Zonta Club 1 celebrates 5 decades of service
Financial independence
is central to strengthening the role women play in keeping children fed and home fires
burning
In the forefront of—advocacy for the advancement of women, Zonta Club 1 Colombo celebrates nearly 50 years of serving and empowering women in Sri Lanka. Committed to the common Zonta International goal of advancing the status of women through service and advocacy, Zonta Club 1 has consistently engaged in women centered projects, empowering lives and building sustainable livelihoods.
Zonta Club 1 of Colombo celebrates Founder’s Day 2012, under the theme Women Can. The multi-faceted projects undertaken by them have been brought together to best reflect nearly five decades of serving the women of Sri Lanka. Together, the projects showcase the commitment and the level of service the Club has maintained from its inception.
Key among their projects has been empowering women through microfinance for selfemployment, a project that has encouraged women to become self sustaining entrepreneurs. “Financial independence is central to strengthening the role women play in keeping children fed and home fires burning”, says Prof. Chandrika Wijeyaratne President of Zonta Club 1 under whose direction the Club plans to augment its service areas.
For over eight years, Zonta Club 1 has actively engaged in pursuing women’s health through monthly Well Woman and Cancer Screening Clinics for underprivileged women of Colombo and its suburbs. More recently they initiated the innovative Mulleriyawa project for the rehabilitation of victims of chronic mental disease.
Zonta Club 1 has been at the forefront of helping women cope with domestic violence; together with Women in Need, the Club has maintained a sustained commitment towards Eliminating Violence against Women. The project has also seen active participation of the Golden Zs studying Law and Medicine and the Women’s Health Committee of the Sri Lankan Medical Association. “We have harnessed the services of all women cen- tered groups in dealing with violence against women,” adds Prof Wijeyaratne.
Following the tsunami disaster, the Club sought to enable women to resume their livelihoods by building houses in Seenigama and Telwatte, among some of the worse affected areas in the south. Regular clinics were also conducted in these areas to encourage affected women to recover from the trauma and illness they experienced.
Encouraged by a high level of participation and activity, Zonta has expanded its presence in Sri Lanka - now three clubs based in Colombo and one in Kandy - which was further enhanced this year by Zonta 1 sponsoring the newest club in Negombo.
As Zonta Club 1 approaches celebrating fifty golden years of dedicated service towards women, the Club also launches its website, encouraging women to stay connected. The newest project of Zonta Club 1, Building Bridges - Peace through Women will seek to build bridges of friendship, co-operation and strengthen relations between women of the North and the South. This project will enable women to share their experiences and foster goodwill and understanding, in the process of reconciliation reiterates Prof. Wijeyaratne.
Zonta Club 1 has come a long way from the days when it was initiated by a group of enterprising women widely recognized for their philanthropy with Lady Evelyn de Soyza as charter President. Mano Muthukrishna Candappa and late Dr. Stella de Silva have rendered yeoman service towards Sri Lankan women through bringing fellow women together to harness strength and unity in service.