April was a busy month for Soroptimist Clubs worldwide and many new initiatives were launched to educate, empower and enable opportunities for women and girls. Educational projects were a particular focus of many SI projects.

Take a look at the reported activities of SI Clubs in India, UK ,USA,  Fiji and more in the slideshow above (or on our flickr page at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/soroptiphoto/sets/72157633543873062/). You will also find fuller descriptions of these activities in the article below.

SI NADI (Fiji) launched an initiative to improve the environment surrounding the local primary school. To facilitate this, the club not only cleared rubbish and dead plants, but planted new plants to make the environment more aesthetically pleasing.  Plants were donated by teachers from the school.

SI NADI (Fiji) launched a further project to support girls in education through the provision of educational materials. This included stationery, books, and other materials necessary throughout the educational system.  

The Soroptimist Chennai (India) group has launched a new educational project to encourage children, particularly girls from the Vysarpadi slums, to attend school and receive an education. A teacher has been employed who travels around the slums, going from house to house to encourage children to join the school. All children who attend the school are provided with an afternoon meal. Those that show particular intellect are supported to pursue further education. This is achievable via finding suitable sponsors.

Soroptimist Cardiff & District (UK) have been knitting shawls to donate to new mothers in Ethiopia at the Fistula Hospital. This hospital caters for women who have sustained injuries during childbirth. Shawls are also donated to mothers who have given birth to stillborn or premature babies in the local district. Club members knit a square each which are then sewn together to create one complete shawl.

In addition to the shawls for new mothers project, Soroptimist Cardiff & District (UK) hosted their annual volunteer recognition awards ceremony. £100 is awarded to a young woman (aged 14-18) in the district who has made a substantial contribution of voluntary hours to local projects and demonstrated leadership skills. The club distributed information on this award to girl guides groups, schools and youth clubs in the Cardiff catchment area. Applicants were required to outline their volunteering in 300 words, explaining what they do, how long they have been volunteering, who benefits and in what way, and why they feel it is important.

Soroptimist St Austell & District (UK) have introduced a financial scholarship for women pursuing higher education that have experienced hardship. Two financial awards were made to candidates. One candidate is studying for a degree in applied zoology, whilst the other has applied to study biomedical science at university.

To celebrate World Health Day, the President of Soroptimist Bangalore (India) was keen to see improved access to healthcare for women and girls in the local area. Of particular importance was vaccinating against the threat of typhoid and ensuring access to safer food sources. The project saw vaccinations being given to children of the orphanage Prasanna Jyothi as well as health check-ups, all administered by  the President of the club, Dr Nalini.

Soroptimist Naharya (Israel) had a fun time hosting the biggest garage sale. The funds raised from the sale will go toward an educational scholarship for women in Naharya.

Soroptimist Lake Oswego/West Linn (USA) have supported women in education through a $150 scholarship for 1 young Native American woman seeking higher education. Additionally $415 financial assistance has been provided for incarcerated women to keep in touch with their minor children via telephone cards. In addition, the club aims to promote and educate women on the history of Native Americans.

SI Union Malgache (Madagascar) launched a project to assist aspiring female doctors to pursue a career in the medical profession. This involved staying in a local hospital and learning about the medical practice.

SI Cotonou Doyen (Benin) have launched a project to ensure women and girls have access to and are educated on food safety and clean water. Women are educated on water hygiene and sanitation. In doing so, the health standard is improved as women can ensure that families are drinking safer, cleaner water.

Through a friendship link with SI Bamako (Mali) the SI Club Marche-en Famenne in Belgium, provided educational materials for schoolgirls in Mali. Educational materials required included uniforms and school textbooks, all of which the girls themselves could not afford due to a lack of funds.The SI Club Marche-en Famenne hosted a range of fundraising activities to provide necessary materials for the girls’ education. It is reported that some of the girls supported  by this project have since gone on to study for university degrees.

ACTION, ADVOCACY AND AWARENESS RAISING

There are around 3000 Soroptimist clubs around the world, all working to educate, empower or enable opportunities for women in their local communities and beyond through action, advocacy and awareness-raising.  Working across the world in over 120 countries, clubs undertake a huge range of projects depending on local need. However, all serve the following objectives:

• to increase access to formal and non-formal learning opportunities.
• to improve access to economic empowerment and sustainable opportunities for the employment of women.
• to eliminate violence against women and girls and ensure women’s participation in conflict resolution.
• to ensure women and girls have food security and access to the highest attainable standard of health care.
• to address the specific needs of women and girls by improving environmental sustainability, and mitigating effects of climate change and disasters.  

These actions were all reported by clubs on the Project Focus Report database, which enables SI to track club activities across the globe and monitor the collective impact of Soroptimists worldwide.