Author: CFUW Victoria

BC Seniors: A Study in Contrasts – April 19, 2017

Salvation Army Citadel, 4030 Douglas St. (map)
7 pm - 9 pm

Isobel Mackenzie is B.C.’s first Seniors advocate. She will present "A Study in Contrasts", her chief concerns and ideas for the self empowerment of seniors.

Isobel has over 20 years’ experience working with seniors in home care, licensed care, community services and volunteer services. She led B.C.’s largest not-for-profit agency, serving over 6,000 seniors annually. In this work, Isobel led the implementation of a new model of dementia care that has become a national best practice, and led the first safety accreditation for homecare workers, among many other accomplishments. Isobel has been widely recognized for her work and was named B.C. CEO of the Year for the not-for-profit sector and nominated as a Provincial Health Care Hero.

Prior to her appointment as the Seniors Advocate, Isobel served on a number of national and provincial boards and commissions, including the BC Medical Services Commission, the Canadian Homecare Association, BC Care Providers, BC Care Aide and Community Health Worker Registry, and the Capital Regional District Housing Corporation. Isobel currently serves on the University of Victoria’s Board of Governors.

GWI + CFUW National
Dues Increase LATEST NEWS

gwi

Graduate Women International (Formely International Federation of Women) is undergoing some major changes. 

CFUW Victoria called an open meeting for all members on January 19, 2016 to provide an opportunity to share information and discuss the relationships of CFUW locally, nationally and internationally. This meeting was prompted by our collective concerns about changes underway at GWI and the relationship between CFUW and GWI. Eleven CFUW Victoria members attended and collectively wrote this document (names included at the end of the document).

We appreciate the work done by our national and international volunteers and staff and in no way wish our comments to be taken as criticism. Rather we present this letter respectfully in the hopes that it will help foster some positive next steps.

At our meeting, members expressed their concern about the current tension between our national and international organizations.  We understand that both organizations are feeling under threat and worry about the continued viability of both organizations. However, we also feel that at times the communication we have received has neither provided the information that we need nor been presented professionally or constructively. We want to turn that around and support open, transparent, and mutually respectful communication.

Some issues that came up during the discussion are: Continue reading "GWI + CFUW National
Dues Increase LATEST NEWS" →

International Women’s Day Luncheon
CFUW Cowichan – Sunday, March 5, 2017

Speaker: MELIE de CHAMPLAIN
Director, Community Integration Cowichan Valley, Island Health

WHO WILL SHARE HER PERSONAL EXPERIENCE WITH HER WORK
WITH SYRIAN REFUGEES IN EUROPE AND HERE IN CANADA

140 Trans-Canada Highway
RAMADA DUNCAN
Arrivals at 12:00 Luncheon at 12:30
LUNCHEON SUNDAY, MARCH 5, 2017

Register by sending a $25.00 cheque to:
Sheila Service, P.O. Box 1143, Lake Cowichan, BC V0R 2G0
Pre-registration is a requirement.
Share this with a friend and please be assured that gentlemen are welcome..

Me & The Mosque
International Women’s Day Event 2017
March 8, 7 PM, Cinecenta

Join the Advocacy Committee at the University of Victoria’s Cinecenta for Me and the Mosque, a documentary by Zarqa Nawaz, creator of the hit TV show Little Mosque on the Prairie. We are delighted to announce that Nawaz will be our guest speaker after the film.

In her words, “I chose to focus on patriarchy and the social exclusion of women in mosques. … For me, Islam was never the problem—it was men and how they interpreted faith to their own advantage. I wondered what would happen to a mosque if it were run by an Iman that came from a culture committed to gender equity...”

 

She will also be available before the film to sign copies of her latest book "Laughing All the Way to the Mosque", which was shortlisted for the Leacock Medal for Humour.

This is our third annual International Women’s Day Celebration. Money raised will       benefit the Federation of BC Youth in Care Networks.

As usual, a variety of charitable organizations will have information tables in the Cinecenta lobby as of 6:15 pm. Some may have items for sale: Please bring cash. The film will be shown at 7 pm.

Advance tickets are available for $10.00 at Munro’s Books, Dig This—Broadmead, Tanner’s Books and Ivy’s Bookshop.
Tickets at the door on March 8 will be $15.00.

The Thinking Garden – Documentary – March 1, 2017

A film telling the inspiring story of
South African women seeking food justice

This documentary film is a labour of love by director Christine Welsh and Elizabeth Vibert, with Mo Simpson and Basani Ngobeni.

Elizabeth Vibert spoke at the Scholarship and Bursary Luncheon two years ago about her work in South Africa.

  • Official selection, Vancouver International Women in Film Festival, March 2017
  • Official selection, Vancouver South African Film Festival (other festival applications pending)
  • Public screenings coming up in Toronto, Halifax, Vancouver, Camrose, Calgary, Powell River, Salt Spring …
  • Screening at the Berkshire Conference on Women’s and Gender History in New York in June
  • Informal reviews from advance screenings around BC: ‘I feel reverence’ ‘Passionate’ ‘This is a film for Africa – governments need to see this film’  ‘Beautiful and inspiring’ …

This is a film about resilience – three generations of older women in a village in South Africa who came together in the dying days of apartheid to create a community garden. In the midst of severe drought and political turmoil, older women with limited access to land and little political voice joined together, beyond the household, beyond their kin, to make something new. They named their garden Hleketani – “thinking” in the local xiTsonga language – a place where women gather to think about how to effect change. The garden provides affordable vegetables to local people, nourishes those living with HIV/AIDS, helps offset some effects of climate change, and offers land, community, and opportunity for women. The Thinking Garden tells the remarkable story of what can happen when older women take matters into their own hands, and shows how local action in food production can give even the most vulnerable people a measure of control over their food and their futures.

Current context: The Thinking Garden is launched against the backdrop of the epic drought of the past two years across Southern Africa. The most severe drought in decades, this climate change- and El Nino-linked event has left over 30 million people food insecure and caused soaring food prices across the region. Women, with less access to crucial resources like irrigation, and children are hardest hit in such disasters. South Africa’s Hleketani Community Garden, the ‘thinking garden,’ demonstrates how women’s collaborative efforts and community building can mitigate some of the worst effects of climate change.

Social media: https://www.facebook.com/sathinkinggarden/
Twitter: @thinkinggarden, Web: http://womensfarm.org/ Distributor: www.movingimages.ca
‘Recipes from the Thinking Garden’ cookbooks available: $20, all funds to Hleketani Community Garden evibert@uvic.ca or jopifarm@gmail.com

Transgender Pioneer Activists – February 15, 2017

Salvation Army Citadel, 4030 Douglas St. (map)
7 pm - 9 pm

Celebrate the month of love by learning from a world renowned expert who will share his wisdom and a multimedia presentation on Feb 15 as our very special guest speaker. You are welcome to invite a friend to take a tour through an embattled history with us, and share some sweet treats and refreshments the day after Valentine's Day.

Dr. Aaron Devor, the world’s only Chair in Transgender Studies and the Founder and Academic Director of the world’s largest Transgender Archives, has been called one of the founders of transgender studies. He has published widely and has delivered lectures to audiences around the world. His first two books Gender Blending: Confronting the Limits of Duality (1989) and FTM: Female-to-Male Transsexuals in Society (1997, 2016) are considered to be classics in the field.

(Photograph: Brian Sargent)
He is a national-award-winning teacher, an elected member of the International Academy of Sex Research, and an elected Fellow of the Society for the Scientific Study of Sexuality. He is an out trans man, a former Dean of Graduate Studies (2002–2012), and a Sociology professor at the University of Victoria.
A follow up visit to the world's largest collection of historical documents in the special collection archives at UVic will be arranged for two groups later in February. A sign up sheet will be circulated after the presentation.

Scholarship & Bursary Lunch – January 28, 2017

Saturday, January 28
11:30 Registration | 12:00 Lunch
Victoria Golf Club (1110 Beach Drive)

The deadline for sending your form is January 20. On the form, you can also indicate if you wish to sponsor or host a student. Click here for the reservation form. (Print the form and mail the filled out form including a cheque as per the instructions on the form) So please join us for a fun event in January.

Besides enjoying a wonderful lunch and speaker, you can also help in two other ways. You can sponsor a student by paying for her lunch.  Or you can host a student by offering to sit beside her or give her a ride to lunch.
We will have as our guest speaker, Janice Simcoe, who is Director of Indigenous Education and Community Connections at Camosun College.  Janise is an Anishinaabe (Rama) woman.

Come to the annual S&B Lunch!  This is a chance to meet and mingle with our award winners from the past year.  It is fun to talk with these young women just beginning their careers and lives.

Christmas Luncheon – Dec 3, 2016

11.30 Registration | 12:00 Lunch Service
Victoria Golf Course (1110 Beach Drive)

You will be entertained by the internationally acclaimed harpist
Julia Cunningham www.soulharp.com
Accompanied by guitarist, Marlon Narciso

We are very grateful to have the opportunity to experience the creative journey of Saskatoon born and Victoria educated
Julia Cunningham, whose passion for music has attracted accolades and memorable engagements including
Pope Paul II at the Vatican in Rome
Luciano Pavarotti in Modena, Italy
Oprah Winfrey at her home in Montecito, CA

This year's charity of choice for donations collected at the Luncheon is The Learning Curve.

To register, fill out the Luncheon Registration Form.

You will want to save this date to enjoy this private performance for CFUW and
invite prospective members for an introduction to our club.

Meet a World Traveler for Doctors without Borders – November 16, 2016

Salvation Army Citadel, 4030 Douglas St. (map)
7 pm - 9 pm

* Please note that the speaker’s presentation will begin at 7:15 pm

doctors-without-borders

 

 

 

Guest Speaker for our November general meeting will be one of the bravest women in the world.

Lest we forget the women involved in the heroic work on the front lines of world conflicts, you will share the learnings from Paula Callahan, who worked with Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors without Borders) and her poignant case for why we need to heighten our push for peace and kindness after years on the front lines.

Audience members will have an opportunity to ask questions of this world traveler.