| Stories from the Matrix
The best way to understand Gather the Women
is to experience it, to feel the energy and to explore the
opportunities. Here are a few stories from women in our Matrix
about their experience here.
 My
Experience at the First GTW Congress
Hi. This is Joyce Oneko, your sister from Kenya, East Africa.
When I attended the GTW conference in San Francisco in October,
2003, I did not know what to expect. I had attended the WOVA
Feminine Face of Leadership Conference the previous year,
and I thought this conference would be in the same vein.
Well, this was not to be. GTW has been an experience like
I've never had before.
From the time I checked into the Radisson-Miyako Hotel on
the 16th October, I was swept off my feet. The sheer energy
among the women was breathtaking!! First I was greeted by
this beaming woman who told me "You must be Joyce. I
am Joy, and I have been waiting to meet you since I saw your
name among the list of participants". Before we finished
talking with Joy, another beaming woman approached me telling
me she remembered me from the last conference. This was to
continue throughout the weekend, and by the time I was leaving
Miyako, I had a whole bag full of reading material.
I have never felt so close to so many women as I did during
that weekend, and when the women of color went in front there
and sang "You are important to me, I need you to survive",
I looked at the faces of the 300 women clapping and my HEART
sang: "Yes, you are important to me".
After attending GTW, I formed Circle of Hope, a group of
women and young girls who come together to share ways of bringing
peace between mothers and their daughters. This group of young
girls are finding ways of opening communication with their
mothers, while the older women are learning ways of relating
to their daughters without criticism. Through sharing and
playing games like volleyball, these girls and women are becoming
buddies.
I have made many lasting friendships and connections from
this weekend, and there is not one single day when I do not
receive an email from one or two women from that meeting.
I am constantly in touch with Joy, and we collaborate with
in her wonderful "One Village" forum, and this
coming November, I am meeting with Janey Burruss and Rosemary
Williams of Women's Perspective in my own home where
they will spend the night.
Joyce Oneko
Mama Na Dada
Kenya, East Africa
WOMEN
FRIENDS
In their
Presence
I remember
Who
I am.
Women friends,
Pillars of
Light
Strength
Courage
Love,
Standing
For Peace,
Embracing
All That Is
With joy. |
How the GTW Website Worked
for Me
Early in the inception of the GTW website, my friend
Marilyn Nyborg submitted some of my poetry to be posted
on the site.
Just last month I was contacted by an editor from Blue
Mountain Arts who is putting together an anthology called
Women's Words of Wisdom. She wanted permission to use
my poem " Women Friends" in the anthology.
Guess where she saw the poem? On the GTW website.
Then, she wanted to know if I had any other poetry that
might be appropriate for cards, as in Blue Mountain
Cards. I sent her several and they are currently doing
a trial on 4 of the poems. If they fly, the poems will
be purchased for use on the cards, while I maintain
the rights to use them in books.
Needless to say, I am excited about all this! The other
wonderful thing is that it would not have happened without
the support of my women friends, which is truly what
my poem was about in the first place.
Judith Hurley Prosser
Grass Valley GTW Circle
California, USA
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