One month ago, I was invited by the Belgian Union President Inge Scholte to attend their bi-annual meeting.
So on the foggy morning of 25th January, together with Carolien Demey, SIE President-Elect, we entered the Koninklijke Bibliotheek in Brussels. For me it was like visiting friends, I’m lucky to be with three of them on the SIE Board: apart from PE Carolien, Congress Chair Gerda Rosiers and Assistant Programme Director Inge Withof.
 |
More friends come from the days when a twinning between mature Union of Belgium and younger Union of Poland started. It was a time when Belgians threw a safety belt to Poles, virtually saving their union. The co-operation continues to great satisfaction on both sides and is one of the best examples of “Twinning”. Some Belgian Soroptimists are particularly involved in this: Mieke van Duykeren, Marlise Binder (continuously helping, as evidenced by her last visit to Poland in December to discuss Mentoring.), Gerda Rosiers, Anne Marie Hendrickx, Marthe Claeys, Carolien Demey and few others – thank you, dear friends!
The meeting was efficiently conducted in one morning. To my surprise, all the essential elements dear to Soroptimists were present: candle ceremony, speeches and presentations. All communications were conducted in French and Dutch, as required by a multilingual country such as Belgium. Admirable discipline!
This meeting was, of course, an opportunity to present the results of the previous year. The Union can pride itself on having accomplished great projects outlined in its annual report and on having carried out effective and comprehensive communication work. Among these projects, especially thrilling, was one of the initiatives of the last Orange Campaign – 220 florist shops distributed 11,000 orange gerberas with the message and Soroptimist logo among their clients.
As for the communication, it was a good opportunity to present the new website of the Belgian Union. Soroptimist International of Europe redesigned its own website a few years ago, so we know how much work it takes to achieve a quality website. I would like to congratulate the Soroptimists who have invested themselves in this project and led it to a well-designed and professional result.
After effort comes comfort! Once all the presentations and reports have been carried out thanks to a tremendous Belgian efficiency, the time for networking, for talks and laughter came. This is also part of the life of a Soroptimist. In fact, commitment is intrinsically linked to networking, to listening to other people and to the personal experiences of each member.
At the end of my trip, I can assure you that the Union of Belgium, with 1,602 members, is very well organised. It continues to increase, as the forthcoming inaugurations of two Clubs, one on May 9th and the other one a little later, will show.
As President, I feel it is important to devote as much of my time as possible to attend meetings or events organized by the members of our Federation. How can one better appreciate the work, projects and commitment of our members than by going to meet them? It is also crucial that Unions and Clubs do not perceive SIE Board as a distant and abstract entity. We are there to listen, support and guide them.
Congratulations to the whole Board of the Union and all Belgian Soroptimists!