Soroptimist Club members, along with Her Honour Alberta’s Lieutenant Governor Lois Mitchell honoured three Live Your Dream (LYD) winners and the JOY Award recipient at the Chateau Louis Conference Centre in Edmonton handing out more than $20,000 to support women out working hard including those using YWCA services. Her Honour Lois Mitchell inspired the audience with her own personal story from a teacher to a successful business woman. Her Honour Lois Mitchell told the audience; “…people will say to me, you mentored me, and I will say, no, no…you mentored me…”, She went on further to say that I’m honoured to
be sharing my story such that it will inspire others.
In such an event, everyone I met had a story worthy of sharing; it is hard to decide which stories will inspire their way into my piece. For the first time, the Soroptimist International Club of Edmonton “JOY Award” was handed to someone from Calgary, Liz Gibson, from the RESET Society who assist
women to exit prostitution. Liz shared with the audience, “…I’m accepting this award today to honour all the women who have gone through sexual exploitation and I want the women in sexual exploitation situations to know that there is a way out”. The JOY Award is named after Joy Smith, an MP from Manitoba who successfully shepherded legislation to charge “Johns” rather than sex workers. JOY Award funds will support important projects within the RESET Society to help prostitutes leave the exploitative situations they find themselves in and to support new choices.
The Soroptimist Live Your Dream Award focuses on helping women who are responsible for their dependents, in school fulltime and working to support their families and who can articulate their financial needs with clearly stated goals, backed by two references to show how they serve as an inspiration for their dependents and others.
“My son is my catalyst for change…,” said Live Your Dream recipient Dawn N. a single mom as a nursing student at Athabasca University who saw Soroptimist ads at her university and decided to apply. It was a rough start to life for Dawn, at 26, addicted to drugs, pregnant and alone to raise the baby. In a complete transformation, she quit drugs immediately and gave birth to her son, who came to the world earlier than expected needing feeding tubes and other complex medical care. That did not stop Dawn from working hard to save money to enroll in a Licensed Practical Nursing program where she was elected class valedictorian, even though she personally felt she would totally collapse from the stress. Dawn was inspired to take nursing so that she can take care of her son and give back to the community that supported her. She is almost through a Bachelor of Nursing Program at Athabasca University and has big dreams to specialize to become a Nurse Practitioner in the future. The money from Soroptimist International Club of Edmonton will enable her to pay for her son’s medical bills, and subsidize her expenses as she goes into practicum (where she will have no income). Her references describe Dawn as caring, compassionate, driven, and stubborn.
The next Live Your Dream recipient was Lisa Dawn Richards who has seven children and is a mature student at University which has its own challenges of spiritual, mental, emotional and physical stress. But she is persevering at being away from home and through a degree from Blue Quills University in St. Paul, Alberta. She is studying the Cree Language, in a Bachelors of Arts Degree which she will share as a teacher to her Alberta community. Lisa Dawn saw the information about the Live Your Dream Awards posted in the Indigenous Relations Community Bulletin and was scared to apply thinking of the competition. Her mother was a residential school survivor and she herself has journeyed with inter-generational trauma and addictions throughout her life but she persevered with her application and two references. But still Lisa Dawn was surprised when she got a call that she will be receiving the 2019 Soroptimist Live Your Dream Award, to help her, as the name says; live her dream. Lisa Dawn travels every week from Edmonton to St. Paul to study at the University and during
the week, she stays in the university dormitory. When asked by Diversity
Magazine what she will do with the money she receives from the award, she exclaimed, “…Oh my gosh, it’s totally going to help me with my studies, tuition, books and transport to get my degree…” “I’m fab, happy, and shocked…,” she added.
The third Live Your Dream recipient this year Dama D. embodied all the
strong needs and attributes in her journey from her native Somalia to Edmonton through civil war, having a long trek through the jungle and city to city to a Kenyan Refugee camp named Dadaab, the largest refugee camp in the world.
Survival was difficult with severe weather, poor shelter, little or no food or clean water and no school. Girls face cultural pressures against education so under a tree is where Dama learned the alphabet and numbers. Girls were harassed and raped there but in spite of these challenges, she did well in school and in mid-2006 after finishing high school, Dama won a full scholarship and a sponsorship from World University Services of Canada (WUSC), a non-profit organization that empowers refugee youth through education. But life from a refugee camp to a large Canadian university was a shock and having no family with her, Dama married young and found herself out of school and at home with 2 babies and soon a single parent. She experienced great stressors from this loss of support, so life was tough.
She had to begin working full time but she still found a bit of time to volunteer while supporting her children. Amid the childcare, working full time and in school fulltime, Dama in July 2017, sponsored five family members; her stepmom and four adult step-siblings to Canada had been living in the refugee camp in Dadaab for 25 years. They are all adjusting well; working and giving back to the Edmonton community and learning all about this great country of Canada.
Having received the benefits of education herself, Dama has been and is still a strong girl-child advocate and a strong believer that girl-child education is the basis for strong communities. Dama has finished her Child and Youth Care Program already and is a 3rd year Social Work student at the University of Calgary, Edmonton campus while supporting her two children and her step mom.  Knowing the many challenges girls and women face today, seeing them empowered, respected and dignified is her number one goal as Dama would like to specialize in being an Immigration social worker. When Dama took to the stage that day, she had this to share with a packed room of Soroptimist supporters, asking all attending; “…let’s empower and support, and be the voice of the voiceless…”!
In other action on the stage the YWCA received a cheque to support the work they do with women, especially in the childcare support area for support while moms receive the important counselling they require..
The first speaker for the International Women’s Day Celebration was Bonnie Lee Randall, Social Worker and Author who spoke to educate participants on trauma in childhood that carries forward into adulthood. Bonnie Lee outlined how this trauma can be identified and dealt with best and that adversity experienced in childhood can create immeasurable difficulties in mental health, physical health and emotional wellbeing over a lifetime.
Closing out the day was world renowned Gem Munro from the Amarok Society, a Philanthropist, and Author who spoke on his latest book, “The Silver Apple of the Moon“ based on the Edmonton type inner-city where he is trying to draw attention to the needs of the struggling inner city residents. It and he spoke to attendees on how to best stop inner-city prostitution and drug use by not allowing too many liquor stores, bars, lounges, pharmacies, etc. in the inner-city. Our cities must give all the disadvantaged people living there especially those being prostituted more
choices and supports for success like reasonable priced food and personalized supports to allow them to move away to successfully. Gem Munro also spoke about how his wife Dr. Tanyss Munro is working in Bangladesh teaching women in the poorest slums there to read and write in their own language and in English, then teaching the women how to become leaders to teach others in their communities these new skills to help more and more women reduce their poverty issues. It is a wonderful concept that could be used extensively here in Edmonton to help disadvantaged women learn how to remove themselves from their difficult
scenarios and to help others learn to support their community!
Displays and Draws were available throughout the event to entertain, inform or educate attendees.
More details on www.siedmonton.org.
