“Motherhood: All love begins and ends there.” 

– Robert Browning

June 5th, 2023

Happy Mother's Day

Women of the World held its annual Mother's Day Potluck on Saturday, May 13th, hosted at the South Salt Lake Community Center. We celebrated all of our women, mothers or not, and awarded our "Mother of the Year" to Samira Tahsin, one of our long-term clients and mother of two beautiful boys. Samira's dedication to improving her situation through education, hard work, and compassion for others has been an inspiration to her boys, her coworkers, and to her case managers at WoW. After the short award ceremony, we ate delicious food from all over the world and enjoyed a presentation of Nepalese dancing. We are so proud of all the women associated with Women of the World and for all they do to make their new homes happy and successful spaces for their families and friends.

Living Traditions Festival 

Samira, our Executive Director, was asked to moderate a panel at this year's Living Traditions Festival. The formal title of this panel was "Dress, Regalia, Attire: Traditional Expressions of Identity." It was meant to discuss the role of traditional attire, regalia, and dress that plays a significant role in community identity and expression. This can take on many roles: religious significance, regional or local identity, and pride, as well as serve a variety of special events and occasions. Throughout this panel, three fashion artists from different communities and cultures discussed these aspects of identity and expression: Denise Kaafi (who has designed Polynesian clothing for over 20 years), Rispah (designing traditional Kenyan clothings) and Saana Haroon from Pakistan. This event took place at SLC Public Library on May 21st.

Intensive English Class

 After a long hiatus, the Intensive English class at WoW is back! Session 1 started on May 1st and is held from 9 am to noon, Monday through Thursday. We're excited to have Dan, our new and beloved teacher, and he has been guiding our ten students on an engaging journey of improving their English grammar, pronunciation, and writing skills. Session 1 runs for eight weeks through May and June and with a second session scheduled for July and August. The students have already grown in confidence and excitement, and we are thrilled to see their progress so far!

Women's Career Fair

On Monday May 19, Women of the World participated in the Women's Job Fair hosted by the South Salt Lake Co-Op. It was an amazing opportunity for our clients to network with recruiters, get familiar with the available positions and wages in their area, and connect with other job seekers. Our Economic Empowerment staff, Roxie and Yael, were able to sit down with our women to help them apply to jobs on the spot. Roxie and Yael also worked to onboard more Employment Partners, meaning new job opportunities could be available for our women very soon! 

YLAI Fellow

 This month WoW was lucky to partner with the Utah Council for Citizen Diplomacy (UCCD) and The Young Leaders of the Americas Initiative (YLAI) to host a fellow in our office for four weeks. YLAI is the Department of State’s flagship program to advance inclusive economic prosperity in the Western Hemisphere. YLAI empowers entrepreneurs, increases trade, and encourages job promotion throughout Latin America, the Caribbean, and Canada. YLAI connects entrepreneurs across borders through an annual inbound fellowship program for 280 entrepreneurs from 37 countries; an outbound fellowship program for 70 U.S. participants; and an active digital YLAI network with more than 55,000 members. YLAI incorporates diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility best practices during the implementation of program activities. Cohorts represent entrepreneurs across geographic landscapes and race, ethnicity, religion, disabilities, and LGBTQI+ identities. YLAI connects fellows across borders through an international fellowship program.

Our fellow Norma has her own foundation in Ecuador called Nukari, which offers free educational and empowerment training to indigenous communities in Ecuador. She is excited to be here to learn and share best practices for empowering women, and we at WoW feel lucky to learn from her and all her experiences!

Office Activities

WoW had a staff training this month presented by AAU on recognizing human trafficking victims and how to provide trauma-informed care to any clients that may have experienced being trafficked. Staff learned the risk factors and vulnerabilities that contribute to the proliferation of trafficking, as well as the means and purposes of its practice. Importantly, staff how to identify when a person may be trafficked, as well as important resources and connections to help support victims as they escape and rebuild their lives. AAU's training has helped WoW staff to be more effective in supporting our clients who may be victims, as well as helping to eradicate trafficking in our area.

UTA also came to host a workshop on how to navigate Utah's public transport system, taking our clients on a field trip on the bus! Understanding the public transport system in Utah is crucial for our clients that are new to America for several reasons. It enables them to access various destinations, such as workplaces, schools, and healthcare facilities, facilitating their integration into the community. Familiarity with public transport also helps them navigate their new surroundings, find affordable transportation options, reduce their carbon footprint, and connect with people from diverse backgrounds. Understanding the public transport system also provides our clients with alternative transportation options when faced with limited resources or the challenges related to owning a private vehicle, ensuring their mobility and independence in their new country. At WoW, we often stress the importance of being familiar with UTA's systems so that our clients can achieve independence in transportation.

Women of Action

Samira was asked to speak to The Know Your Neighbor program for a refugee organization called "Women of Action." This organization primarily serves Swahili- speaking women from Uganda, Congo, and Kenya. She spoke to them about female empowerment and shared all that WoW is doing to empower women in Utah.

She reminded all the women in attendance that they are capable of achieving great things, and with hard work and determination, they can create a life for themselves that is filled with purpose and meaning. We know that it can be tempting to rely on government assistance, but WoW encourages all our clients to avoid that temptation.

While government assistance can be helpful in the short term, it

also can create a dependency mindset that can be difficult to break. Instead, focusing on developing skills and resources will help all of us become truly self-sufficient. Samira ended her powerful presentation with:

"I want to say that you are not alone. There is a whole community of women just like you who are seeking empowerment and independence. Together, we can support each other, learn from each other, and achieve great things. So, let's take the first step today toward creating a better future for ourselves and our families."

We as a WoW team echo these sentiments and hope to inspire all our clients to follow Samira's counsel.

Women Who Succeed  

Our Executive Director was also chosen to be part of Women Who Succeed this month. She conducted a workshop entitled “Strengthening Your Roots Through Community Engagement." She also was assigned three mentees who she connected with for the first time.

New Employees

The WoW team is expanding! We are excited to announce a new Case Manager and a new English teacher to our team this month.

New Board Members

WoW recently also welcomed two new incredible members to our Board of Directors.

Sincerely,