My name is Éva Kopándi. People call me Évi. I am 27. I live in Torockószentgyörgy, Transylvania, a rural community of 600 people, where people are mostly farmers. The women of my village are the heart of the families, and beside this they work hard in the fields for daily food and crops. The benefit if living in such community is that we learn that material things are not always the condition of happiness. The community struggles with the lack of healthy water, lack of a sewage system, bad roads and unemployment. One day I hope I work in my field of study, Art History. My hopes and dreams for the future are to see a relaxed, healthy community in Torockószentgyörgy.

    
My name is Melinda Simo. I am called “Meli” by friends. I am 30. I am a Transylvanian Unitarian. This is part of the self definitions, that help me to ask and find answers. I live partly in Janosfalva (my husband is the Unitarian minister), partly in Udvarhely (I work here as a psychologist). In Janosfalva just some of women have jobs and drivers licenses. But still we sit in different benches than the men in the church. We do not have women in leadership positions and jobs are organized into men’s jobs and women’s jobs. There is a silent progress. Last year women of the village participated in a tourism course. They understood that finding jobs requires knowledge and the first step is to improve your studies. One of my goals is to find the way between modern and traditional, between roots and wings.  Being a mother of a disabled child I also find it is very important to work for a more tolerant society. I also hope to find time for community work. We started projects in Janosfalva and I hope they will be successful and we could start new ones.

My name is Lenna Desuasido and I’m 27 years old. My friends call me Len. I am a Marketing professional in Manila, Philippines. It was only by accident a year and a half ago that I discovered UUism. Because there was so much freedom and empowerment, that I now practice and cherish, I knew UU was the perfect fit for me. After I joined the Bicutan community, my small congregation has grown from renting to owning a building, we now manage a successful micro-finance project, and have empowered the women congregants to speak and think for themselves. I always like to tell the story of how these shy housewives who were so afraid to speak up - now have became confident and self-sufficient. They volunteer to do the sermons and always speak up during community cares and concerns.  I’ve a lot of goals—both personal and organizational ones. There are many routes I can take to achieve it. But in essence, I want to be significant and make a difference.

My name is Ma. Elvira Peras-Sienes. Most of my friends usually call me Elvie or Bing. I am 31. I live in the island of Negros Oriental, close to Dumaguete City, Philippines. I work as administrative assistant to the RE Committee and to the administration of the Unitarian Universalist Church of the Philippines. My connection to Unitarian Universalism is something that I treasure so much. I’m very thankful for the UU principles that brought inspiration to my life as a working mother, wife, and as a woman minister, in spite of all the hardships that I’ve gone through. As a church worker, one of things that I would like to do is to visit local churches and teach the congregation, especially women, how they can share their talents and skills to make their congregation alive and active, and to organize/listen to different life stories of rural women in the community. My hopes and dreams for the future are: to be economically secure; to see that women are given priority in terms of job opportunities; and to retire early so that I could serve other people, especially women and children who are underprivileged.

My name is Nancy Njeri Kamau and people usually call me Mama Mike and I am 47. I live in Nairobi, Kenya. I am a social worker and self employed. I am a member of the Kenya UU Church and one of the eight directors in Nairobi. I like the beliefs, doctrines and the teachings of the church. The church approach to life helps me to connect with life. I like to relate my faith to others especially the youth as they are the future leaders and need spiritual nourishment. Certainly, Barack Obama is an example. Women in my community are disadvantaged socially, politically and economically and the same applies nationally. My community is one of survival for the fittest people who live by the Grace of God. I happen to live in a slum environment where women are down treated in all aspects of life. My hope for the future is the economic empowerment of my community and its sustenance so our people can at least afford their very basic needs such as shelter, education, food and clothing. I am looking forward to starting projects that could assist single mothers, widows, and AIDS orphans in their day to day living, and that could also generate income.

My name is Alice Kemunto Magara, a Kisii by tribe, a Kenyan citizen. I am 46 years old. I have 10 siblings. I was married in 1986, my husband is Bishop Patrick Magara and we were blessed with three children, all boys. I was brought up in a Christian and religious family, so I grew up a spiritual faith. I did my higher education and passed well with Grade two (2) certificate and in 1985 I was employed by the Kenya government as an untrained teacher for 6 years, then I continued with my studies with the Ministry of Education and went to Elegi Teachers Training College for two years. Now I am a P1 teacher. In 2003 I stopped teaching and started working with Christian women. I opened an orphanage school called Sarah Orphanage School, where we assist girls and boys who are suffering in many ways. Now I am also working as a matron of our UU congregations here in Kenya.

There are a number of issues I would like to cover at the Convocation:

1. Kenyan UUs:  Brief history of the Kenya UUs; challenges facing the UUS in Kenya; opportunities for UUs to grow; suggestions for the way forward for UUS growth in Africa; seminars in Kenya that will involve Kenyan Human Rights Commission and other Human Rights

2. Women rights in Kenya: Women democracy; women partnerships; forced marriage (12 to 17-year-old women)

3. Harmful cultural practices in Kenya: Female circumcision (female genital mutilation)

4. Women issues in Kenya: Inequality; poverty; gender based violence

5. Solutions/educational programs:
- Awareness, creation on the rights of children especially girls who are discriminated and neglected in our society
- Lobbying for favorable policies on women and child protection
- Enhance women views and opinions in matters that are affecting them
- Building women capacities and empowering them
- Research, data management and documentation on the same
- Sensitizing the community on women issues as UUs in Kenya
- Creating various clubs and forums for girls

My name is Moyegun Olufunke Ayodapo. I am a member of First Unitarian Church of Nigeria, and also a chorister and a member of the Women Christian Association in the parish. I obtained a National Certificate in Health Records Information in 2002. I am at present an M & E Officer (Monitoring and Evaluation Officer) in Massey Street Children Hospital (MSCH),one of the Lagos State Government Hospitals, which cares for women and children in particular. My major area of interest with issues that concerns women in my country is different means in which women could be economically independent in an environment dominated by men, where there are various abuses ranging from rape, domestic violence, marginalization, and restrictions/limitations of women in some ventures due to cultural beliefs. My hopes and dreams for the future are to see myself as being able to touch so many lives within my community and beyond.

My name is Mary Chidgey. I am called Mary, I am 65. I live in Kabwe, Zambia, where I started a hospice project. The AIDS Ranchhod Hospice strives to provide a clean, light, fresh and homelike atmosphere for our patients, offering them a place of rest and care to recover.  For those who don't recover, we aim to ensure that they pass their final days as comfortably as possible in a peaceful environment. The hospice also supports a group of men and women, who have been trained in Home based care. These volunteers care for up to 620 sick and vulnerable people in their communities, trained and supported by the Hospice Nurses, who meet with them weekly to continue their health education, to refill their kits with medicines and supply them with nutritional supplements for the bedridden clients. Our project also supports two daycare centers. The Hospice staff visit 10 rural villages, each village once a month to provide Voluntary Counseling & Testing, Health Education, Medical care, Care of Undernourished children and provision of Chlorine for clean water and Mosquito Nets. The Hospice connection with Unitarian Universalism is through Carla Feldhamer. Carla has visited the Hospice 4 times since we opened, she supports us through FHSSA and she supports the women's project (The Busy Bees) through the Unitarian Fellowship. She has raised funds to provide the BB, a group of income generating Grandmothers, caring for orphans, with a permanent building for their daily activities; she funds inputs for their tailoring and beadwork. She supports some of the Hospice Staff with school fees for their children. My goals in life are to continue supporting the programs in Kabwe, so that we can continue to reach out to people and provide them with care and support.

My name is Erica Yvette Woods. People call me Erica. I am 39. I live in a middle-class neighborhood in Salvador, Bahia, Brazil, which is surrounded by favela communities, subject to random acts of crime and violence, and our streets are filled with an ever increasing number of homeless people. I am creating an organization called the Projeto de Habitação dos Desabrigados da Bahia (the Bahia Homeless Housing Project).  PHDB aims to take abandoned buildings throughout the city of Salvador and transform them using environmentally sustainable materials into viable houses, schools and medical facilities for homeless families, individuals, and abandoned children (Brazil has over 30 million children living alone on her streets).  Once the buildings are completed and filled, PHDB’s focus will shift toward helping each member of our community transform the circumstances of their lives by providing education regarding all aspects of life (including but not limited to: culinary classes, job training, literacy and general education, spiritual guidance, and financial planning), employment in our facilities and with sponsoring corporations and businesses throughout Salvador.  PHDB’s ultimate aim is to provide the basic tools necessary for our community members to shift the circumstances of their lives so that they become functional members of society.

I have not had a direct connection with Unitarian Universalism.  However, I have a feeling that the connection I will be developing by attending this Convocation will have a deep and profound effect on my life, upon PHDB, and upon the people of Brazil. I hope to see PHDB come to fruition and help thousands of people in the sacred city of Salvador, to create a secondary leg of PHDB called CAM, the Collaborativa das Artistas Mundial (the World Artists Collaborative) that helps to unite the world through music and the arts, to be involved in programs and projects that help people help themselves AND help people find their way closer to their own definition of Divinity. I would like to offer my services consulting with people in other places throughout the world looking to create similar projects for communities in their countries.