Sylvia Maljan of Unity, Sask., has already acted on the empowerment message she heard at a rural women’s workshop this fall.
She was one of three women voted onto Unity’s seven-seat town council in last month’s municipal elections.
While Maljan said she had already decided to run before the workshop, attending it reinforced for her the need to gather grassroots views.
“Seventy-five percent of the women there, I didn’t know,” she said.
The workshop helped create a network as the 20 participants got to know each other and the issues that were important to each. Maljan said she valued both the information gathering side of the workshop and the passion of the women who participated.
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Nina Burnell, who also attended the Unity workshop, said youth vandalism was her main topic of concern. As a followup to the workshop, she and another participant are going to speak to the RCMP about what can be done.
“A safe community is more appealing to young families and businesses,” Burnell said.
Low prices for farm products were also an issue. Burnell and her husband still grow grain but are getting out of cattle and are considering leaving agriculture eventually.
Work and personal interest led Donna Brooks to attend a similar workshop at Christopher Lake, Sask. While Brooks lives in the lakeside resort, she drives half an hour to work at the Prince Albert YWCA where she is executive director.
“Our mandate is empowering women,” she said.
However, she was interested to hear other women complain about the lack of access to services in rural areas, such as receiving higher education.
Even a city the size of Prince Albert offers only the first two years of a university degree, she added. Women must move or be prepared to drive long distances to earn a diploma. Brooks said with computer technology, there is no reason why more courses can’t be offered on-line.
“Women need to use their voices and be more prevalent in committees, boards and government,” she said. “This goes from the smallest village right up to the federal government.”
Brooks said one outcome of the workshop she attended is that a committee is planning a leadership development workshop for the area and “the YWCA will be a big part of that.”
For Noreen Johns, who was facilitator at the two workshops this fall and similar ones held last year, the process is similar.
“We brought these women together and introduced them. There was lots of learning from each other …. They realize they can do things together.”
She noted that as a result of one workshop, an employee from a health district is using some of the women as a focus group to get community advice and feedback about health policy in the district.
Johns said women identify mentorship as important. When they see other women as role models, they will become assured enough to take action.
“I feel confident things will happen in the areas we’ve been.”
The next workshop will be Nov. 24-26 in Muenster, Sask. For more information, call Joanne at 306-585-5727 or 306-535-9570.
