Soroptimist International Conference

The 75th annual Western Canada Region Conference was held in Calgary, May 1-4, 2008. The conference is held the first weekend in May each year, so anyone planning on attending next years conference in Kamloops can plan well in advance. The official opening ceremonies included a Piper, flags, procession of dignataries and guests, and the singing of both the Canadian and American National anthems. Throughout the conference, regional business was conducted, including voting, elections, presentation of club awards and installation of new officers. Our Saturday Awards luncheon included presentations of the Making A Difference for Women Award, Violet Richardson Award, and Women's Opportunity Award. Mary Pickette, winner of the MADFW award captivated all by her comment "When you educate a woman, you change a generation". Powerful thought!

SIA Board Member Syliva Winterling brought greetings from the Federation.

Two informative workshops were held, and Friday night our Keynote speaker was Victor Malarek, noted television investigative reporter, speaking on The Sexual Trafficking of Women and Girls. This theme was followed up on Saturday with Dr. Scharie Travcer, presenting Facts about Human Taffickling.

Cathy Little, RESULTS Canada presented an interesting talk on Advocacy.

Our Guest speaker at lunch Saturday was Dez Kamara, from Sierra Leon. He is currently studying anthropology at Lethbridge, providing us with background on his country, and our committment to the Quadrennial Project (2007-2011 -Project Sierra A Family and A Future.

Soroptimist International Club of Edmonton: News

Soroptimist International Conference