SALT LAKE CITY — One by one they approached the microphone, some with trepidation, most unprepared, but all of them expressing profound gratitude for an opportunity to tell someone what they are doing to try and improve the lives of women in their communities.
It was not the seminar anyone planned to attend.
They were not the experts the United Nations Civil Society Conference had gathered to speak in the session titled “Empowering Women and Girls to Build Sustainable Futures Through the Power of Innovation and Strategic Partnership.”
When the experts didn’t show up for the 10 a.m. seminar, the audience decided to share their own expertise with each other. The issue turned out to be a scheduling snafu, and once it was discovered, the originally planned session was rescheduled for Wednesday at 10 a.m.
But Tuesday morning, those waiting for the seminar didn’t know why there wasn’t an official presentation. After they decided to share their own efforts, any disappointment quickly dissipated as one after another, community activists, businesswomen, clergy, politicians and nonprofit organizers shared what they have done and how they’d like to connect with others at this week’s conference.
“I think it was providence that our speakers didn’t show up,” said one unidentified woman who talked about a foundation that has supported local efforts in India since 1999.
Laura Belk started the nonprofit Nurturing Nations after she learned that her daughter, adopted from Ghana, was nearly killed twice by her biological family because she has Down syndrome.
“We knew we needed to advocate for the lives of children who may be seen as different,” she said. “Every life has value. ... If we work together, lives can be changed, lives can be saved.”
Then she, like many others, thanked the audience for transforming a momentary disappointment into an inspiring and uplifting experience.
“Thank you all for being here,” Belk said. “I love you all. I want to hug you all.”
Purity Oyie told one of the most moving stories of the morning when she talked about growing up in rural Kenya, describing how she was raised to not only submit to genital mutilation, but to yearn for it.
“It’s really a patriarchy community, like men make for us every decision that we have to do,” she said, noting that being “circumcised” was a coming-of-age practice. “In my community, you are supposed to get married at the age, between 10 to 12 years old. When I was 10 years old, I was supposed to be circumcised and married off.”
She said it was by the “grace of God” that an organization called World Vision educated her and her family about the issues that arise because of genital mutilation.
“I was rescued by World Vision and also the police,” she said. “And then I was taken to a rescue center, owned by a church. I stayed in the rescue center for 10 years.”
During that time she received an education, and the world opened up in ways she previously couldn’t imagine. But she couldn’t forget about the other girls and women in her village.
“Even if I finish all my levels of school, my education isn’t done until I do something for the girls in my village,” she said. “So I started SILAN Foundation.”
The nonprofit, founded in 2018, educates girls to the realities of genital mutilation and encourages them to see themselves as more than brides.
Her message to the group was a call to help those who are marginalized and ignored to speak for themselves.
“We have a lot of people talking on behalf of us. Many international organizations want to help us and speak for us, but now our request is, why can’t we be given a platform to share our own stories? We know our stories better. ... The people in rural areas are not addressing their own issues because other people are talking on our behalf.”
The idea to share their own work with the group came from Shahzad Shah Jillani, a part-time journalist, businessman and activist, who said he sees a gap between some big, headline grabbing milestones (like the first female prime minister of a Muslim country) and the rights of ordinary women, especially those living in rural communities.
Aurora Daniels, a CPA and volunteer with Soroptimist International, invited participants to the microphone after a short discussion about how “we’re all here and we’re all concerned about the same things.”
After laying minimal ground rules — speak loudly and share your name and organizational information — she added, “We’re just doing the best we can. This is our plan B.”
Her colleague Sue Riney waited until near the end of the session to share the work of Soroptimist’s 160,000 volunteers in 122 countries. She talked about the organization’s Live Your Dream contest that awarded financial grants to deserving women who were overcoming hardships to lead and succeed.
“It helps them build whatever they need, so they can focus on their education,” Riney said. “The life you change is not just the woman’, it’s her family’s, and many of them will say to us after they received the award, it wasn’t the money they received that was so empowering. It was that someone believed in them.”
One young woman, Lucy Johnson, spoke briefly, just asking that women look for opportunities to mentor young women. Lauren Cetlin, with Servas International, talked about how they promote “peace through relationships” and said that leadership doesn’t have to be rich, famous or even official to have a profound impact or to create change.
“A lot of us who are leaders are in that grass roots, on the ground,” she said. “If you are called (to be powerful), keep it home, keep it personal.”