We zoomed with our Friendship Links SI Grange over Sands and SI Kisumu on 4 March as part of our International Women’s Day where we can share our projects. Sabine from SI Essen was on her way to CSW67 and hopes to meet up with our member Helen.
Members of SI Grange over Sands are busy knitting a required 3,000 squares for baby blankets. Our club decided this would be a worthwhile project for our prolific knitters. They also support the Barrow Women’s Refuge by donating clothes.
Their project with making chocolate in Ghana won a Best Practice Award at the last conference in Belfast. The project involves supporting workshops in Ghana for the daughters of Ghanaian cocoa farmers, hopefully to sell in UK eventually.
Locally they help to maintain the Sensory Garden in Park Road Gardens. They have also sent a Shelter Box to the homeless in Turkey after the recent earthquake.
SI Kisumu celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and hope to have a celebration. One of our members was able to visit the club last year and made contact with some of the members. Their sponsored school has 233 children and they still require text books, exercise books, desks, sanitary wear/dignity packs for the older girls. They also support the nursery for working mothers with children as young as 2 yrs.
In April they start their membership programme talking about leadership and educating students in soft skills. This has been an ongoing programme for some years.
Happy International Women’s Day from SI Winchester