Zonta believes! And Zonta Club of New Providence (ZCNP) is putting its “money where its mouth is” with its mission and vision to empower and advance the status of women and girls. One way that they are empowering and advancing women and girls is through education.
Through its Endowment Fund at the University of The Bahamas (UB), ZCNP, to date, has seen six women graduate with their bachelor’s degree, and the first within their families to do so, according to Dr. Theresa Adderley, ZCNP president. Five of the women are from the Family Islands, and one is from New Providence.
During its 11th Annual Wine dinner, which they took to a virtual platform for the first time in this era of COVID-19, Adderley said ZCNP has also provided 20 scholarships to women who successfully completed ZCNP’s job readiness programs at the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute and Early Access Training Centre.
Cordelia Thompson and Sirrisa Gordon have been able to take advantage of the ZCNP degree opportunity.
Thompson is a 2018 UB graduate with a bachelor’s degree in accounting.
Gordon, 41, is a current scholarship recipient, pursuing a degree in education – a course of study that she started almost two-and-a-half decades ago, and is finally hoping to see through to completion with the financial assistance of ZCNP.
“The Zonta Scholarship was a great aid in me attaining my academic dreams,” said Thompson. “The financial aspect of pursuing further education can be a deterrent to many. Originally, I had prepared myself for university, however, life happened. I gave birth to a child that would spend her first few months in the NICU [Neonatal Intensive Care Unit] and would require my keen attention. This made my financial state unstable, and I was lost in not knowing how I would fund my education. I heard about financial aid and was a bit reluctant to apply, because I was certain it was intended for younger students or recent, high school graduates.”
But she was not ready to let go of her dreams so quickly.
Thompson said she was surprised and grateful for the Zonta scholarship that covered her entire tuition that semester.
“A scholarship of any kind is a blessing to a student, because the worst thing that can happen is having all the variables to successfully accomplish your dreams except one – the finances. I am extremely grateful for the scholarship given to me.”
Thompson said organizations such as Zonta are of great importance to women of all ages, and that programs such as the one directed at building job skills and abuse awareness are pertinent in addressing issues that plague society.
“Having a group centered on developing and empowering women and issues surrounding women is essential.”
Gordon, 41, a mother of two, enrolled in the College of The Bahamas (now UB) in 1996, as an English language/literature major from N.G.M. Major School in Long Island, with the goal to teach at the high school level. Like Thompson, life threw at her its fair share of curveballs, which saw her leave the institution in 1999 and relocate to Grand Bahama without her degree. But she vowed to herself she would not give up.
Gordon returned to the program in 2003 and earned an associate’s degree in English and literature. In pursuit of a bachelor’s degree, she rejoined the program in 2007 – and again circumstances intervened.
“[Hurricane] Eugene … Francis, and all that stuff,” said Gordon, who also found herself switching to primary education from her original secondary route.
With the assistance of ZCNP, Gordon said she has been given the opportunity to revive her goal and complete it.
“One of the things they [Zonta] talk about is empowering women. Finding myself feeling hopeless and with obligations, for an organization to step in and give me that opportunity, is overwhelming,” said Gordon who got emotional as she spoke about the assistance she is receiving.
“The Zonta Scholarship pretty much took care of everything this semester. I didn’t have to come out of pocket for tuition. I paid for my textbooks and that was about it. The $3,828, which was what it cost to get me back in [to UB] … I am grateful and can’t say thank you enough. The only way for me to effectively say thank you is to finish. It puts the onus on me to do really good, maintain my grades and keep a high standard.”
No matter what it takes, Gordon, who is already registered for spring 2021, said she intends to see her degree through to completion, because doing so would also serve as an example to her boys, Stephen McCartney, 15 and Siyon McCartney, 11.
“I have to finish because I preach to my boys that hard work pays off and to not give up. I’ve walked beside my oldest as he’s competed in Junior Junkanoo when he’s been dog-tired, and encouraged him to keep going and not give up, so I have to lead by example. I can’t let a pandemic or hurricane stop me, even though it’s hard sometimes.”
The light at the end of the tunnel for Gordon she said is if she could change one person’s life the way hers has been changed.
Even though she said she was not initially keen on being a primary school teacher, she now sees it as a way to laying a child’s foundation.
“To be a primary school teacher is an honor to me. I have to know every subject. They want you to be so exceptional.”
With the vision of her bachelor’s degree that much closer, and after overcoming a myriad of obstacles, Gordon said when she gets that paper in hand, all stops will have to be pulled out and she will need a Junkanoo rushout.
And while she will enter the classroom and not exactly be a “spring chicken”, she said: “Like my grandfather, George “Teddy” Adderley used to say, I’m well-seasoned, marinated in life, and there is nothing they can throw at me that will surprise me. When we talk about diversity in the classroom, I got it covered.”
Gordon’s diverse background has seen her employed as a flight attendant and a paralegal.
The post Zonta believes in women and girls appeared first on The Nassau Guardian.
source https://thenassauguardian.com/zonta-believes-in-women-and-girls/
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