Montréal


Views from the SI Presidents 2007-2011


Margaret Lobo AM, SI President 2007-2009 The buzz words in Montréal were ‘Lead, Leaders, Leadership”,


while, as we already know, the main theme was “Women: Leaders in Civil Society”, Well, the Organising Committee convened by Yvonne Machuk certainly portrayed their leadership skills in making the excellent decisions that brought the Convention together. Congratulations to each of them, as each member of this Committee took on a responsibility (some without much prior experience) and extended themselves to achieve far higher than was expected. The speakers as we know were all Canadian Leaders in their field and they spoke of issues that were global and relevant to all of us. The workshops were excellent, once again Leaders sharing their experience. For those of you who could not be there it was an opportunity missed, but the reports in the online Newsletters which are easily accessible will make you feel part of this Convention even if you were not there. The Sub-Themes each day displayed what we as Soroptimists can


do to initiate and achieve change and the Organising Committee once again took the initiative to introduce subtle but effective changes throughout the Convention.


recycled material, registration was online, there were computers available for participants to read the Daily Newsletters online or check their email – the Convention was as paperless as one could make it. The gifts in the Convention bags (very useful reusable and washable bags) were thoughtful and small for travellers to take home and yet useful – well done! The Changeover ceremony involved the Past Soroptimist International Presidents – six of whom (excluding myself) were there – once again a subtle but very welcome change to the Changeover and gave all participants the opportunity to recognise our Past International Leaders. Despite a very full programme there was time to mingle with members, meet friends and have a coffee or lunch together as these times were free, once again thank you to the Committee for this opportunity. The scheduled sessions were perfectly timed and the prior briefings and rehearsals made this Convention a well organised and enjoyable one. I know that each of us will be


proud to say I participated in 19th Soroptimist International Convention in Montréal as it is each of you that was there that made this Convention memorable – thank you for being there!


Hope to see you in Istanbul! TIS September 2011 Page 4


Soroptimist International Past Presidents at the Montréal Convention As ‘Stewards of the Environment’ we had notebooks and pens from


Hanne Jensbo, SI President 2009-2011


It has been said before, but it has to be repeated: It is a must for every Soroptimist to participate in a Convention. When you have participated, you really understand the spirit of Soroptimism and of Friendship and the Convention in Montréal was no exception: It had all ingredients: Pleasant surroundings, excellent speakers,


interesting workshops, good social elements, good performance and technique, professional leadership, international atmosphere and most of all, overwhelming friendship. Rose, from Kenya, whom I met a month after the Convention


expressed it this way: “What a fantastic, strong organisation we have in Soroptimism. Let the whole world know about our power.” I was extremely fascinated by the keynote speaker Senator Mobina


Jaffer. I very much liked her life story, particularly that she is the first African born Senator in Canada. She is working so hard with immigrant communities and minority women all over the world, so that they are informed and aware of their human rights. Another highlight was Samantha Nutt from War Child Canada who spoke about human trafficking and about coltan, the mineral from Congo, where the mine owners exploit their workers and children to mine this expensive mineral; used for mobile telephones and computers. All the keynote speakers were women and all were from Canada,


so we really got a good impression of the status of women today in Canada. I also liked the presentations of the four federations about the excellent work the clubs are doing. Wow! It is amazing!


Yvonne Machuk and her team had done a tremendous job to make the Convention a success and we owe them a big thank you for their work and enthusiasm. So let us meet in


four years in Istanbul; please invite all your Soroptimist friends to have the experience of a Convention in their own lives.


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