u -k a n k a k a f ro m S I G i s e n -y i , R w a n d a .
Governors’ Meeting in Copenhagen
Too Much to Cover in One Issue
In a break from tradition, the newsfrom the Governors’ Meeting inCopenhagen, Denmark, will bereported in two issues of The Link.There are two main reasons for thisdecision: firstly, the summer issue isappearing later than usual so that theBest Practice Awards and the winnersof the SIE Photo Competition can beannounced, and secondly, there is sim-ply too much to cover in one issue!
So, you can look forward to in-depthGM reporting in the September issuewith articles on the significance of theConstitution changes, the findings ofthe Membership Consultation, theresults of the Coordinated Reports, thewinners of SIE Scholarship grants anddetails of the business of the Gover-nors’ Meeting itself, including theAction Fund allocations.
The photographer o f theovera l l w inner for ar t i s t i cperfect ion and the f i rst pr izefor Women and Gir l s S topWast ing i s Rober ta Ghidon ifrom SI Crema, I ta ly. The t i t leof her photo i s ‘More than ashadow: You have to want i t ’ .
Pao la Pe l l a , S I Mi l ano a l l aScala , I ta ly, received an Hon-ourab le Ment ion award forher ‘Fresh garden ’ photo.
S IE Pres ident Ul l a Madsen we lcomed 50Governors and some 125 Soropt imist gueststo the Danish capita l , inc luding Union Pres i -dents , S ing le Club representat ives , S i lentObservers as wel l as of f icers from SI , S IGBIand SISWP.
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THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • SIE at the Nordic Forum in Malmö10
Soroptimists from Sweden, Norway, Denmarkand Finland proudly announced their message inbright yellow on blue T-shirts: ‘We make our voiceheard and take action’. Held in Malmö from 12th-15th June, the Forum offered the Soroptimist vol-
unteers the opportu-nity to mingleamong the 15 000participants. Theidea was to networkand let the ‘world’know who we are –what we do and howwe influence.
It all started at aninformal meetingbetween the Nordicsat the Congress inBerlin 2013. TheGovernors andUnion Presidentsfrom each of the fiveNordic countrieswere involved in theplanning and fund-ing.
We created highlevel visibility, raisedawareness and net-worked intensively.
At our seminar, attended by 83 people, SI PresidentAnn Garvie and SIE President Ulla Madsen gaveinspiring talks about our worldwide projects andhow we make a difference for women and girls inpartnership with the UN and several Europeanorganisations. Ann highlighted the need to tacklethe roots of gender inequality as part of the Post-2015 Development Agenda, while Ulla emphasisedthat women should get more involved in protecting
the environment: ‘Going green is no longer anoption but a lifeline!’. Icelandic Soroptimists MaríaLóa Fridjonsdottir and Hafdis Karlsdottir, spokeenthusiastically about personal Soroptimist experi-ences as members of a global network. We distrib-uted over 3000 flyers and brochures and registered77 women interested in Soroptimist.
There is still work to do
Although Nordic countries may seem to be rolemodels, there is still work to do in getting Nordicgovernments to implement gender mainstreamingin national legislations. Fast-growing problems –such as violence against women and girls, traffick-ing of women, prostitution, forced marriages andstalking – urgently require renewed attention andinclusion in the post-2015 Development Agenda.The importance of this event was underscored bythe attendance of all the Nordic Ministers for Equal-ity. UN High Commissioner for Human RightsNicole Ameline and Director for UN WomenPhumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka also took active part inthe Forum. The conference ended with a final doc-ument being presented to the Ministers of the fiveNordic countries, reminding them of the commit-ments made in Beijing and setting out 63 key pointsfor action.
More information about the Nordic Forum, thestatements delivered and its final outcome can beaccessed at www.nf2014.org. This website can betranslated into English or other languages.
Participation in this event is only the beginning.The NF working group will meet again to evaluateour achievements and lessons learned and to deter-mine what will be our next joint project. Anddespite all the work and effort, we had fun too!
The Soroptimist Nordic Planning Group
‘ W E M A K E O U R VO I C EH E A R D A N D TA K E AC T I O N ’In the presence of SI President Ann Garvie and SIE President Ulla Madsen 78
Soroptimists from all five Nordic countries united at the Nordic Forum to mark the20th anniversary of the 4th UN World Conference on Women in Beijing 1995.
N o rd i c F o r u m
Speakers at the Soropti-mist seminar (f. l.), SIPresident Ann Garvie,Secretary SI Iceland MariaLóa Fridjonsdottir and SIEPresident Ulla Madsenwith Governor SI IcelandGudrun Björgvinsdottirand IP SIE Finance Con-troller Hafdis Karlsdottir.
The Nordic Organis ingGroup and SI volun-teers welcomed v is i torsto their stand at NordicForum in Malmöt
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THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • The Global Summit to End Sexual Violence in Conflict 11
With 1700 delegatesand 129 country dele-gations, it was thelargest ever gatheringon this subject. TheSummit was co-chairedby the then UK ForeignSecretary WilliamHague and AngelinaJolie, Special Envoy for
the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.Under the leadership of SI and SIGBI, Soropti-mists showed the work being done to helpwomen and children rebuild their lives follow-ing conflict. Hundreds of visitors, includingAngelina Jolie and William Hague, visited theSoroptimist information stand.
High-level SI panel event
A Soroptimist panel event on building afuture for women and girls after conflict fea-tured our projects from around the world. Forexample, Lois Kamara from SI Sierra Leonedescribed her work with war orphans and girls,including SI’s Project SIerra. SIE Peace Prizewinner 2013 Italian Judge Silvana Arbia, formerRegistrar of the International Criminal Courtand Chief Prosecutor at the UN InternationalCriminal Tribunal for Rwanda, spoke about re-establishing justice in Rwanda. SI PresidentAnn Garvie, SIGBI President Margaret Oldroydand SIGBI Past-President Pat Black, who as anofficial NGO delegate had attended severalsummit events, were also on the panel. Annexplained the former SI Limbs for Life projectto provide prosthetic limbs to land mine vic-tims. As Ulla Madsen later remarked, ‘Breakingthe taboo around wartime rape is a crucial first
step so that action can be taken to shatter thepredominant culture of impunity. In this sense,tackling sexual violence in conflict is a matterof our common humanity, just as ending slav-ery and getting rid of landmines were for previ-ous generations.’
Raising the visibility of Soroptimist
Lois Kamara and Silvana Arbia both gaveinterviews to the attending media representa-tives, thus raising the visibility of Soroptimist.
SI UN Reps took part in parallel events onending sexual violence in conflict in Genevaand New York.
Soroptimists, including SIE President Ulla Madsen, joined world leaders, prominentcelebrities, other NGOs and members of the public at the Global Summit to End
Sexual Violence in Conflict in London from 10th-13th June.
G l o b a l S u m m i t i n L o n d o n
PUTTING AN END TO SEXUALVIOLENCE IN CONFLICT
Angel ina Jo l ie andthe then UK For-e ign Secretar yWil l iam Hague v is-i ted the Soropt i -mist in format ionstand.
The Soropt imistdelegat ion andspeakers gatheredfor a group photoat the Global Sum-mit in London.
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THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Programme and Advocacy Training12
I participated in the Programme and AdvocacyTraining at the end of May in Geneva, and it wasfantastic! SIE President elect Maria Elisabetta deFranciscis welcomed us together with the wholeSIE Programme team: Assistant ProgrammeDirector Emine Erdem, Vice President AdvocacyElena Savu, Executive Director Anne Simon, Pro-gramme and Advocacy Officer Ana Barfield andProgramme and Advocacy Assistant BintouKoïta.
We were 36 PD/APDs from 28 countries. Itwas great to be able to discuss how to be effectiveas a PD and to share experience on what goeswell and where we need help to be successful. I
was very impressed by the power of Emine andElena. They gave speeches (Emine for nearly anhour!) on why it is so important to make our workvisible. If we don’t publicise it and make it measur-able, the United Nations will not be able to recog-nise our added value, and our voice will not beheard. Anne Simon showed us the new websitewith PFR results, and we learned how to fill in theform. It is wonderful that we now show on the SIEwebsite how many women and girls we help.
We received, translated in all our own languages(wow!) index cards with the objectives we have setin our strategic plan. We learned that we have toframe our goals in terms we can pitch and make iteasy for every Soroptimist to tell everyone who weare and where we stand for, what we have achievedand what we want to achieve.
After all this inspiration, we visited the UNbuilding. Later we were offered a welcome drinkat SIE headquarters. It was an excellent idea tosee and ‘feel’ the place where all the hard work isbeing done.
LEARNING AND SHARINGWITH FELLOW PDS
PD Marlène vanBenthem andMarja Reunis deRechter producea ‘selfie’ of theirvisit to the UNoffices in Geneva.
The ProgrammeDirectors com-piled a list of thepositive points intheir work.
Participants posedat the BrokenChair sculpture in front of the UN Building inGeneva.
Programme and Advocacy Training
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THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Programme and Advocacy Training • 10th International Marathon for Peace 13
Ten years ago, the then SIE Vice-President Bet-tina Scholl-Sabbatini initiated the InternationalMarathon for Peace in Kigali, in collaborationwith Rwandan Soroptimists to help mend thewounds of genocide. Since then, the RwandanMinistry of Sport and Culture and the AthleticFederation have become committed to thisannual event too. In May 2014 the marathon cel-ebrated its 10th year, and SIE invited Bettina toattend the event in Kigali, which was supportedby the Federation for the last time. Eight DutchSoroptimists travelled to Rwanda to cheer onTonny Filedt Kok, SIE 1st Vice-President and theonly Soroptimist to run in the event, whichincluded 111 runners in the full-marathon and400 in the half-marathon.
Many other activities were organised aroundthe marathon, including visits to the SI clubs inRwanda. Tonny Filedt Kok and her fellow SIEVP Francoise Murebwayire gave classes in Sorop-timism to all (young) Rwandan Soroptimists. Twonew clubs were inaugurated in 2013, so that SIRwanda now consists of seven clubs.
The focus of club projects ranges from schoolsand vocational training for girls and youngunmarried mothers to economical cooking andthe empowerment of girls. The Dutch delegationfound that most of the Naiades water purifiers,donated by SI clubs as part of the ‘Soroptimistsgo for Water’ biennium theme, are still function-ing well. A Dutch mechanic has volunteered themaintenance services. But replacements andtransportation still are a problem, so perhapsother clubs would be willing to contribute tothese costs. If so, please contact Luud Roos,[email protected].
Today, Rwanda is safe and growing economi-cally. Sadly, the wounds of the genocide are notcompletely healed, although many Soroptimistpsychologists are working with traumatisedpatients.
MENDING THE WOUNDS OF GENOCIDE
I had the occasion to share our Union’s strategyon how we want to improve our results. Over thecoming four years, we would like to implementevery year 25% more projects related to our objec-tives, achieve 25% more funding, encourage 25%of the clubs to work together and, most impor-tantly, report 25% of projects as PFRs.
Overall it was a very successful training. I havenow established a network of PDs whom I can con-sult and with whom I can share best practices.Together with HQ and the Board, we can be a realSIE Programme team and create the movement weneed to realise our goals.
Marlène van Benthem, Programme Director, SI TheNetherlands, Suriname and Curaçao
We visited Nyunge Rain Forest, where the Nilehas one of its origins and home to numerousbirds and monkeys. Seeing the gorillas living inthe vicinity of the Virunga volcanoes is an unfor-gettable experience. We rested on the banks ofLake Kivu, where life is still like in paradise.Rwanda is a pearl in East Africa and worth visit-ing! So, we encourage Soroptimists to carry onshowing their support by attending the marathonnext year on 17th May. Provided they secure thenecessary funding, Rwandan Soroptimists willcontinue to support the Run for Children event.
Betty Meyboom-de Jong, Tonny Filedt Kok-Weimar and Luud Roos, SI Netherlands
Federation News
10th International Marathon for Peace
The Dutch delegationtravelled to Rwandato support RwandanSoroptimists and tocheer on the onlySoroptimist runner,1st SIE VP TonnyFiledt Kok-Weimar.
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14 THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Women for Water Partnership
Women for Water Partnership (WfWP) cele-brates its 10th anniversary this year. WfWPempowers and positions women as agents ofchange in their communities, countries andregions.
The active and meaningful engagement ofwomen in the provision, management and safe-guarding of water is known to increase water effi-ciency and to improve the sustainability ofwomen’s interventions. WfWP consists of 25women’s civil society networks with their sub-sidiaries in approximately 100 countries. Themembership ranges from rural women, academia,women water professionals and businesswomento service organisations and special interestgroups. As reported in the last issue of The Link,SIE Past President Mariet Verhoef-Cohen wasrecently elected President of WfWP.
Since its establishment in 2004, WfWP hasconsistently raised the profile of women in thewater sector, both in their professional capacityand as major interest group in society. WfWP hascontributed to the global agenda focusing on thehuman right to water and sanitation, gendermainstreaming and water resources management.WfWP’s work is far from completed.
It is still of great importance to positionwomen in sustainable development as agents ofchange to enable universal access to water for alluses, sanitation included. Leading up to thepost-2015 development agenda, WfWP is usingits convening power to promote the human rightto water and sanitation and gender equality longafter the deadline of the millennium develop-ment goals. For more information see www.womenforwater.org.
10 YEARS OF WOMEN MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Celebrating a Longstanding Partner
WOFAN, another partner of WfWP,
works to educate ruralwomen, children
and youths in northernNigeria.
Rural women are animportant target group
of WfWP empower-ment projects.
Founding PresidentAlice Bouman ( from
left) with former Steer-ing Committee mem-
ber Siegmien Staphorstand African Union
Commissioner Tumusi-ime Rhoda Peace at theGlobal Climate Change
Conference in 2010.
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15THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • German-Language Friendship Meeting • SI New Zealand South Region Offers Grant of Friendship
Federation News
President of SI Germany Magdalena Erkens ispleased to invite Soroptimists to this year’s Ger-man-Language Friendship Meeting to be held inPassau from 12th-14th September. The theme ofthe event is, roughly translated, ‘Preserving andChanging – Changing and Preserving’. Focus willbe placed on urban life, nature and the family, allof which are central aspects of modern living.Cities are the most popular living choice of pop-ulations in industrialised societies, nature is theprovider of our resources and the source of recre-ation, while the situation of today’s families – asthe core and nucleus of society – is perhaps themost affected by change.
In addition to thought-provoking and inter-esting speeches and discussions, participants canexpect an attractive accompanying programmehighlighting the local culture and nature of theregion. The weekend will also provide plenty oftime to visit with old friends and make new ones.So, German-speaking Soroptimists are heartily
welcomed to join their hostesses from the Ger-man Union in Passau in Eastern Bavaria at theborder between Germany and Austria. It isknown as the City of Three Rivers because it ishere that the Danube is joined at Passau by theInn from the south and the Ilz from the north. Itis rich both in history and natural beauty.
Interested Soroptimists can download theleaflet with all the pertinent information athttp://www.soroptimist.de/deutschsprachiges-freundschaftstreffen/.
SI New Zealand South Region announced aGrant of Friendship for March 2015. This grantis offered to a Soroptimist, two Soroptimists trav-elling together or a Soroptimist accompanied byher spouse or travelling companion. The travelhospitality period is for a maximum of 21 days.Return travel to New Zealand and travelbetween clubs is at your own expense. There isopportunity for you to extend travel to areaswhere there are no clubs, but at your ownexpense. This grant of friendship only applies
to the South Island of New Zealand. Furtherdetails available upon enquiry and help withtravel plans will be offered to the successfulapplicant.
Enquiries and all correspondence concerningapplications for the Friendship Grant are to beaddressed to Friendship Grant Coordinator,Maree Gentle, email address: [email protected].
The closing date for applications is 30th
September 2014.
German-Language Friendship Meeting 2014
SI New Zealand South RegionEXPERIENCE SOROPTIMISTGRANT OF FRIENDSHIP
GERMANY HOSTS THISYEAR’S GET-TOGETHER
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16 THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • 10 years of SI Germany’s Mentoring Programme• Grants Provided by SI Rehovat
Long before ‘Educate to Lead’ became theinternational Soroptimist theme, SI Germanyintroduced a mentoring programme to supporttalented young women in, or aspiring to be in,management positions. In April the programmecelebrated its 10th anniversary with a reunion formentors and mentees at the atmospheric venueof Kloster Haydau in Morschen. Participants spenta weekend reminiscing about their mentoring
experience, sharingtheir successes, hear-ing about the effectsand enjoying theinspiring speakers.To date, the Ger-man Soroptimistmentors have coun-selled some 85 qual-ified young womenabout their profes-sional careers andadvised them aboutlife and work bal-ance in six separateprogramme series,two of which wereorganised in cooper-ation with theUnions of Belgium,Luxembourg andSweden.
Following thegreeting by Presi-dent of SI GermanyMagdalena Erkens,the initiators of theprogramme Past
Union President Dr Ulrike Schnell and Directorof EAF (German acronym for European Acad-emy for Women in Politics and Business Berlin)and Soroptimist Dr Helga Lukoschat highlightedthe objectives of the programme.
Attendees then engaged in a so-called ‘worldcafé’ in which they discussed the various chal-lenges facing women in their careers. Saturdayafternoon the group heard a humorous and moti-
In the presence of the Israeli Union PresidentJudith Hanania and Head of the Women’s Forumof The Rehovot Municipality Aviva Halabi, Chair-man of the Committee Nili Sendler, who hasorganised these events for a decade, hosted the cer-emony at which the recipients of six grants for atotal of € 4000 were announced. All the womenhad either served in the army or done a year’s serv-ice in the community. ‘Every year the grants we giverepresent a cross section of Rehovot’s women –young and old, single and married, secular or reli-
vating speech by management trainer and authorSabine Asgodom. She then led a workshop forformer mentors and mentees. Former menteeand now Soroptimist Laura Kubach showed avideo she produced about the last round of men-toring.
On Sunday, management consultant andtrainer in the German mentoring programme DrMarion Duparré spoke about her own personalimpressions over the years. EAF executiveKathrin Mahler Walther then presented theresults of the survey on the programme. Mistressof ceremonies Katrien Wayenberg, a formermentee and now a Soroptimist who has alreadyserved as Club President, summarised the con-clusions of the world café discussion, beforeCoordinator of the Programme Lisa Dillmannoffered her thoughts on the future.
The weekend event was a wonderful reminderof the enormous success of this programme andan incentive to further expand Soroptimist men-toring within our Federation.
10 years of SI Germany’s Mentoring Programme
WOMEN LEADING INTO THE FUTURE
Grants provided by SI Rehovat
AIMING TO ACHIEVEECONOMICINDEPENDENCE
Managementtraining SabineAsgodom gave a humorousand motivatingspeech.
The tandems arecarefully matched in the MentoringProgramme.
Ten years ago SIGermany startedits programmeunder the motto‘mentor to lead’.
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17THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Grants Provided by SI Rehovat • Salamanzar Rally Raises Funds for Flood Victims in Bosnia
News from Unions and Clubs
SI Goldes and SI Vaduz staged their third old-timer/cabriolet rally through the beautiful countrysideof southern Styria last May in support of flood victimsin Bosnia. The two clubs decided to support three vil-lages there, where people have lost everything. With theproceeds from this event and contributions resulting
gious, new or established citizens from every cornerof Rehovot, each studying a different profession-early childhood studies, social work, accountancy,nursing, dental technician and alternative medi-cine,’ said Nili. One of the grants funded by moneycollected from club members, honoured long-timesecretary Aliya Kedem for receiving the RehovotTown Commendation for Voluntary Work 2014.
An Ethiopian studying for her Masters Degreein Social Work was so impressed by the stories ofthe other young women that she returned her grantwith the wish it be given to someone whose needswere greater than hers. One grantee thanked theclub with the words: ‘Education is a basic step toeconomic independence. I hope each of us willachieve this goal and…volunteer to help others,since we are part of the global female population.’
Another grantee, one of nine siblings, who cameto Israel as a child from Ethiopia and is now mar-ried with three children, is studying to be a dentaltechnician. ‘Your grant has eased my financial prob-lems… and I now have the additional motivation toprogress academically.’
Two professional women, who volunteered their‘playback’ performance after hearing of the club’swork, concluded the evening. The whole event wasa delight and gave us the impetus to carry on rais-ing money to help provide economic independenceto those who are disadvantaged.
Sylvia Flowers and Aliya Kedem, SI Rehovot, Israel
Sylvia Flowers, ClubCo-ordinator forInternational Good-will and Understand-ing, is shown with agrantee from animmigrant familyfrom Ethiopia whowill be studying tobe an accountant.
Salamanzar Rally
SUPPLIES FOR FLOODVICTIMS IN BOSNIA
With proceeds fromthe rally and the
annual golf tourna-ment, Soroptimists
from SI Goldes and SIVaduz collected
€30,000 to providerelief supplies to flood
victims in Bosnia.
from the international golf event held earlier in themonth, €30,000 were raised.
The rally event started with a visit to Seggau Castle, aformer seat of the archbishop of Salzburg. The dayended with a Backhendl (fried chicken) dinner in HotelKappel, which is run by a Soroptimist and her family.This lively evening was kindly sponsored by SI Goldes.
The first president of SI Goldes, Johanna Kohlen-berger, gave a quick introduction, and half an hour laterthe first car departed for the first post in gorgeousweather. As always it was sometimes tricky to find one’sway on the small streets in southern Styria, winding upand down lovely hills and vineyards. The Austrian TVbroadcaster, ORF, accompanied the rally the whole dayand broadcast a report on the evening news.
After four further posts, participants met for lunch,followed by a quiz, which was decisive for winning thefirst prize, a huge bottle of exclusive wine. In the eveninga reception took place at the Frontlbauer, sponsored bySI Vaduz and organised by Monika Studer.
A convoy of Soroptimists will travel to Bosnia to pres-ent relief supplies to the three villages in Bosnia. Thereport on their experience will appear in the next issueof The Link.
Dr Vivien Gertsch, SI Vaduz
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18 THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Syria ‘Back to School’ • Increasing the Visibility of Women in France
It all started in the beginning of February at thewinter meeting of the Dutch Union. Margit vanHoeve, SI Gouda, expressed concern about the lackof support for Syrian refugee children in Turkey.They had already lost so much, should they lose theirchance for a proper education too? Since then some50 Dutch clubs have initiated a project together withUNICEF Netherlands called: Syria ‘Back to School’.The aim is to construct at least one prefab school,including materials and lessons, in the next threeyears, which will provide about 2000 children outsidethe refugee camps with an education. SI Nether-lands’ contribution will be € 300,000 or more overthe entire period.
The number of clubs joining the campaign is stillgrowing, also because the Dutch clubs are recruitingthe support of their Friendship Links. This expan-sion could mean that even more children andschools could be reached. One reason for rapid suc-cess of this project is the management of UNICEFNetherlands: one of the two managing directors isIngrid Visscher, a Soroptimist. She facilitated the co-operation enormously!
Some 150,000 Syrian children between 4-12 yearslive outside the camps. Only a small percentage isable to visit school, due to lack of space, teachers andmaterials. UNICEF is the only organisation inTurkey that is officially allowed to organise educationprogrammes for Syrian refugee children, in accor-dance with the Turkish system. They started training
Syria ‘Back to School’ Project
ENSURING A GENERATION IS NOT LOST
The collaborationbetween SI Nether-lands and UNICEFwill ensure the edu-cation of some 2000children. Photos: UNICEF
Syrian teachers in early 2013; half a year later the firstschools opened their doors, within the camps. But asthe number of trained teachers grows (around 800 atthe moment), possibilities outside the camps are tak-ing off as well. UNICEF and the Turkish govern-ment are preparing different facilities in towns andvillages, some of which are 50 prefab schools with 12class rooms. With two shifts per day, they can offereducation to more than 20,000 children. Many chil-dren are waiting to join the programme. SI Neder-lands wants to make it happen!
Ally de Vries, Editor of De Soroptimist
To ascertain the representation of women in oursociety, SI France requested its clubs to documentstreet names in their towns. They methodically listed63,500 streets in 111 towns and villages. Accordingto the Union’s Communication Commission, thesurvey determined that only 2% of streets are namedafter women, i.e. fewer than 1,500 – a deplorablestate of affairs. ‘It was logical to examine the operat-ing models for young women, and street names arean integral part of this since they reflect our vision ofFrance’s history,’ explains Christine Dagain, the cur-rent President.
Among the 2% of French streets named afterwomen, certain leading figures stand out. In the topthree most-cited women on French plaques, Joan ofArc heads the list (49 streets), followed by the pilotHélène Boucher (39 streets) and novelist GeorgeSand (37 streets).
Suzanne Noël, the founder of the first Soroptimistclub in Europe who died in 1954, would have beenvery disappointed by the results of this investigation.A pioneer of reconstructive facial surgery, sherestored the faces of soldiers severely disfigured dur-ing the First World War, at a time when respectablewomen were supposed to stay at home in their hus-bands’ shadows.
Today there are around ten places in France thatbear her name. By highlighting this, SI France hopes
SI France
INCREASINGWOMEN’S VISIBILITY
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News from Unions and Clubs
THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Increasing the Visibility of Women in France • A Cross-Border Art Project
An unusual art project reflecting women’s eman-cipation and its challenges culminated in the pres-entation of an enormous robe on La Passerelle desDeux Rives, a famous pedestrian bridge connectingGermany and France across the Rhine. We cele-brated International Women’s Day as well as the 50th
anniversary of the German-French Elysée Treaty atthis historically and politically significant site. SIOffenburg-Ortenau and SI Strasbourg had initiated across-border project in 2011, when the two clubscooperated in the design and production of a calen-dar with 12 female portraits by the then SI Stras-bourg club member and artist Corinna Heumann.
to increase the number of plaques paying tribute tothis exceptional woman. Clubs are working to payhomage to her in streets, squares, parks, etc.; theseinclude Albi, Hautmont, Foix et Saverdun (Ariège),Carcassonne, Niort, Poitier, Royan, Saint-Raphaël,Vannes, La Possession (Réunion), Agen, Béthune,Dijon, Issoire, La Grande Motte, Fontainebleau. TheFrench media are already reporting on these efforts,which in itself will help visibility.
Road signs pay tribute to Suzanne Noël inFrance, such as this roundabout plaque in SaintRaphël, shown here with local Club PresidentJacqueline Malicki (left) and Gisèle Carrassan,Vice President of SI France.
In September 2013 a weekend workshop openedthe second stage in which the three-metre tall robewas created by nine German and nine Frenchwomen of all ages under the aegis of the OffenburgArt School. While the Strasbourg Club has beensponsoring a French artist working on the theme‘Women and Nuclear Power’, the Offenburg Clubevent was headlined ‘Womanhood – Then andNow’. Underlying this motto was a historic event in1770 when the Austrian princess Marie-Antoinettewas forced to interrupt her journey from Vienna toVersailles, where she was to marry the future LouisXVI. On an island in the Rhine between Kehl andStrasbourg (close to the March 2014 ‘La Robe’ pres-entation) she was completely divested of her originalclothes to then be dressed according to French taste.No reminder of her past was to remain. For this rea-son the project was named elle passe. A large crowd ofover 200 people attended the spectacular presenta-tion of the unique robe – including importantregional stakeholders and members of the EuropeanParliament. This impressive audience gives voice anda show of strength to this significant demonstrationof and for women’s rights.
In the third phase, this past April the piece of tex-tile art found a temporary home in the cradle of Ger-man democracy, the Offenburg ‘Salmen’, the site ofthe Declaration of the Demand for DemocraticRights in 1847. At the opening event all thoseinvolved, including art lecturers, Soroptimists andthe German and French participants spoke movinglyof their encounters across language and age barriersin the inspiring context of womanhood and art. Theaccompanying book, Elle passe – La Robe, documentsthe project in German and French.
The unique robe,handmade by Germanand French Soropti-mists, was presentedto the public on thepedestrian bridge con-necting Germany andFrance.
A cross-border art project
‘ELLE PASSE… LA ROBE’
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20 THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Web 2.0 Training for Soroptimists in Benin • Honouring a Young Woman Leader in Portugal
Every year on 20th March, the internationalcommunity celebrates International French Lan-guage Day. To mark this day in Benin, the AgenceUniversitaire de la Francophonie (AUF) organised aseries of activities including free WEB 2.0 train-ing for Soroptimist clubs. Agnès GrimaudZanouvi, President of SI Cotonou Doyen and lawprofessor at the University of Abomey-Calavi
SI Portugal celebrated its 18th Anniversary withthe awarding of the Soroptimist Teresa Rosman-inho Prize for Young Leaders to Celia Antunes,in the amount of 500 euros, for her work on theOlha-te project. The award with an endowment of€ 500 was presented at a gala dinner organised bySI Caldas da Rainha.
The Soroptimist Teresa Rosmaninho Prize forYoung Leaders was created in 2012 with twomain goals: to honour the exemplary SoroptimistTeresa Rosmaninho and to recognise the merit ofyoung women leaders who live by the Soroptimistideals and work for the objectives we share, andwho distinguish themselves by their roles as lead-ers in community service and/or women’s organ-isations in Portugal.
The prize is granted every two years to one ofthe candidates nominated by each of the eightClubs in Portugal. Applicants, aged 25 to 40,must have distinguished themselves as YoungLeaders in associative and/or social projects.
Teresa Rosmaninho, founding president of SIPorto Invicta and third president of the Union(1999-2001), was a psychologist and expert in
(UAC) arranged this event. The course took placeover a fortnight at the AUF Digital Campus atthe UAC.
Around twenty members of Benin’s six Sorop-timist clubs attended the afternoon workshops.The course was entitled ‘WEB 2.0 – Personal andProfessional Uses’ and consisted of theoreticaland practical sessions, giving participants theopportunity to set up Gmail, Wikipedia, Face-book and Twitter accounts, and to learn aboutGoogle’s various applications. They were partic-ularly interested in Wikipedia, the free ency-clopaedia website, where anyone can access arti-cles and even contribute to them.
SI Benin
WEB 2.0 TRAINING FOR SOROPTIMISTS
Web training partici-pants in Benin receiveda certificate from thehead of the AUF DigitalCampus.
SI Portugal
HONOURING AYOUNG WOMANLEADER
The media covered the first day of the course,which helped publicise Soroptimist ideals, par-ticularly in academic circles.
In line with the motto that one is never tooold to learn, most of the participants were over50. It was an introduction to the world of theirchildren and the internet generation.
At the conclusion of the course, AbdoulayeSalifou, Head of the AUF’s Digital Campus, pre-sented certificates to the participants during a cer-emony attended by the Rector of the UAC andFrance’s Ambassador to Benin.
Monique Hazoume, Programme Head, SI Cotonou Doyen, Benin
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News from Unions and Clubs
THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Honouring a Young Woman Leader in Portugal • A Collaboration in Basel
Edith Rutz, President of SI Basel, and Anna-marie Schelling, President of Zonta InternationalClub Basel, came up with an original idea to raisemoney for a women’s refuge in the Swiss city byorganising a bag fair. Over three months we col-
fighting domestic violence. She left an importantand inspiring work, including the creation of ashelter Porto d’Abrigo for victims of domestic vio-lence, which is managed by her club.
Celia Antunes is a graduate in managementand distinguished herself by creating the Olha-teproject, which uses art and well-being workshopsto help cancer patients come to terms with them-selves and deal with devastating health condi-tions. The project has helped dozens of patientsin the community and has even extended abroadby promoting ‘healthcare support tourism’ forforeign patients visiting Portugal. See http://www.olha-te.oeste.pt/ for more information.
The first Soroptimist Teresa Rosmaninho Prizewas awarded to the journalist Ana CristinaPereira from Porto, for her civic and communitywork. See the blog of Ana Cristina Pereira athttp://meninosdeninguem.wordpress.com/2012/03/12/teresa-rosmaninho/Soroptimist for moredetails.
Row upon row ofbags, some 3,000 intotal, attracted hoardsof shoppers.
lected some 3,000 used bags in good condition –ranging from evening and designer bags to ruck-sacks and laptop cases.
Members from both clubs then decided on theprice of each individual bag, whereby we hadsome of the designer bags appraised by experts.The bags were divided into price categories andmarked with the appropriate coloured band.They were displayed on hangers in the Elisa-bethenkirche in Basel, the ideal site for the fair.
The event took place on 5th April, opening at11 am sharp. Several hundred women stormedthe building, exceeding all expectations. Thedesigner bags were sold within two hours, andmore than 2,800 bags found a new owner. Thefew remaining bags were later offered for sale at amarket in Laufen.
The two service clubs thank all the donors fortheir bags, and particularly those from other SIClubs in Switzerland and Liechtenstein. Themedia kindly helped make the date known, thusincreasing the footfall. But of course we are espe-cially grateful to the men and women who pur-chased bags.
The collaboration with Zonta was a wonderfulexperience and demonstrated what concentratedwomen power can achieve. We are extremelyproud to have collected the equivalent of € 33,500 for the women’s shelter in Basel. Anenormous success for all those involved!
Maya Domig, SI Basel
Celia Antunes receivedthe Soroptimist TeresaRosmaninho Prize fromSI Portual for her Olha-te project.
A collaboration in Basel
BAG FAIR RAISES € 33,500
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22 THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • SI Larvik’s Very Own Magazine • Greece Marks International Environment Day-
The club magazine of SI Larvik is celebratingits 20th anniversary. Yes, you have read correctly.The Norwegian club with just 26 members pub-lishes its very own magazine – twice a year! Andwith its 40 pages chock-full of information, pho-tos and ads, sorord rivals many a Union maga-zine.
Founded by Larvik Soroptimists MargaretStøle Karlsen and Lill Bjørvik, the magazine islively and informative. Many members contributeto the editorial content and search for guest writ-ers. Each club member is given a hard copy, asare the many advertisers who support the maga-zine. Friends of the club receive a copy as well,and of course, one is always reserved for theClub’s godmother, Ellen Gade. A pdf version isavailable online at http://larvik.soroptimistnor-way.no/larvik/omklubben/sorord.aspx. Even ifyou cannot read Norwegian, it is worth a look.
The magazine generates an advertisingincome of about € 1000 per year. Sixty per centof this income is donated to The NorwegianEducation Foundation, a longstanding projectof SI Norway. Congratulations to graphicdesigner/editor Margaret, co-editor Lill and allSI Larvik members for this excellent publica-tion, which demonstrates transparency at itsbest! And the archive of sorord copies over theyears is a comprehensive history of the club’sactivities and members.
To mark International Environment Day, SIGreece organised two thematic sessions focusingon green subjects, which took place in the Numis-matic Museum of Athens. In the first session,President of the Greek Union Dr Maria Pyrgakichose this occasion to present a new Soroptimistpostage stamp depicting Artemis (Latin Diana),designed by film director and graphic designerYannis Gregoriou. Artemis was the daughter ofZeus and Leto and Apollo’s twin sister. One ofthe most venerated Greek deities, she was, amongother responsibilities, the goddess of the hunt,flora and fauna as well as childbirth and the pro-tector of young girls. As such, she is the perfectimage for a ‘green’ stamp, sponsored by Soropti-mist.
In the second session, the impact of environ-mental pollutants on our daily diet was the sub-ject of the lecture given by Nikos Katsaros, Direc-tor and Vice-President at the nutrition and dietet-
SI Larvik’s very own magazine
TRANSPARENCY AT ITS BEST
Distributed at theclub’s summer andChristmas meetings,the 40-page SI Larvikmagazine, sorord,celebrates its 20thanniversary this year.
SI Greece
MARKINGINTERNATIONALENVIRONMENT DAY
SI Greece President Dr MariaPyrgaki thanks Nikos Katsarosfor his decree.
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News from Unions and Clubs
THE LINK 3/2013-2014 • Greece Marks International Environment Day •30 Years – 30 Projects in Cologne
ics department of New York College in Athens,scientific collaborator at Democritus, theNational Center of Research and Natural Scienceand ex-President in the Hellenic Food Authority.The distinguished scientist focused on toxic sub-stances that penetrate the nutritional chainthrough the environment. He also describedproblems caused by irrational use of pesticidesand by the cultivation of genetically transformedgrains. His conclusion was that we must take careof our environment to prevent its pollution, oth-erwise it will be too late to act. Nikos Katsarosprepared a decree calling for the protection ofnature and the environment, which all partici-pants signed. This decree will is available on thewebsite of the Greek Union for anyone to sign it.
The evening ended with a reception in theMuseum’s garden.
Angelika Lyberiou, Secretary of SI Greece
SI Cologne-Römerturm chose the splendidvenue of the rotunda of the Technical Universitywith a view of the Rhine harbour to celebrate the30th anniversary of its chartering. Along a wall 30specially selected photographs and reports docu-mented the wide range of projects the club has sup-ported over the years.
Club President Dr. Clara Himmelheber reviewedthe political events of the founding year and hon-oured the eight still active founding members. ClubPatron Professor Klara van Eyll, who even now takesan active interest in the club, reminisced about theearly days. Activities over the years included thenine ‘Lighthouse Projects’, such as Medication forAfrica, Donations for Russia and the long run-ning Help for People Suffering from AIDS.’
In an on-going project with other Service Clubsin Cologne beginning in 2010, a ‘Care Mobile’ trav-els through the city providing help and advice toparents and others in need. A large plan showed allthe various stops in city. In addition, as part of theexchange project between Germany and Japan, ayoung Japanese Artist was invited to study inCologne. The proceeds from a tombola with prizesincluding books and DVDs will go to help up-and-coming young journalists.
Participants enjoyed a sing-along before the Pres-ident concluded the celebration by giving very grate-ful thanks to those who had been involved in thepreparation for the evening and who had helped tomake it such a success. It will be remembered for avery long time!
Founding members ofSI Cologne-Römer-turm shared the lime-light of the celebra-tion evening with theClub Patron ProfessorKlara van Eyll.
SI Cologne-Römerturm
30 YEARS – 30 PROJECTS
The postage stamp depicting theGreek goddess Artemis underscoresthe commitment of SI Greece towork for a healthy environment
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NEW SIE CLUBS TO BE CHARTERED
30th August 2014
Greifswald (Germany)Charter to be presented byUlla Madsen, SIE President Club PresidentKaren KunkelWiesenstr. 4a17495 Gross-Kiesow Phone: +49 175 591 15 66E-mail: [email protected]
20th September 2014
Grand Quevilly-Val de Seine (France)Charter to be presented byAnne-Marie Hendrickx, SIETreasurer Club PresidentBéatrice Morin6A avenue des Canadiens 76140 Petit Quevilly Phone: +33 6 47 31 21 54E-mail:[email protected]
27th September 2014
Szombathely (Hungary)Charter to be presented byUlla Madsen, SIE President Club PresidentBrigitta PatakiSzéchenyi l. u. 9. 9721 Gencsapati Phone: +36 20 9460878E-mail: [email protected]
11th October 2014
Graz Rubin (Austria)Charter to be presented byKathy Kaaf, Immediate Past SIEPresident Club PresidentBrigitte MessnerSparbersbachgasse 12 8010 Graz Phone: +43 664 21 11 424E-mail: [email protected]
11th October 2014
Valchiavenna (Italy)Charter to be presented byRenata Trottmann Probst, Constitution Committee Chair Club PresidentElena Ciapuscivia Nazionale 123 23027 Samolaco Phone: +34 320 355 24270E-mail: [email protected]
FORTHCOMINGEVENTS FOR SIE
9th September 2014
25th AnniversarySI Alphen aan den Rijn (Netherlands)
12th-14th September 2014
Deutschsprachiges FreundschaftstreffenPassau (Germany)
16th September 2014
25th AnniversarySI Vimmerby-Hultsfred (Sweden)
✔Please submit your contr ibut ions to the next issue of The L ink by 29th August 2014!
20th September 2014
25th AnniversarySI Tønder (Denmark)
30th September 2014
25th AnniversarySI Lomellina (Italy)
7th October 2014
25th AnniversarySI Giessen (Germany)
7th October 2014
25th AnniversarySI Lienz/Osttirol (Austria)
7th October 2014
25th AnniversarySI Mariager Fjord (Denmark)
10th-12th October 2014
10th European Meeting & Friendship Days Bruges (Belgium)
INTERNATIONAL AWARENESS DAYSAND EVENTS
21st September
International Day of Peace
3/2013-2014, No 234. Quarterly magazine of Soroptimist International of Europe, published in English and French.SIE President: Ulla Madsen, Amagerbrogade 30..2/tv, 2300 Copenhagen, Denmark • Phone: +45 20 70 63 1 • Email: [email protected]. Editor : ChristineCromwell-Ahrens, Lundsford House, Lundsford Farm, Etchingham, East Sussex TN19 7QH, United Kingdom • Phone: +44 1580 819 319, Fax +44 1580 819077 • Email: [email protected] forms are available on the SIE website www.soroptimisteurope.org or from headquarters [email protected]. A reminder to subscribers(individuals or clubs): any change of address should be communicated to SIE headquarters in Geneva (72, route de Florissant, CH – 1206 Geneva, Fax: +41 22789 04 43). If undelivered magazines are returned because of an incorrect address, we cannot assume responsibility for re-sending. Subscription rates (four issues per Soroptimist year starting October to September): Club bulk subscription (minimum five) €10.00 per subscription per lan-guage. Individual subscription per language € 12.50 (for airmail please add € 5.50 per subscription).
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