The morning began with a breakfast meeting with the Recommendations Committee who met to put together all the recommendations that had come from each of the delegations either in their reports or separately.
The Cook Islands put forward several recommendations including: the Council actioning the sending of letters to the USA and Tonga regarding the signing of the CEDAW convention; the formalization of a Peace Statement for PPSEAWA; some simplification and clarification of the PPSEAWA by laws; and widening voting privileges to Heads of Missions with regards to the choice of venue for the next conference; and finally to allow proxy votes at elections. A list of recommendations was produced to be presented to the new Council.
The morning session was entitled “Global Challenges for Women”. Speakers were local leaders who presented on: Violence against women and children by the former State Minister for Women Empowerment who confirmed a lack of true stats as to the reality of the problem because women victims are reluctant to inform authorities about any cases of violence, the root of the problem lies in the lack of education and poverty, the government works together with NGOs to spread the load of responsibility and concern; Women empowerment in rural areas (problems and empowerment): misconception of women’s role (restricting access to opportunities to education, etc), misuse of religious scripts, misuse of cultural values; horticulture and agriculture training programs offered to enable women to raise levels of knowledge and skills through contributing to food production for the family; trafficking of women and children from UN stats and the work that Dr Karim (a second generation PPSEAWA member) had done in different countries with regards to trafficking and exploitation (for sex, labour, child brides, etc); and Women entrepreneurship (women become entrepreneurs by economic pressure and a passion for a particular business area. Noni works for a company which was started by her grandmother. Wisdom from her grandmother: never whine, respect others, always see problems as opps; if we expect our employees and drivers to do something, we must role model and look after them. “Rule with silk gloved iron hands”: feminine values have shaped the way she runs her company – pay attention to detail, perserverance, multitasking, genuine motherly care: Personal challenges: structures (legal rights, cultural restraints), education, capital, markets, choice of business that can give flexibility of time and place: balancing three balls (professional, personal and family) at the same time – working from home or perhaps dropping one of the balls (most times it’s the personal one – perhaps a hobby that she can do at home). Nowadays, work also offers women privileges when they have qualifications and are empowered. However the future for our daughters may not be as easy. Affirmative action is get less and less so that women will have to compete as equals. We therefore need to set up support structures; create opportunities for young women. What is important is that we have to be the role models for the future women entrepreneurship.
During the question time, one of the delegates focused us all back to the theme of the conference “Fostering Peace…” and how the conference had not addressed Peace as much as it could have done.
The third business session included the adoption of resolutions and recommendations; as well as the election of the new International President and of the International Council.
President: Theresa Hintzke (seen here farewelling the Indonesian organisers); Vice Presidents: Fiji, Indonesia; Secretary: Taina Woodward (USA); Treasurer : Ulrike (Hawaii); Directors: Taiwan, Samoa, New Zealand, and ?
Contact details for Tiahuia Abraham (NZ National Pres) tia.abraham@xtra.co.nz
Thanks to everyone for allowing us to attend this conference. We enjoyed it and believe we contributed positively, raising the profile of the Cook Islands within the organisation itself. We should plan more positively to send representatives to Taiwan (the mid-term conference) and to Fiji in three years time. Unfortunately we didn’t come away from this conference with a goal for the next three years but no doubt this will be communicated to us by the new Council in the near future.
Meitaki maata. Maureen & Alexis.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Friday, 21 May - Day Four of Conference
The International Council was asked to attend a breakfast meeting at 7am in the Conference Room. Some of us dutifully turned up and waited, but by 7.10am it was obvious the meeting wasn’t going to happen so we went to the breakfast tent. Some Council executive were there, and we were asked to have breakfast first. The meeting commenced at 7.30am and focused on the election of officers and country bids to host the 2013 conference. Unfortunately the use of the data projector hadn’t been organised causing further delays.
Requests were made for scrutineers for the elections and my name was put forward by Valerie Hogan as was Anna Morri, a young lawyer from Pakistan. We will assist Sharmina from Samoa. A little later when a request was made for a team of collators of any recommendations proposed by members to go to the new Council, Anna and my names were proposed again along with Taine Woodward and Elinore Schlesinger from UNICEF. Short term activities that neither of us had a problem with.
The plenary session “Our Young Women, Our Future” began late but involved young women leaders whose organisation and presentation skills demonstrated a positive future for PPSEAWA if these women are given some lead in its management. The delay in getting this session started meant that we were unable to hold one of the important sessions planned for the morning – presentations by the Presidential candidates (who turned out to be Theresa Hintzke and Mary Cabrera).
After lunch, the programme could have been offered as optional. The afternoon was spent with a demonstration of makeup (with Miss Bali 2009 as the model – it was later suggested that they might have been better served to attempt to do a makeover of one of the delegates). There was also a presentation from a local producer of natural beauty products who later revealed that she was born in 1928 – if asked to guess her age, I probably have said early 60s, if that. She said she had used these natural products and potions since an early age, and they truly appeared to have worked, although we did note that the Asian women in general had beautiful skin anyway.
The afternoon tea session was taken up with the country bids (from Taiwan, Canada, USA and Fiji) and the vote gave Fiji the 2013 conference. We then had a presentation by the Executive to prepare a Strategic Plan for PPSEAWA. They had identified that many members did not understand PPSEAWA’s organizational structure and proceeded to explain the many positions of the Council and their roles . (This was timely as members were going to be asked to vote on filling these positions. Names were up by no bios had been posted so we could find out about whether they were capable of the posts to which they were being proposed).
After going through the SWOT analysis that the Council Exec had compiled, we were then broken up into groups to add to the lists. Our assigned group was the weaknesses and threats. The group felt that the analysis had already been done and that perhaps the group could look at recommendations to address these weaknesses. Despite the general feeling of the group that this would be a more productive use of the session, this proposal was rejected by the convenor because another group had been tasked to write up some recommendations. We were later to find that their recommendations mainly focused on the structure of the organisation, rather than on the issues raised by the SWOT analysis. Our group’s time would have been put to better use to have devised ways to reduce the impact of any weaknesses and the risk of any threats to our organisation. The report of the group’s activities to the plenary session did not accurately reflect the views expressed by the discussion group.
Communication had been identified as a prioritized weakness of PPSEAWA and the development of the website was seen as a priority by the majority. However it was interesting to note that a small number of members rejected the use of the website because they did not have access to the internet. Having just indicated a need to get more in touch with our young women, it was explained that the use of the internet and online social networks were perhaps ways in which to keep in better touch with the young people we want to build and lead the future of PPSEAWA. However at the same time there is a strong need for policies that relate to the use of these systems within our organisation. Kate Morioka explained that the website did not meet the needs of members because it lacked a vision for the site and its content that was not relevant to the objectives of the organisation. Again policies and a website committee are probably going to be necessary to get make the website more useful to members and the organisation itself.
The day’s program finished about 6pm, and Alexis and I used these last hours of her time in Bali, to walk to the nearest internet café to touch base with home. Not having been on the internet since last Sunday, I found 191 messages in my mailbox – among them I was offered a job, asked to attend an IT meeting in Tonga and notified of the passing away of my father’s brother during the week. I needed to respond to these urgently and it highlighted the importance of conference venues having internet facilities to cater for member’s home based responsibilities while they are at such a conference, especially when it has been at their own expense.
Requests were made for scrutineers for the elections and my name was put forward by Valerie Hogan as was Anna Morri, a young lawyer from Pakistan. We will assist Sharmina from Samoa. A little later when a request was made for a team of collators of any recommendations proposed by members to go to the new Council, Anna and my names were proposed again along with Taine Woodward and Elinore Schlesinger from UNICEF. Short term activities that neither of us had a problem with.
The plenary session “Our Young Women, Our Future” began late but involved young women leaders whose organisation and presentation skills demonstrated a positive future for PPSEAWA if these women are given some lead in its management. The delay in getting this session started meant that we were unable to hold one of the important sessions planned for the morning – presentations by the Presidential candidates (who turned out to be Theresa Hintzke and Mary Cabrera).
After lunch, the programme could have been offered as optional. The afternoon was spent with a demonstration of makeup (with Miss Bali 2009 as the model – it was later suggested that they might have been better served to attempt to do a makeover of one of the delegates). There was also a presentation from a local producer of natural beauty products who later revealed that she was born in 1928 – if asked to guess her age, I probably have said early 60s, if that. She said she had used these natural products and potions since an early age, and they truly appeared to have worked, although we did note that the Asian women in general had beautiful skin anyway.
The afternoon tea session was taken up with the country bids (from Taiwan, Canada, USA and Fiji) and the vote gave Fiji the 2013 conference. We then had a presentation by the Executive to prepare a Strategic Plan for PPSEAWA. They had identified that many members did not understand PPSEAWA’s organizational structure and proceeded to explain the many positions of the Council and their roles . (This was timely as members were going to be asked to vote on filling these positions. Names were up by no bios had been posted so we could find out about whether they were capable of the posts to which they were being proposed).
After going through the SWOT analysis that the Council Exec had compiled, we were then broken up into groups to add to the lists. Our assigned group was the weaknesses and threats. The group felt that the analysis had already been done and that perhaps the group could look at recommendations to address these weaknesses. Despite the general feeling of the group that this would be a more productive use of the session, this proposal was rejected by the convenor because another group had been tasked to write up some recommendations. We were later to find that their recommendations mainly focused on the structure of the organisation, rather than on the issues raised by the SWOT analysis. Our group’s time would have been put to better use to have devised ways to reduce the impact of any weaknesses and the risk of any threats to our organisation. The report of the group’s activities to the plenary session did not accurately reflect the views expressed by the discussion group.
Communication had been identified as a prioritized weakness of PPSEAWA and the development of the website was seen as a priority by the majority. However it was interesting to note that a small number of members rejected the use of the website because they did not have access to the internet. Having just indicated a need to get more in touch with our young women, it was explained that the use of the internet and online social networks were perhaps ways in which to keep in better touch with the young people we want to build and lead the future of PPSEAWA. However at the same time there is a strong need for policies that relate to the use of these systems within our organisation. Kate Morioka explained that the website did not meet the needs of members because it lacked a vision for the site and its content that was not relevant to the objectives of the organisation. Again policies and a website committee are probably going to be necessary to get make the website more useful to members and the organisation itself.
The day’s program finished about 6pm, and Alexis and I used these last hours of her time in Bali, to walk to the nearest internet café to touch base with home. Not having been on the internet since last Sunday, I found 191 messages in my mailbox – among them I was offered a job, asked to attend an IT meeting in Tonga and notified of the passing away of my father’s brother during the week. I needed to respond to these urgently and it highlighted the importance of conference venues having internet facilities to cater for member’s home based responsibilities while they are at such a conference, especially when it has been at their own expense.
Thursday 20 May - Day Three of Conference
Another early start for both of us this morning, with Alexis and I starting the day with a swim. Again, despite the heat of the outside temperature, it was even warmer under the water, but the exercise was invigorating. And at 7am we had the pool to ourselves.
After breakfast our first session involved a presentation by a Professor who worked for the Ministry of Defense. His presentation was based on the military’s view of peace building. Their strategies focus on the heart and mind of the people of Indonesia – national and character building. He referred to this as non-military warfare – developing human resources (intellectual skills; work ethic; national awareness; national character; morality (based on local culture); and patriotism. Unfortunately I missed a lot of what the Professor had to say because of his accent but his presentation provided an interesting perspective for delegates to compare how their own countries were dealing with diversity in their own countries.
References: www.dephan.go.id; www.potham.dephan.go.id
We had an interesting and unexpected second speaker. Originally we were to have the Chairman of Youth of Malaysia, but he was called away to serve his military service. His place was taken by his wife who also works with the Malaysian government. She provided a very interesting presentation based on the conference theme “Fostering Peace through Strengthening Unity in Diversity” from a Malaysian perspective. Noori had been educated at Syracuse University in the USA and her broad knowledge, intellectual background and excellent English was reflected in her presentation. Malaysia offered a perhaps more liberal approach to the diversity issues in their country, and like Indonesia is focused on education and tolerance of the diversity and the need for cultural groups to retain their identity while collaborating to create a unified country.
Question time offered an opportunity to explore the two perspectives while also expressing concerns about their own situations. NZ via Ann Candy, encouraged indigenous peoples to strive to prevent the loss of their identity and cultures by being swamped by more dominant introduced cultures. Conflict within countries impeded the promotion of peace-based programs when the preoccupation for some peoples was more survival-based. In countries like Thailand which is currently involved in riots about human rights, Noori stated that this indicated that their basic needs are being met, so that they are now more directed on a higher level - and a more “privileged” - self-actualisation need such as human rights.
The program became a little confused at this stage because the Minister of Marine was supposed to arrive but he was late, so we were invited to have morning tea. Alexis and I decided to set up our booth. No sooner had we done this .Then we were told that he had arrived. I remained with the booth and his presentation was apparently short, and then because it was his birthday, everyone was invited to lunch.
After lunch there was a panel and break out group discussions were planned on the morning’s talks. Because of our limited opportunity to get out of the hotel to do a bit of shopping, we joined with Ann Candy (ex Deputy Mayor of Manukau) and Georgina Kupa of NZ to go to Kuta for a couple of hours.
We returned just in time to get ourselves changed and onto a bus to go to a show and dinner sponsored by the Ministries of Culture and Tourism. The convoy of 9 buses was given a police escort so that red lights were not an issue when it came to getting us from A to B. It had been a busy day and required an early night, especially as we have a breakfast meeting at 7am for the International Council planned for tomorrow.
After breakfast our first session involved a presentation by a Professor who worked for the Ministry of Defense. His presentation was based on the military’s view of peace building. Their strategies focus on the heart and mind of the people of Indonesia – national and character building. He referred to this as non-military warfare – developing human resources (intellectual skills; work ethic; national awareness; national character; morality (based on local culture); and patriotism. Unfortunately I missed a lot of what the Professor had to say because of his accent but his presentation provided an interesting perspective for delegates to compare how their own countries were dealing with diversity in their own countries.
References: www.dephan.go.id; www.potham.dephan.go.id
We had an interesting and unexpected second speaker. Originally we were to have the Chairman of Youth of Malaysia, but he was called away to serve his military service. His place was taken by his wife who also works with the Malaysian government. She provided a very interesting presentation based on the conference theme “Fostering Peace through Strengthening Unity in Diversity” from a Malaysian perspective. Noori had been educated at Syracuse University in the USA and her broad knowledge, intellectual background and excellent English was reflected in her presentation. Malaysia offered a perhaps more liberal approach to the diversity issues in their country, and like Indonesia is focused on education and tolerance of the diversity and the need for cultural groups to retain their identity while collaborating to create a unified country.
Question time offered an opportunity to explore the two perspectives while also expressing concerns about their own situations. NZ via Ann Candy, encouraged indigenous peoples to strive to prevent the loss of their identity and cultures by being swamped by more dominant introduced cultures. Conflict within countries impeded the promotion of peace-based programs when the preoccupation for some peoples was more survival-based. In countries like Thailand which is currently involved in riots about human rights, Noori stated that this indicated that their basic needs are being met, so that they are now more directed on a higher level - and a more “privileged” - self-actualisation need such as human rights.
The program became a little confused at this stage because the Minister of Marine was supposed to arrive but he was late, so we were invited to have morning tea. Alexis and I decided to set up our booth. No sooner had we done this .Then we were told that he had arrived. I remained with the booth and his presentation was apparently short, and then because it was his birthday, everyone was invited to lunch.
After lunch there was a panel and break out group discussions were planned on the morning’s talks. Because of our limited opportunity to get out of the hotel to do a bit of shopping, we joined with Ann Candy (ex Deputy Mayor of Manukau) and Georgina Kupa of NZ to go to Kuta for a couple of hours.
We returned just in time to get ourselves changed and onto a bus to go to a show and dinner sponsored by the Ministries of Culture and Tourism. The convoy of 9 buses was given a police escort so that red lights were not an issue when it came to getting us from A to B. It had been a busy day and required an early night, especially as we have a breakfast meeting at 7am for the International Council planned for tomorrow.
Weds 19 May - Day Two of Conference
An early start today. Alexis went swimming while I caught up on my notes and then went to breakfast. The first session started at 8am and featured reports by countries who had responded to Ravesi’s request for projects that were being carried out re MDG3.
Each was an interesting report on the activities that had been carried out by these 6 countries – Australia (working with local and federal government to raise awareness of gender issues), Japan (engaging families in rural agricultural projects with support of local community leaders), Hawaii (ran a golf day to set up schools in Cambodia), Fiji (housing and relief trust – teaching women new skills so that they could enhance their earning power), Thailand (visiting women in prisons, upskilling and preparing them for their release from jail and reintegration into society) and USA (Urging women to incorporate IT into their career pathways – IT statistics show that men still dominate and earn more as a result)
Following this session, we broke up into study groups where we examined the successes and lessons learned of each of these projects. I was in the group that looked at Japan’s rural project. (Alexis attended another session). In my group we found that the project was initiated from a study of national statistics that identified an aging population and a decline in the status of agriculture. The project encouraged families to support each other to grow and sell produce. It also helped to raise the status of women and their contribution to the support of their families. After our group discussions, I reported back to our study group and explained how this model was already in place in the Cook Islands. Women were predominant sellers at the weekly market, and production of agricultural produce and setting up stalls to sell their goods each week, were a family affair.
The morning session concluded with an interesting and informative address by the Indonesian Government’s Deputy Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection about how their Ministry is working on gender issues across all the MDGs rather than just focusing on MDGs 3, 4 and 5. The Ministry of WECP later sponsored the conference dinner.
During the afternoon the conference recommenced with the formal opening. Alexis as our head of mission accompanied the Cook Islands flag into the ceremony. She later gave a brief report (6 minutes) about what the Cook Islands had achieved since the last conference in Auckland.
Jolene’s Peace Ambassador report was read to the conference by Kathy Adler, the US Peace Ambassador. Cook Islands was mentioned in Vio’s President report with regards to the letter that the Cook Islands (Alexis) had drafted asking Tonga and the USA to sign CEDAW. Vio had some difficulty with the protocol of auctioning this request from a member country, and has left the followup on the letter for the incoming Council. Vio also mentioned the Peace Statements that had been reviewed by a special Peace Committee. This group included Jolene and Paddy, but it was presented to and rejected by the Executive at the mid-term conference in Honolulu. Vio urged the incoming Council to again review and formalize PPSEAWA’s Peace Statements.
The reports took up all of the afternoon session, and we only had a half an hour to get ourselves ready for the conference dinner which was held poolside at the Inna Grand Hotel. Following the dinner, several groups performed cultural song and dance demonstrations. By the time NZ and the Cook Islands had plucked up enough courage to join into the entertainment programme, the management decided to close up for the evening. Alexis and I went back to our room, sold some pearls to eager USA delegates, and then decided to walk down the driveway and check our emails. We got there too late (10pm). The shop was closing up. We were granted 5 minutes – which was useless for me because my Oyster webmail is still not working – I contacted TCI about it before I left NZ, but have had no response… well, I wouldn’t know if I’d had a response because I can’t get in to read my emails to find out!
We then returned to the bar at the hotel (for soft drinks only) and ended up being part of the entertainment as Alexis and I were given the microphone and performed a treat. It didn’t take us long to get to sleep after such a busy day, I can assure you.
Each was an interesting report on the activities that had been carried out by these 6 countries – Australia (working with local and federal government to raise awareness of gender issues), Japan (engaging families in rural agricultural projects with support of local community leaders), Hawaii (ran a golf day to set up schools in Cambodia), Fiji (housing and relief trust – teaching women new skills so that they could enhance their earning power), Thailand (visiting women in prisons, upskilling and preparing them for their release from jail and reintegration into society) and USA (Urging women to incorporate IT into their career pathways – IT statistics show that men still dominate and earn more as a result)
Following this session, we broke up into study groups where we examined the successes and lessons learned of each of these projects. I was in the group that looked at Japan’s rural project. (Alexis attended another session). In my group we found that the project was initiated from a study of national statistics that identified an aging population and a decline in the status of agriculture. The project encouraged families to support each other to grow and sell produce. It also helped to raise the status of women and their contribution to the support of their families. After our group discussions, I reported back to our study group and explained how this model was already in place in the Cook Islands. Women were predominant sellers at the weekly market, and production of agricultural produce and setting up stalls to sell their goods each week, were a family affair.
The morning session concluded with an interesting and informative address by the Indonesian Government’s Deputy Minister of Women’s Empowerment and Child Protection about how their Ministry is working on gender issues across all the MDGs rather than just focusing on MDGs 3, 4 and 5. The Ministry of WECP later sponsored the conference dinner.
During the afternoon the conference recommenced with the formal opening. Alexis as our head of mission accompanied the Cook Islands flag into the ceremony. She later gave a brief report (6 minutes) about what the Cook Islands had achieved since the last conference in Auckland.
Jolene’s Peace Ambassador report was read to the conference by Kathy Adler, the US Peace Ambassador. Cook Islands was mentioned in Vio’s President report with regards to the letter that the Cook Islands (Alexis) had drafted asking Tonga and the USA to sign CEDAW. Vio had some difficulty with the protocol of auctioning this request from a member country, and has left the followup on the letter for the incoming Council. Vio also mentioned the Peace Statements that had been reviewed by a special Peace Committee. This group included Jolene and Paddy, but it was presented to and rejected by the Executive at the mid-term conference in Honolulu. Vio urged the incoming Council to again review and formalize PPSEAWA’s Peace Statements.
The reports took up all of the afternoon session, and we only had a half an hour to get ourselves ready for the conference dinner which was held poolside at the Inna Grand Hotel. Following the dinner, several groups performed cultural song and dance demonstrations. By the time NZ and the Cook Islands had plucked up enough courage to join into the entertainment programme, the management decided to close up for the evening. Alexis and I went back to our room, sold some pearls to eager USA delegates, and then decided to walk down the driveway and check our emails. We got there too late (10pm). The shop was closing up. We were granted 5 minutes – which was useless for me because my Oyster webmail is still not working – I contacted TCI about it before I left NZ, but have had no response… well, I wouldn’t know if I’d had a response because I can’t get in to read my emails to find out!
We then returned to the bar at the hotel (for soft drinks only) and ended up being part of the entertainment as Alexis and I were given the microphone and performed a treat. It didn’t take us long to get to sleep after such a busy day, I can assure you.
Tuesday 18 May - Day One of the Conference
Anyone who has seen Alexis of late will have noticed her fantastic weight loss, and this morning I was able to see and participate in her modus operandi for getting her weight down. We were up at 6.30am and out into the pool (which incidentally doesn’t officially open until 7am). The water was body temperature even at that hour of the morning, but it was still refreshing and the 3 metre depth made sure we kept moving. We swam lengths for about 45 minutes and then returned to our room to prepare for breakfast. It was a very energetic start to the day.
Breakfast was under a canopy in an area adjoining the beach. We were a little later than some others who were just finishing their morning meal, so we were able to join Mary Cabrera and some other ladies from Thailand and Korea. Mary promoted the Platters of Peace, a cookbook which was produced by PPSEAWA containing poems and articles on peace as well as recipes. We were able to show our calendar to one of the Hawaiian delegates who took one to show her delegation and to get orders.
The Executive met in the morning, which meant that delegates had a free morning. Alexis and I decided to do a bit of shopping and a shuttle was soon available to take us and others to Hardy’s which is a Warehouse-type shopping mall of 3 levels in Sanur. I bought stationery material to prepare our booth, and Alexis bought frames for new glasses (they were very cheap), sunglasses, shoes and perfume. (Guess who is the pauper in this group?)
We arrived back at the hotel in time for lunch which was provided by the conference and held in the main dining room. I am starting to quite like some Indonesian dishes. After lunch, Alexis did a bit more shopping in the hotel mall, and I went and have some time out in our room until the Council meeting at 2pm.
The council meeting was interesting, and helped to provide me with some background about what has happened since PPSEAWA’s last conference but more particularly since the last executive get-together at the mid-term conference in Honolulu. The minutes of the meeting will no doubt be on the website which was a discussion item. The site is being upgraded (and as most members agreed, it was about time).
As part of the discussion relating to the minutes of the last meeting in Honolulu, Peace Statements raised by Jolene in her report and the letter that was put forward by Alexis following the Auckland conference, were briefly discussed. It was decided that the council needed to look at its peace statements and endorse them as requested by Jolene, but Vio apologized that she had not progressed with the letters to Tonga and the USA regarding their lack of signature to the CEDAW convention. Vio said that she didn’t feel that it was appropriate for her to have written to the President of the United States asking about this. However, for a small group of delegates who sat with us, and who were unable to speak unless asked, we felt that that had been a direction by the conference and should have been auctioned by the PPSEAWA Executive.
There was an interesting discussion about membership fees. The finance committee proposed a fee structure for rich, medium wealthy and developing countries. Alexis spoke on behalf of the Cook Islands and stated that there should be no discrimination except for application by a particular country of special dispensation. Her suggestion was supported by Samoa, Australia, Japan and others who said that although some countries may be considered wealthy, PPSEAWA members themselves in general were not. However, most agreed, that all groups had to fundraise to pay for any expenses, and that fees to the international body were an expectation that must also be met by its members, and if they had to fundraise to pay the expected fees, then so be it. The Taiwan delegation put in a spontaneous plea to the Council to seriously consider Taiwan for the next conference so that their country can be recognized, at least by PPSEAWA, as a country in its own right.
Before I left the meeting, I gave USD100 to the Treasurer. Apparently we were USD100 in arrears, so Alexis and I put in the extra money so that we could, in all conscience, be legitimate voters at the elections which will be held on Saturday – the last day of conference.
After the council meeting Alexis and I had to rush to the booth area so that we could set up our stall. Unfortunately we found that by the time the other delegates arrived, it was starting to get dark, and because the position of our booth was in such poor light, this made it very difficult to be able to clearly see the pearls that we’d brought over to sell on behalf of Mehau Piho of A& M Pearls. In good faith, we suggested to potential customers to return tomorrow when we would set up our pearls for them to be able to better examine their potential purchases in the daylight.
Despite some brisk interest in our products, delegates were keen to browse rather than buy. Alexis and I decided that during the report on the activities of the Gender Council of PPSEAWA Cook Islands, that the report would include some promotion of women business owners and entrepreneurs in the Cook Islands. We also decided that we will open up our booth again after the conference opening tomorrow although Wednesday programme is looking very full, starting with a workshop at 8am (before the official opening of conference at 1pm). This will be followed by breakout sessions which we still have not been given any information about, and we have been asked to nominate candidates who qualify for nomination for exec positions, without any bios about who is eligible. Alexis asked at the Council meeting as to the names of those who are eligible, but there is no information available. We could make a nomination only to find that this nomination is invalid for whatever reason. Nominations are supposed to be in by Thursday! Good luck to us all.
Neither Alexis nor I were hungry, but we went down to the bar to check out the music and had a coffee. We called into the reception again and asked when the hotel’s wifi was going to be repaired. Unfortunately the manager gave lots of explanations which were all directed towards no wifi was available and was not seen as a priority for them at this time. We were directed to the internet café across the road. There was a different duo on tonight. Very mediocre. We decided to have an early night.
Breakfast was under a canopy in an area adjoining the beach. We were a little later than some others who were just finishing their morning meal, so we were able to join Mary Cabrera and some other ladies from Thailand and Korea. Mary promoted the Platters of Peace, a cookbook which was produced by PPSEAWA containing poems and articles on peace as well as recipes. We were able to show our calendar to one of the Hawaiian delegates who took one to show her delegation and to get orders.
The Executive met in the morning, which meant that delegates had a free morning. Alexis and I decided to do a bit of shopping and a shuttle was soon available to take us and others to Hardy’s which is a Warehouse-type shopping mall of 3 levels in Sanur. I bought stationery material to prepare our booth, and Alexis bought frames for new glasses (they were very cheap), sunglasses, shoes and perfume. (Guess who is the pauper in this group?)
We arrived back at the hotel in time for lunch which was provided by the conference and held in the main dining room. I am starting to quite like some Indonesian dishes. After lunch, Alexis did a bit more shopping in the hotel mall, and I went and have some time out in our room until the Council meeting at 2pm.
The council meeting was interesting, and helped to provide me with some background about what has happened since PPSEAWA’s last conference but more particularly since the last executive get-together at the mid-term conference in Honolulu. The minutes of the meeting will no doubt be on the website which was a discussion item. The site is being upgraded (and as most members agreed, it was about time).
As part of the discussion relating to the minutes of the last meeting in Honolulu, Peace Statements raised by Jolene in her report and the letter that was put forward by Alexis following the Auckland conference, were briefly discussed. It was decided that the council needed to look at its peace statements and endorse them as requested by Jolene, but Vio apologized that she had not progressed with the letters to Tonga and the USA regarding their lack of signature to the CEDAW convention. Vio said that she didn’t feel that it was appropriate for her to have written to the President of the United States asking about this. However, for a small group of delegates who sat with us, and who were unable to speak unless asked, we felt that that had been a direction by the conference and should have been auctioned by the PPSEAWA Executive.
There was an interesting discussion about membership fees. The finance committee proposed a fee structure for rich, medium wealthy and developing countries. Alexis spoke on behalf of the Cook Islands and stated that there should be no discrimination except for application by a particular country of special dispensation. Her suggestion was supported by Samoa, Australia, Japan and others who said that although some countries may be considered wealthy, PPSEAWA members themselves in general were not. However, most agreed, that all groups had to fundraise to pay for any expenses, and that fees to the international body were an expectation that must also be met by its members, and if they had to fundraise to pay the expected fees, then so be it. The Taiwan delegation put in a spontaneous plea to the Council to seriously consider Taiwan for the next conference so that their country can be recognized, at least by PPSEAWA, as a country in its own right.
Before I left the meeting, I gave USD100 to the Treasurer. Apparently we were USD100 in arrears, so Alexis and I put in the extra money so that we could, in all conscience, be legitimate voters at the elections which will be held on Saturday – the last day of conference.
After the council meeting Alexis and I had to rush to the booth area so that we could set up our stall. Unfortunately we found that by the time the other delegates arrived, it was starting to get dark, and because the position of our booth was in such poor light, this made it very difficult to be able to clearly see the pearls that we’d brought over to sell on behalf of Mehau Piho of A& M Pearls. In good faith, we suggested to potential customers to return tomorrow when we would set up our pearls for them to be able to better examine their potential purchases in the daylight.
Despite some brisk interest in our products, delegates were keen to browse rather than buy. Alexis and I decided that during the report on the activities of the Gender Council of PPSEAWA Cook Islands, that the report would include some promotion of women business owners and entrepreneurs in the Cook Islands. We also decided that we will open up our booth again after the conference opening tomorrow although Wednesday programme is looking very full, starting with a workshop at 8am (before the official opening of conference at 1pm). This will be followed by breakout sessions which we still have not been given any information about, and we have been asked to nominate candidates who qualify for nomination for exec positions, without any bios about who is eligible. Alexis asked at the Council meeting as to the names of those who are eligible, but there is no information available. We could make a nomination only to find that this nomination is invalid for whatever reason. Nominations are supposed to be in by Thursday! Good luck to us all.
Neither Alexis nor I were hungry, but we went down to the bar to check out the music and had a coffee. We called into the reception again and asked when the hotel’s wifi was going to be repaired. Unfortunately the manager gave lots of explanations which were all directed towards no wifi was available and was not seen as a priority for them at this time. We were directed to the internet café across the road. There was a different duo on tonight. Very mediocre. We decided to have an early night.
Monday 17 May - Arrival
Arrival in Bali and settling into the Inna Grand Hotel, Sanur.
Alexis and I met in the early hours of Monday morning at Auckland airport to discuss our proposed adventure to Bali and the PPSEAWA conference. We left on different airlines and took different flight paths but landed in Bali within minutes of each other just after 2.30pm, so the trip is already a very coordinated affair
One of the more helpful aspects of travelling to Bali is that you can get a visa as soon as you get off the plane and before queuing up for the first immigration check. Apparently the price has gone up over the last few years to USD25 but when you have to apply to the embassy in Wellington to go to India, or the embassy in Canberra to get to Egypt with weeks of waiting in between, I’d rather be paying USD25 just to get an entry permit directly after I arrive on their home turf.
While waiting in the queue to go through the Immigration counter, I happened to espy some ladies who looked familiar. I was right. They turned out to be Ann Candy, ex-Deputy Mayor of Manukau City who last visited Rarotonga with the then Mayor of Manukau Barry Curtis several years ago. She was accompanied by Georgina Kupa who was the Principals secretary of James Cook High School in Manurewa where I was the Board Chair for many years and NZ’s national president from Wanganui whose Early Childhood work puts her in regular contact with our Ina Tamarua, Early Childhood advisor with the Ministry of Education and PPSEAWA member. Ann explained how after the last PPSEAWA conference which was held in Manukau City, there was a merger of some local women’s groups to form PPSEAWA Manukau. The only branch prior to that was in Auckland.
Going through customs was not as traumatic as I had expected considering what we have taken over to sell at the conference. Being a last minute and self-funded journey (with kind donations also coming from Jolene, Paddy and Mathilda), Alexis and I have come away with goods that we hope to sell to help to recoup our expenses. I was worried that we might have to pay duty on the local crafts, books, calendars and jewellery we were bringing in. However, local porters quickly located our luggage and rushed us through the customs check. I was quite relieved that there were no questions asked except how many calendars were in the box. It was gratefully worth the NZD 10 that the porter demanded almost as soon as we got through the checkpoint.
Fortunately Caroline had sent some information that had come to her about the conference organisation, so that we were easily able to find the firm that was to transport PPSEAWA travelers to the Inna Grand Hotel in Sanur which was about 15kms from the Denpasar Airport . Travelling along the roads in Bali was rather chaotic, made even worse by the hundreds of motor bikes and scooters on the road. Road rules seemed to be rather lax and two wheeled drivers seemed to expect that the larger vehicles would give way even without any prior indication of their intentions. Somehow the bike riders seemed cloaked in the belief that because they all wore helmets, this automatically made them immune to the potential dangers of road use on these Bali roads. We were watching it all from the safety of a taxi van and it looked pretty scary from where we sat, especially when we saw a mum and THREE children, all with helmets, on the back of a scooter. They’d never get away with it on Raro… right!
We finally arrived at the hotel at about 4pm and were greeted at the entrance by a group of musicians and a host of porters who quickly grabbed our bags out of the van, so that we could organise our bearings and find our way to the PPSEAWA counter.
This was easy to find, but there were already several groups of delegates there or waiting to register. Alexis and I decided that we would go and have a cup of coffee in the bar while we waited for the queue to thin out a bit. Two coffees cost us 30,000rp (NZD5.00) which wasn’t too bad. Later that evening we were to find that 2 G&Ts cost us 193,000rp (NZD32) in the same bar – fortunately Alexis brought a little bottle through duty free, so we might give the hotel bar a miss from now on. When we finally checked in with the PPSEAWA desk, we paid our accommodation (USD325) and our registration fee (USD550) so that at least our main expenses were out of the way.
We then had to go to the hotel’s registration desk to get our room keys etc. This was a bit of a mission having to give our passports and credit card details and checks off the main list, etc. We made enquiries about the use of the internet at the hotel, to find that their internet connection has been down for the past week. Panic! How am I going to get this information to you all?? Apparently there is a free public wifi connection at the end of the drive (its about a km from the hotel to its main road entrance). When are we going to get a chance to get out?
The afternoon is spent acquainting ourselves with our room and our surroundings. We wander out onto our small balcony which overlooks Sanur Bay. The tide is out in the bay but several guests wandered along the stretch of sand onto which the Inna Grand Hotel property is adjoined. A little way along the beach, there are what looks like little fishing boats resting on the sand awaiting the new tide. Already the sun is starting to go down. We hurry back to our bags and start unpacking and organizing ourselves.
It doesn’t take long before hunger pangs are starting to set in. On the way to dinner, we bumped into Vio and John Annandale. Vio again thanked the Cook Islanders for sending a delegation to the conference, and gave best wishes to Paddy and others whom they had met at the Auckland conference.
We wander down to the poolside restaurant where there is quartet of singers entertaining diners. The meal isn’t much to write home about but it fills a spot (a fish stir fry for Alexis and chargrilled fish for me costing 300.000rp (NZD50). We called into the hotel bar for a nightcap and to listen to some further musical entertainment. Two G&Ts cost 200.000rpn (NZD33 includes 21%VAT) we won’t be buying drinks here very often. The singer tonight was very good and then asked for requests. Alexis asked for a Spanish song, and ended up on stage with the lead singer of the entertainment duo providing a supporting backup role. The Cook Islanders have arrived!
Alexis and I met in the early hours of Monday morning at Auckland airport to discuss our proposed adventure to Bali and the PPSEAWA conference. We left on different airlines and took different flight paths but landed in Bali within minutes of each other just after 2.30pm, so the trip is already a very coordinated affair
One of the more helpful aspects of travelling to Bali is that you can get a visa as soon as you get off the plane and before queuing up for the first immigration check. Apparently the price has gone up over the last few years to USD25 but when you have to apply to the embassy in Wellington to go to India, or the embassy in Canberra to get to Egypt with weeks of waiting in between, I’d rather be paying USD25 just to get an entry permit directly after I arrive on their home turf.
While waiting in the queue to go through the Immigration counter, I happened to espy some ladies who looked familiar. I was right. They turned out to be Ann Candy, ex-Deputy Mayor of Manukau City who last visited Rarotonga with the then Mayor of Manukau Barry Curtis several years ago. She was accompanied by Georgina Kupa who was the Principals secretary of James Cook High School in Manurewa where I was the Board Chair for many years and NZ’s national president from Wanganui whose Early Childhood work puts her in regular contact with our Ina Tamarua, Early Childhood advisor with the Ministry of Education and PPSEAWA member. Ann explained how after the last PPSEAWA conference which was held in Manukau City, there was a merger of some local women’s groups to form PPSEAWA Manukau. The only branch prior to that was in Auckland.
Going through customs was not as traumatic as I had expected considering what we have taken over to sell at the conference. Being a last minute and self-funded journey (with kind donations also coming from Jolene, Paddy and Mathilda), Alexis and I have come away with goods that we hope to sell to help to recoup our expenses. I was worried that we might have to pay duty on the local crafts, books, calendars and jewellery we were bringing in. However, local porters quickly located our luggage and rushed us through the customs check. I was quite relieved that there were no questions asked except how many calendars were in the box. It was gratefully worth the NZD 10 that the porter demanded almost as soon as we got through the checkpoint.
Fortunately Caroline had sent some information that had come to her about the conference organisation, so that we were easily able to find the firm that was to transport PPSEAWA travelers to the Inna Grand Hotel in Sanur which was about 15kms from the Denpasar Airport . Travelling along the roads in Bali was rather chaotic, made even worse by the hundreds of motor bikes and scooters on the road. Road rules seemed to be rather lax and two wheeled drivers seemed to expect that the larger vehicles would give way even without any prior indication of their intentions. Somehow the bike riders seemed cloaked in the belief that because they all wore helmets, this automatically made them immune to the potential dangers of road use on these Bali roads. We were watching it all from the safety of a taxi van and it looked pretty scary from where we sat, especially when we saw a mum and THREE children, all with helmets, on the back of a scooter. They’d never get away with it on Raro… right!
We finally arrived at the hotel at about 4pm and were greeted at the entrance by a group of musicians and a host of porters who quickly grabbed our bags out of the van, so that we could organise our bearings and find our way to the PPSEAWA counter.
This was easy to find, but there were already several groups of delegates there or waiting to register. Alexis and I decided that we would go and have a cup of coffee in the bar while we waited for the queue to thin out a bit. Two coffees cost us 30,000rp (NZD5.00) which wasn’t too bad. Later that evening we were to find that 2 G&Ts cost us 193,000rp (NZD32) in the same bar – fortunately Alexis brought a little bottle through duty free, so we might give the hotel bar a miss from now on. When we finally checked in with the PPSEAWA desk, we paid our accommodation (USD325) and our registration fee (USD550) so that at least our main expenses were out of the way.
We then had to go to the hotel’s registration desk to get our room keys etc. This was a bit of a mission having to give our passports and credit card details and checks off the main list, etc. We made enquiries about the use of the internet at the hotel, to find that their internet connection has been down for the past week. Panic! How am I going to get this information to you all?? Apparently there is a free public wifi connection at the end of the drive (its about a km from the hotel to its main road entrance). When are we going to get a chance to get out?
The afternoon is spent acquainting ourselves with our room and our surroundings. We wander out onto our small balcony which overlooks Sanur Bay. The tide is out in the bay but several guests wandered along the stretch of sand onto which the Inna Grand Hotel property is adjoined. A little way along the beach, there are what looks like little fishing boats resting on the sand awaiting the new tide. Already the sun is starting to go down. We hurry back to our bags and start unpacking and organizing ourselves.
It doesn’t take long before hunger pangs are starting to set in. On the way to dinner, we bumped into Vio and John Annandale. Vio again thanked the Cook Islanders for sending a delegation to the conference, and gave best wishes to Paddy and others whom they had met at the Auckland conference.
We wander down to the poolside restaurant where there is quartet of singers entertaining diners. The meal isn’t much to write home about but it fills a spot (a fish stir fry for Alexis and chargrilled fish for me costing 300.000rp (NZD50). We called into the hotel bar for a nightcap and to listen to some further musical entertainment. Two G&Ts cost 200.000rpn (NZD33 includes 21%VAT) we won’t be buying drinks here very often. The singer tonight was very good and then asked for requests. Alexis asked for a Spanish song, and ended up on stage with the lead singer of the entertainment duo providing a supporting backup role. The Cook Islanders have arrived!
REPORT SUMMARY
PPSEAWA CONFERENCE - BALI - 18-23 MAY 2010
This was my first PPSEAWA conference and I can say that I got a good overview of the organisation for which I have been very active on Rarotonga over the last 6 years at least. It offered some perspective on how it meets its objectives, its current organizational management, and its prospects for the future. There is no doubt there are some very impassioned people on board who are doing some very good projects to help less privileged communities throughout the world. Some of the more affluent chapters generously focus their activities on disadvantaged groups outside of their own countries, whereas others like the Cook Islands focused on home-based needs. Although meaning well, I just felt that some of the projects undertaken by some of the chapters perhaps ignored what might be happening in their own backyards, so that they could ‘do good for others’ in other countries. Some chapters made sure that their voices and concerns were heard in the higher level corridors of power, while others worked at the grassroots level, attempting in some way to make life easier for the women in their countries.
There were several concerns raised about the management of the PPSEAWA organisation. Alexis raised the fact that the letters proposed to be sent to the USA and Tonga at the last conference, had not been sent by the Executive Council. It was difficult to accept that “protocols” could not be overcome by an international organisation like PPSEAWA to get our voice heard by whatever means possible. Just posting the letters out may at least have identified what those protocols were, if this was truly the issue.
The planning of the conference enabled dialogue among the members and in most of the sessions I attended, were well facilitated. Reporting back could have included some feedback by members themselves rather than just from the Council facilitators who on one occasion reflected a council agenda rather than the views of the participants. The afternoon session on Friday could have been optional, with an alternative session being provided if people weren’t interested in makeup and beauty products.
One disappointing aspect for Alexis and I was the sales booth system. Having only two of us at the conference meant that we were unable to set up our booth as much as we would have liked - to sell the goods that we had taken over to fundraise on behalf of PPSEAWA. Local vendors established full-time stalls to sell their goods. As a small delegation we were obliged to participate in as much of the program as possible , so that we were constantly setting up and packing up during short breaks. Cheaper locally made jewellery and other products were sold alongside cultural artifacts from visiting delegate countries. This had a big impact on the sales of many of us who had brought local crafts and products for sale to other delegates at the conference.
Several countries brought calendars to distribute so that we ended up giving away at least 50 calendars to overseas delegates. Those few calendars that were sold were mainly as a result of people recognizing Paddy. Several members approached us when they realised we were from the Cook Islands, to ask if they could be remembered to Paddy but unfortunately we didn’t take all their names.
It was interesting and perhaps a little disappointing from a PPSEAWA (CI) perspective about how little conference interest, or perhaps focus, on the CEDAW. Giving away the calendars to delegates gave recognition to the conference of the importance of the convention to the people of the Cook Islands and that we hadn’t just paid lip service to its signing or to the important focus of the last 3 years since the PPSEAWA conference in Auckland on the MDG3 and gender issues. It also reinforced that there was little in the program which reflected the importance of the convention to PPSEAWA. Although we had a full morning spent on MDG3, little reference was actually made to CEDAW.
The following report was written as a diary each day...
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