Blog Posts - CFUW Oshawa and District

January 11th, 2014

1/11/2014

   Our speaker couldn't make it this month and we only learned of it late in the afternoon so couldn't find a replacement. Not to worry...Lorraine V. who has heard Sgt. Keating a couple of times shared some of what she remembers of his stories. She then facilitated a discussion with the attendees which led to more interesting stories and warnings.
   What I took away from the discussion in particular was the importance of who you name as your Power of Attorney and consider more than one to handle various areas (financial, health, etc.).
   Resolutions will be discussed at the February and March meetings and four people volunteered to take the lead on discussion. To gather an understanding of the resolutions prior to the meeting, a quick visit to the CFUW web site will allow you to peruse them.

Let's Do Lunch at Mysteriously Yours

12/17/2013

   December 13 saw 20 members of the group take the Go Train into Toronto, followed by a subway ride to Mysteriously Yours Dinner Theatre. There we were treated to a tasty lunch and the crazy antics of the Uptons (think Downton) as we tried to solve the mystery of who MURDERED "ooooooo" Nary.

   It was great silly fun and many of the group guessed who the     MURDERER was. Of course this cannot be revealed here for obvious reasons.

   Take a look at the Photo Gallery to see who attended this fun event.

Sleeping Children Around the World

12/17/2013

   November's general meeting included a presentation by member Karen on the organization near and dear to her heart - Sleeping Children Around the World. Founded by Murray and Margaret Dryden in 1970, to date $23 million has been raised to provide bed kits for more than 1 million children.

   Apart from the benefits to the child, the attractiveness of this program is that all money donated goes directly to funding the kits, and it only take $35.00 to help one child, and by default that child's family.

   If you have some particularly difficult people to buy for on your Christmas list, here's a great last minute idea. Just visit the link to learn more.

   Thanks to Karen for bringing this worthy cause to the attention of our membership.

16 Days of Activism

12/4/2013

November 25th was the start to the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender Violence campaign. The theme this year is "From Peace at Home to Peace in the World: Let's Challenge Militarism and End Violence Against Women!"

CFUW National has been writing letters to the Government of Canada on various aspects of violence against women during the campaign. Following are some highlights with links.

CFUW is urging the Government of Canada to implement the recommendations outlined in the International Crisis Group's report "Women and Conflict in Afghanistan" to protect and sustain the gains achieved by and for Afghan women following Canada's withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014.

http://www.cfuw.org/Portals/0/Advocacy/AdvocacyIssues/International/Letter_Minister_Baird_re_Afghan_Women_Nov%2025.pdf

CFUW has also written to the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of Defence to urge the Government of Canada to consider non-violent measures referred to as "unarmed civilian peacekeeping" (UCP) for the protection of women and children located in battle-prone areas of the world, and to incorporate UCP into Canada's national defence strategy.

http://www.cfuw.org/Portals/0/Advocacy/AdvocacyIssues/International/Letter%20to%20Minister%20Baird%20and%20Nicholson%20re%20UCP.pdf

cfuw fellowship awards

10/10/2013

CFUW is now accepting applications from women pursuing Master's or Doctorate degrees for the 2014-2015 fellowships and awards competition; the deadline to submit applications is November 1, 2013.There is a total of $83,500 available through 10 different categories of awards for women studying in a range of disciplines. Funding would be tenable for the 2014-2015 academic year. More information on the fellowships is available in English and French.

September punch party and kickoff meeting

10/9/2013

A healthy turnout to our first meeting of the year. Follow this link to see some photos taken by Snapd. http://snapd.at/eejcdq

Take Back The Night - September 19th.

8/22/2013

Brave Women take on the Lake

7/30/2013

The five women who took on Lake Ontario from Kingston to Whitby are to be congratulated on a magnificent effort and achievement. While swimming for "Because Girls Can", raising awareness of this organization, they encountered daunting conditions making it necessary to cut their swim short, forgoing the Burlington target.

[“Mother Nature was not on our side. Lake Ontario threw everything she had at us,” said swimmer Samantha Whiteside, 23.] TheStar.com

[’It's a little bit discouraging that we didn’t get to Burlington, but you can’t win against Mother Nature,” said Colleen Shields, 61, who holds the record for oldest female to complete a traditional 52-kilometre Lake Ontario crossing.] TheStar.com

“We did 242 kilometres, and as far as I’m concerned, that’s flippin’ awesome,” said Nicole Mallette, 47, after the women, shivering in wet swimsuits, pulled on their white team hoodies. TheStar.com

"The team {sic} which included Rebekah Boscariol, 19 and Mona Sharari, 18, was trying to raise $300,000 for the global girls’ rights group Because I Am a Girl, but fell short of their fundraising goal, reaching about $19,000 by Saturday. They had planned to raise $1,000 for every kilometre they swam, and will now continue their efforts to reach $242,000 by September through their website, www.becausegirlscan.ca ."TheStar.com

To support this heroic effort visit the website Because Girls Can.

June 1st is IFUW Day

5/21/2013

This post is taken directly from the CFUW news for May 21st.

June 1 is IFUW Day in national federations and associations (NFAs) around the world.

The theme of IFUW Day is Human Rights Education. According to the United Nations, human rights education aims to develop an understanding of our common responsibility to make human rights a reality in every community and in society at large. Three of the most important elements of human rights education are:

the promotion of understanding, tolerance, gender equality and friendship among all nations, indigenous peoples and minorities;
the enabling of all persons to participate effectively in a free and democratic society governed by law; and
the building and maintenance of peace.

CFUW has been a human rights advocate for nearly 95 years and strongly supports all three of these elements in our work. Congratulations on IFUW Day!

That's a Wrap

5/14/2013

Wednesday, May 8th was the last general meeting of 2012/13 in conjunction with our Annual Meeting. Food was in abundance and delicious. Along with taking care of business we celebrated a successful year, new members, long term members and each other. Just short of 40 women enjoyed the evening and a good number of them renewed their memberships for the year 2013/14 early.

A new executive was voted in to shepherd the activities of the club over the coming year. This group will soon meet in concert with last year's executive for the passing of the torch. Members also responded to a program satisfaction survey and took the opportunity to make suggestions for next year. Soon the program committee will meet to consider and select options.

We are leaving the 2012/13 season in positive frame of mind and anticipate the year to come.

Members are reminded to mark their calendars for "Take Back the Night", Thursday, September 12th, the night following our first general meeting of the new club year.

Enjoy your summer all. Some of you I'll see on the links or at bridge.
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