SoroptiVoiceBLOG

This week’s SoroptiVoice blog comes from Cathy Coyte, member of SI The East Bay in Founder Region of SIA.  Cathy had the honour of attending a club charter in Kenya at the end of last year. She first went to Kenya in 2001 to visit Soroptimist friends and she was made to feel so welcome that she promised to come back for a longer stay. So in 2011, she went to Kenya on a two month private visit and as part of this visit attended the charter of SI Maseno. Originally written on her mobile phone and sent to the chat line, Cathy has since updated the text from the luxury of her home computer... 

24 Young and not so young ladies all identically dressed in Soroptimist yellow with blue trim "ketenges" (Traditional African blouse and long, flared from the knee, skirt) move through the room conga style singing  "we are best for women" in Swahili, they were so excited to be charter members of the newest SI Club!

My trip to the charter started very early one Friday morning when Asha Abdulrahman, myself and three other Soroptimists caught a coach from Nairobi for the 5 hour trip to Kisumu.  It was a beautiful drive - I even got to see some giraffes, gazelles and zebras! We were met in Kisumu by two members of the new club and taken to lunch at the hotel where they normally meet, then escorted to the Agricultural Training Centre that was to be our home for the next two nights.  This centre, attached to the University of Maseno, is a modern conference centre with about 50 single ensuite bedrooms, located exactly on the equator.  The charter president, Jesca Oredo, is catering manager at the facility so we were guaranteed excellent meals, and the staff were so helpful, especially Rose who delivered hot water to guests on the 3rd floor by carrying a five gallon drum up the stairs on her head at some unearthly hour of the morning!

After a relaxing afternoon, a rather muddy walk and an informal dinner we all went to help prepare the room for the next morning's meeting, then sat around introducing ourselves over a few late night drinks. One theme was consistent through almost all the women making up the new club: Someone in their past had given them a helping hand, normally with their secondary and further education and now they feel the need to give back.  Investing in young girls is a great long term recruitment project!

The Charter officer is Guida Biewer, a SIE Governor from Luxembourg. Besides being a Bank Manager, she is also a marathon runner (she has done the New York marathon five times!) and was introduced to African Soroptimists via the Rwandan Peace Marathon. There were actually three mzungo (kiswahili for “white person”) present as the president of the sponsoring club is from Germany though she has lived in Kenya since 1980.

Charter day was dry and warm, a blessing in what has been an unusually wet November, with crops damaged and flooding in many parts of the country. After breakfast I was taught how to make big ribbon bows, which along with two large bolts of SI gold and blue material, were going to transform the entrance hall of the building into an elegant room worthy of the important occasion.

The serious side of the charter - the constitutional assembly - saw the 24 ladies sign documents to show they agreed with the Soroptimist constitution and also a leadership agreement. This document was originally published by SIE in The Link in 2009 and covers the basics to which all leaders should agree, such as commitment, recognising and respecting the right of others to differing opinions, and that leaders should motivate not dominate!  Under the guidance of the federation charter officer and the union extension officer the club officers were officially elected and inducted.

Rose Mwangi, SI Maseno 'godmother', addresses the new Soroptimists!

After a celebratory dance, chorus and cups of chai (African tea), we all piled into a matatu and various cars for a site seeing trip and tour of a club project.  The club has adopted as their logo a very spectacular granite rock formation that we got to view as we drove to a village where a group with the aid of the Soroptimists are practicing organic sustainable farming.  One of the Soroptimists is an agricultural advisor and identified this group as being a prime candidate for assistance. The Soroptimists have helped by funding a kitchen garden so that they can become totally self-sufficient for food. After the tour, introductions and refreshments we returned to the conference centre for a late lunch, the Charter Ceremony and celebration dinner.

The hall we had decorated earlier had a mezzanine level walkway where the ladies of the new club assembled, resplendent in their yellow dresses, for the start of the proceedings. After introductions of the officials and the candle lighting ceremony the ladies came down the stairs like models, as each was introduced by their godmother and pinned by the charter officer.  Of the 24 ladies there are three sets of mother/daughters emphasising the importance of the family to these club members. Speeches of congratulations came from throughout the world courtesy of the chatline -  Thank you ladies, the members were thrilled by all your good wishes.  Then came the very African dancing and singing. The day ended with an excellent dinner and dancing to a live band until past 4am!  These Maseno women sure know how to party....

No sooner had we got to bed than it was time to get up for a very early breakfast, then Asha and I drove with other Soroptimists to Eldoret where we met with many "Soroptimists in Training" to give them some more orientation and prepare them for their induction the following weekend.  It is interesting that most SI clubs in Kenya meet on Sunday afternoon, as a lot of members either walk or use public transport to meetings, an undertaking that many do not feel comfortable doing after dark, which on the equator is always around 6pm.

The following day Asha and two Soroptimists from Eldoret attended a symposium that was a follow up to part of the Kenya Union's award winning Women and Climate Change project where they, along with government officials, and Danish Soroptimists, have been working with textile factory owners to identify where better, ecologically sound practices could be implemented. All the participants report cost savings as well as less pollution. One small step on the road to true sustainability...

While member numbers have been decreasing over the past few years it looks like Soroptimism in Kenya is on an upswing! As well as the new club and the 12 new members being inducted into the Eldoret Club, there is also a group of around 20 women working towards forming a club in Meru just north of Mount Kenya, under the guidance of chatliner Sophie Koech. She travelled overnight along with two women from this group overnight in a ricketty bus to get to the Meseno Charter and then 24 hours later repeated the 8 hour journey to return home in time for work on Monday! Given the poor quality of some of the roads they travelled on, this is quite some dedication! 

So, why the upswing in SI Kenya? I believe the success of the Women and Climate Change Project has given clubs a great opportunity to interact with the community on a subject that the younger ladies feel passionate about.  Also, the opportunities to help educate girls is a big draw. Almost every Soroptimist I have met is personally helping pay for the education of at least one girl, most often an orphaned family member. Plus, as mentioned earlier, there is a lot of desire to give back and honour those who helped them on their way. True Soroptimism!