The Annual General Membership Meeting will be Friday, October 3, 2008, 10:45 am, UN Church Center and followed by the Annual Luncheon and PPSEAWA’s 80th birthday to be held at Padre Figio Restaurant, NYC. The guest speaker will be Ambassador Patricia P. Brister, US Representative to the UN commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
For the first time in its history, the DPI/NGO Conference is being planned outside of New York. The 61st Annual DPI/NGO Conference entitled, “Reaffirming Human Rights for All: The Human Rights Declaration at 60” will be held in the UNESCO Headquarters in Paris, France from 3-5 September 2008.
Last May, Helen Chong, Seiko Oshima Ichida, Anne Palamountain, Martha Mackin, Ann Teachout Norman, Teresa Hintzke, Lillian Jasko, Taina Rokotuiveikau Woodard, and I went to Hawai’i for the 80-year celebration of PPSEAWA International which was founded in Honolulu. Kudos to Teresa Hintzke who designed a commemorative bookmark for the occasion and also updated our brochure. We wish to thank Mary Tori Keegan, President, PPSEAWA Hawai’i for the warm “Aloha,” beautiful leis, and hospitality that we all received from her, as well as their members. We enjoyed the delicious foods prepared for us at meals and the special Hawaiian entertainment.
A few of us were able to attend the PPSEAWA International Midterm council Meetings at the Ocean Resort Hotel in Waikiki It was an opportunity to build friendships with our sisters in various other regions of the Pan Pacific and to get a better understanding how our organization functions. Ravesi Johnston (Fiji), PPSEAWA International Program Development Convenor and 2nd Vice President on International Council, suggested PPSEAWA focus on UN Special Days and on the Millennium Development Goal 3, Gender Equality and Empowerment of Women, MDG3. Ravesi gave a Guideline for Projects to help countries implement projects on MDG3, which is our focus for 2007-2010. A proposed workshop on the MDG 3 is being planned by Toledo chapter in the fall of 2009 that will be chaired by Ardenia Jones Terry.