Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship recipient named
Jillian Wallace of Whitewater, WI and Crystal Lake, IL was named the recipient of the 2017 Zonta Club of Janesville Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship. She will now be eligible for additional scholarships offered by Zonta International.
The Zonta International Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarships, first awarded in 1998, are open to women enrolled in at least the second year of an undergraduate program through the final year of a Master’s program in business, leading to a business management career. The program is designed to encourage women to enter careers and to seek leadership positions in business-related fields in their communities and throughout the world. The Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarships look to the women of today to be the leaders of tomorrow.
Ms. Wallace received the Janesville club’s scholarship because of her outstanding record at UW-Whitewater. She will be one of only twelve students to earn the opportunity to participate in the Applied Investments Program at UWW. She intends to pursue a career in business as a financial analyst when she completes her studies. Ms. Wallace is a student athlete who has managed to earn All-America honors on the tennis court and make the Dean’s List in the College of Business and Economics. She has worked at Warhawk Tennis camps as an instructor who has a passion for teaching. She is recognized as the leader of the community service efforts of the team and has been voted to be team captain.
The Zonta Club of Janesville is a club of Zonta International, and has been serving the community since 1960 through activities directed toward combating violence against women, and projects such as the Women With a Vision program that has developed partnerships with other agencies and foundations to provide scholarships and additional support to single mothers who are pursuing a post-secondary education that will empower them to enter careers that provide family sustaining wages. For the past 25 years, the Zonta Club of Janesville has hosted the Annual International Women’s Day Luncheon during the month of March on or near International Women’s Day.
Zonta International is a leading global organization of professionals empowering women worldwide through service and advocacy. The Jane M. Klausman Women in Business Scholarship Program is one of many programs for women and girls sponsored by Zonta International. The Scholarships are funded by voluntary contributions to the Zonta International Foundation.
Let Us Learn Madagascar – Site Visit Impressions by Sally Bean
It was my honor and pleasure to accompany Zonta International President Sonja for the site visit in Madagascar in May. As this was my first trip to a developing country, I had to be vaccinated against hepatitis A, typhoid and tetanus, and I had to take anti-malaria pills for 20 days. After a 33-hour journey with two very long layovers in Amsterdam and Nairobi, I landed in the capital city of Antananarivo, Tana for short. My first task was to exchange American dollars for local ariary. US$100 got me 332,000 ariary.
I was greeted at the airport by three US Fund for UNICEF staff and together we welcome IP Sonja as she arrived. The first hotel was in a gated community on the waterfront. At dinner, we were introduced to a couple from Texas who support UNICEF and the Let Us Learn project. They remained with us for the site visit. On Sunday, we visited a lemur sanctuary and a local marketplace for souvenirs and gifts.
On Monday, we met with the Deputy Director of UNICEF Madagascar and team about Let Us Learn and the country atmosphere. This meeting was conducted in English, but once we left the UN building, presentations were in either French or Malagasy and translated. We traveled in a convoy of UNICEF vehicles. That afternoon, we visited sites in Tana which provide services to victims of violence: the 147 call line staffed by a collaboration between police and social workers, an emergency shelter for abused children, and a service center for victims of violence against women. From there we visited a One Stop Center, based on the successful pilot in Rwanda sponsored by Zonta. This center is inside a hospital. We walked through the process and I was a bit alarmed that the police interview takes 1-2 hours, before the victim sees a medical professional. The medical exam tests for HIV, but does not include a rape kit, and no evidence is collected. However, they have a very high conviction rate, since most perpetrators are known by the victim. Social workers start and end the process, and accompany the victim if they do not have a family member supporting them through this process.
On Tuesday, we flew on a small charter plane to the village of Manakara. From there we drove in a UNICEF convoy of vehicles to the smaller villages. We met with leaders from the Ministries of Education, Population, and Child Protection. We spent the rest of Tuesday through Thursday visiting schools, witnessing the cash transfer process, meeting with students, teachers, and headmasters. Several people were interviewed for the video. Then on Friday, we flew back to Tana and had a debrief with the UNICEF Director and Deputy Director. I will save the program details for a future presentation.
Here are my impressions shared with UNICEF Madagascar leadership at the closing meeting:
• The UNICEF staff excellence is impressive
• The community reach of our project runs deep; not only the students benefit
• Everywhere we went, we were welcomed and felt that Zonta and UNICEF are appreciated
• It was alarming that some school classes end after dark, and students walk home in the dark, some more than 5 km
• The solar lamp pilot program was exciting and provides hope for a better future
• I am certain that our financial support is invested wisely
• The cash transfer process formality and efficiency is reassuring
• I will not forget: the extreme dedication we saw in teachers, administrators, and UNICEF; the students’ excitement to be in school – I saw them running to school; the profound gratitude expressed by the first headmaster
• I will speak loudly to Zontians that our support is deeply needed and deeply appreciated
• I am extremely grateful to IP Sonja for this wonderful opportunity
I look forward to sharing more about this trip and the project in a club presentation this fall.
Why Donate Blood by Sally Bean
The World Health Organization (WHO) proposed to establish World Blood Donor Day in 2005 in response to a chronic shortage in safe blood and blood products. WHO was mindful that preventing transmission of HIV and other blood-borne pathogens through unsafe blood and transfusions required collection of blood from only those with the lowest risk of carrying such infectious agents. Noting the positive response to a World Blood Donor Day in 2004, WHO urged member states to promote the annual day and to protect blood supplies through legislation and adequate financial sourcing of high quality blood donation services.
Here in our community, the American Red Cross manages the collection of blood donations. At one time our Zonta club supported the Blood Mobile by providing cookies for the donors! Now we can support the ARC with personal donations of blood. This is truly a life-saving gift that benefits multiple people each time we give. Benefits of donation blood include:
- It feels great to donate!
- You get free juice and delicious cookies.
- It’s something you can spare – most people have blood to spare… yet, there is still not enough to go around.
- You will help ensure blood is on the shelf when needed – most people don’t think they’ll ever need blood, but many do.
- You will be someone’s hero – in fact, you could help save more than one life with just one donation.
Welcome To Our Newly Installed Board for June 2017/May 2018
President 2016-2018 Sarah Williams
VP Membership 2017-2018 Jane Thompson
Secretary 2017-2018 Lori Hanewold and Janet Schultz
Treasurer 2016-2018 Carla Olson
VP Programs 2017-2019 Catherine Meyers
Past President Vicky Bladl
Director 2017-2018 Jessica Locher
Director 2017-2019 Beth Hanthorn
Director 2017 – 2019 Erin Loveland
United Nations Population Fund by Sally Bean
In cooperation with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Zonta International has supported the Liberia Fistula Project since 2008. In that time, Zonta has contributed US$2.55 million to improve the health and socio-economic status of women and young girls in Liberia. For the 2016-2018 biennium, objectives of the project are:
- Improve the health and socio-economic status of more than 500 women and young girls in Liberia.
- Reduce the incidence of obstetric and traumatic fistula by 25 percent.
- Provide quality surgical and non-surgical treatment for 500 women and girls living with obstetric or traumatic fistula.
- Identify and empower 60 inoperable fistula survivors.
- Increase knowledge of obstetric fistula in 50 targeted communities throughout Liberia.
- Improve capacity of 50 local health practitioners to manage the clinical and public health aspects of obstetric fistula in Liberia.
- Train eight specialist doctors in obstetric fistula management and care.
For full details of the project, visit the website: https://foundation.zonta.org/Portals/0/Foundation/Programs/LiberiaProjectDescription2016-2018.pdf
Zonta also partnered with the UNFPA on four previous projects: Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV/AIDS in Rwanda; Respecting the Rights and Responding to the Needs of Adolescent Girls (now called Delaying Early Marriage) in Niger; Prevention of Gender Based Violence (GBV) among Sudanese Refugees in Chad; Support to Prevent and Manage the Consequences of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Post-Tsunami Sri Lanka.
The mission of the UNFPA is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled. The U.S. has long been a major contributor to UNFPA, and in 2015 was its fourth largest donor globally, giving $75 million. UNFPA and other U.N. agencies are voluntarily funded by governments across the globe.
Early in April, the US State Department issued a letter announcing it will no longer fund the UNFPA citing the reason as agency support of coercive abortions or involuntary sterilization in China. The UNFPA refuted this claim, stating that its work promotes the human rights of individuals and couples to make their own decisions, free of coercion or discrimination.
On their website, under FAQ, the abortion question is addressed: “The UNFPA does not promote abortion as a method of family planning. Rather, it accords the highest priority to voluntary family planning to prevent unintended pregnancies to eliminate recourse to abortion. UNFPA helps governments strengthen their national health systems to deal effectively with complications of unsafe abortions, thereby saving women’s lives.
UNFPA does not promote changes to the legal status of abortion, which are decision-making processes that are the sovereign preserve of countries. But UNFPA opposes any coercive abortion and the discriminatory practice of prenatal sex selection.
Some 8 per cent of maternal deaths are due to unsafe abortion. Therefore, its impact on women’s health, lives and well-being should be addressed, as nations agreed at Cairo. Post-abortion care should be provided. Where abortion is legal, national health systems should make it safe and accessible.”
Zonta International supports UNFPA. Click on this link to view a statement from President Sonja and Advocacy Chairman Maria Jose. https://membership.zonta.org/Portals/0/PDFs/Zonta%20International%20supports%20UNFPA%20April%202017.pdf?ver=2017-04-08-070726-750
What can you do? Zontians can advocate to restore funding. The UNFPA does not promote or coerce abortions, but does promote human rights. Tens of thousands of mothers have been saved from preventable death or disability. The five projects funded by Zonta International Foundation have empowered women in five countries that needed our help. ZIF funding alone cannot meet the needs. We need your help to educate the administration through your representatives on this issue. Tools to use include the Zonta International Statement Supporting UNFPA, the UNFPA FAQ, attaching link here: http://www.unfpa.org/frequently-asked-questions, and the Zonta policy on Women’s Reproductive Health, attaching link here: https://membership.zonta.org/Portals/0/Membership/Policies/WomensReproductiveHealthPolicy.pdf