February already!  How time flies when one is busy.

“Loos for Lynn”

This month I would like to begin by saying thank you to SI Bulawayo for sending the photographs of the completed toilet block which they have built with money raised in the “Loos for Lynn” appeal.

Apparently, all that is needed to make the work complete are signs with the words “Boys” or “Girls” on the doors.

Fairtrade Fortnight

Later in the month we will be celebrating Fair Trade Fortnight 27^th February to 11^th March 2012. Things are really “hotting” up – with Clubs all around the Federation planning activities.  One such event on February 29^th is the visit of a Ugandan coffee farmer and a Malian cotton producer to the world’s first Fairtrade town, Garstang, which can be found in the North West of England in the UK.

Jenipher the coffee grower says, “Being a certified Fairtrade producer, I get a good price for my quality coffee. This has enabled me to have my children in school and to provide for all the basic needs in our home.”

You can read more of Jenipher’s story by following the link to http://sigbi.org/what-we-do/partners/fairtrade-foundation/

The reason we all become Soroptimists is to make that difference to the lives of women and girls everywhere and in Jenipher’s story we see clearly how Fairtrade has educated her family, empowered her to improve their prospects and enabled her and her family to improve their home.

COMMISSION FOR THE STATUS OF WOMEN

Looking forward to the end of February, President Maureen will be leading the SIGBI delegation to CSW in New York. As I stated last month it is vital to send letters to your Heads of Government informing them of the position of Soroptimists in regard to rural women.

Please find them on the SIGBI or SI  websites.

Soroptimist International alongside several of its partners will be hosting two workshops in New York.   One is called “Violence against rural women and girls” and the second is called “From seeding to feeding; the role of women and girls across the lifecycle of food”.

Chinwe Ezenwa-Mbah from SI Nigeria is one of the leaders in the second workshop and we will all be there supporting her and taking plenty of photos!

3-E PROJECT: HEALTHCARE

Finally at the moment we are putting together some ideas for alternative ways of raising funds for the 3E:Healthcare project in The Gambia.

We all know that at the moment every penny counts and so we are looking at some very interesting alternatives, so watch this space.

So that’s all for now and, to paraphrase what they say in the Big Apple,

“Have a nice month!”

Sue