The Friendship Link visit from nine Soroptimist members (and one husband) from SI Kisumu finally happened on 31 July. This had been almost a year in the planning when their club decided that after attending the Soroptimist International Convention in Dublin in July 2023, they would travel on to visit us in Winchester.
The Friendship Link started when SI Winchester helped fund a nursery in Kisumu over 10 years ago. Over the years the nursery has grown to include a
Primary and Secondary school. SI Winchester has helped with projects over time and more recently funded a new kitchen with more environmentally and safer ovens. This means the children can have nutritional meals at school whereas they may not have the same at home. In this way it helps the less ell of families in the community. The school was named the SI Winchester Smiling School.
We were able to offer member accommodation for seven of the party with others staying in a local hotel; planned an itinerary for them and sent the details to them. Overseas visits in a group take some planning so we were delighted when this actually happened.
The weather was not seasonal, rainy ,as it had been for them in Dublin but we were able to make the most of the time together. After being met by their hosts and enjoying lunch at a member’s home we took them to town for a one hour tour. This was taken by Karen Dagwell who has looked after us before. They were most fascinated by King Alfred and the fact that Winchester was once the capital of England, before London. They also enjoyed the tales of the beautiful chalk streams and then heard fabulous stories of Mary Tudor’s wedding celebrations at Wolvesey Castle. 
That evening members and guests enjoyed a supper at a member’s home. The following day there was a walking tour of Alresford by one of the member’s husbands and other visits were organised by individual hosts. The evening
was greatly anticipated with a reception at Abbey House (the Mayor’s parlour), hosted by Mayor Angela Clear, who said, ‘I really enjoyed the ladies’ visit and hearing about Kenya and the Friendship Link between Kisumu and Winchester’. Our guests were also given a tour of Abbey House by the Mayor and drinks and canapés were enjoyed by all. The ladies from Kisumu were wearing their beautiful yellow outfits and glorious headdresses. 
After the reception it was dinner in St Lawrence Parish room. The food came from COOK which meant we only had to put it in the oven! The room was setup and the tables were dressed. As all members of the club were there, there was a total of 30 for the meal. It was a great success, one of the Kisumu ladies saying, ‘Winchester was the highlight of the whole trip. Even though I enjoyed the Convention, Winchester was the best’.
During the meal members of both Kisumu and Winchester introduced themselves and everyone all round was thanked for the visit and gifts were exchanged. The group left the next morning on 2 August for various destinations in the UK.
You can find out more about Soroptimists by emailing winchestersoroptimists@gmail.com