Soroptimist International of the South West Pacific (SISWP) currently includes thirteen countries in the Asia Pacific Region. These countries are: Australia, Cambodia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mongolia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands and Thailand.
At the recent SISWP Conference of Clubs the following clubs were recognised for their excellence in planning, administering and evaluating a project to transform lives for women and girls around the Federation. Congratulations to all the winners and nominees.
SI Penang
SI Penang for their Education Fund. This project, aimed at low income single women households, sought to provide women and girls with the opportunity to pursue higher education or to give them a skill to gain better access to employment. It involved fundraising, the establishment of a committee to select and interview people who met the criteria and ensured wide publicity about the scholarships.
SI Petaling Jaya
SI Petaling Jaya for their SEEED Jobs for Life project. Soroptimists Educate, Empower and Enable Dream Jobs for life addressed an urgent need to enable young at risk women aged 18 to 26 years from highly vulnerable areas to undertake a well-planned programme which addressed weak points in their education. Over a 9 week modular high impact transformation programme addressing job skills, career placement and economic empowerment these girls were able to transform their economic employment opportunities.
SI Region of South Queensland
SI Region of South Queensland for Photo Voice – Focus on Domestic Violence. This project, undertaken in partnership with Domestic Violence organisations and the state Womens Legal Services, sought to convey the feelings of being in a violent relationship and the difference when free. Each week women took an image to reflect the topic of weekly discussions with a psychologist and then were aided in writing a caption to link their experiences to the image. Facilitated by clubs around the state, It became a travelling exhibition which demonstrated the impact of violence on all aspects of life.
SI South Perth
SI South Perth for Collaboration and Capacity Building: Family Foundation Service for homeless families. In partnership with Uniting Care Wesley, the club co-designed a response to meet the needs of women and girls who were homeless through circumstances other than domestic violence and used a centre to cook meals, do homework and access services to end homelessness. The project had streams all of which were to support access to social and emotional learning. Much attention was given to providing resources to improve self-esteem, encourage emotional resilience and resources to develop behavioural and emotional competency.
SI Bayside and SI Lae
SI Bayside and SI Lae for their joint project Soroptimists ‘Lighting the Way to Climate Justice’. This project provided alternative energy devices to women and children in village communities lacking easy access to electricity and with very limited traditional means of access. The plan involved solar lantern distribution and education on the environment and a personal ecological footprint. A website was established and women and girls in remote Papua New Guinean villages were enabled to study, work at night and be safe while learning about climate issues.
SI Lautoka
SI Lautoka for its project Assisting Victims of Cyclone Winston. Immediately after Cyclone Winston had devastated large areas of Fiji the club began investigating the area, determining where the greatest need was and what emergency supplies were needed. They consulted advisory counsellors to identify families and with support from members and local businesses they organised and distributed food parcels and lighting. They also undertook to get students back into school to reduce trauma and with support from a variety of donors organised and distributed school packs and uniforms.
