3rd December 2023
By ~ Rajani Vidyasagar

Sisterhood Meet-IWCSS and IWCSFLU

A second online meeting with sister club IWCSFLU was held on the 6th of December 2023. ISO Shamala Dharan organized this by collaborating with Inner Wheel Club of San Fernando, La Union in the Philippines. Familiar faces, happy greetings and small talk preceded the formal meeting. Both clubs took great pride in showcasing their projects for the year. Clubs from two developing nations having a sharing session meant that there were several similarities in terms of community services rendered. Some of the focus varied because Malaysia and the Philippines have different socio-political and religious cultures and a diverse demographic. IWCSS was very impressed with the well-established and sustainable programs by IWCSFLU such as D.E.A.R (Drop everything and read for children under five), mangrove planting, livelihood projects that taught a skill, feeding programs in school to bring undernourished kids into the healthy weight range, and several other meaningful projects. They applied a systematic approach in assessing a need, and introducing programs in the community, with appropriate follow ups and data gathering to garner its effectiveness. This has started a conversation about emulating some of them and introducing such programs into the communities here that have similar challenges. An invitation to attend their National Convention in Manila on Feb 23rd, 2024 has been extended by IWCSFLU with an extended invitation to visit San Fernando, La Union after the program. IWCSS was just getting excited and happy that a collaboration with Jaffna was in the pipeline. Now with the sisterhood meeting with IWCSFLU in the Philippines, there is no doubt, that the value of International understanding and Fellowship is firmly in place. IWCSS has always had great admiration for the work undertaken by its sister club and will continue to be their supporter and well-wisher.