IRISH WOMEN’S NETWORK: 2009 Woman of the Year
Encourages Action for Change
 EILIS COURTNEY(centre) holding her Irish Women’s Network Woman of the Year Award. She is shown above with (L-R) Geraldine Megannety, Deirdre O’Ruairc, and Kathy King.
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 EILIS COURTNEY worked in Uganda with TASO, an organization that supports people with HIV/AIDS. |
By SIOBHAN AIREY
VANCOUVER – “It’s an honour, but it’s also humbling that people notice what you’re doing and recognize it,” says Eilis Courtney, speaking of the Irish Women’s Network Woman of the Year Award.
As the most recent recipient of the award, she believes its value lies in recognizing the valuable and too-often hidden work that people, especially women, do in their communities.
“I saw this in Uganda and it is here as well. Women are such a strength in the community. They are the nurturers, the carers.
“When things fall apart a bit, women seem to be able to hold things together. And women are amazingly supportive of each other.
“That’s why the Irish Women’s Network works. Though it’s a very loose, unstructured organization, it’s supportive and people know the support is there and they take as much support as they want.”
The IWN Woman of the Year Award is given each year in recognition of the contribution women make to their community.
Eilis Courtney, originally from Dublin, but now living in Vancouver for over 20 years, was the 2009 winner. Born and reared in Sutton (‘by-the-Sea’ adds Eilis), Eilis came directly to Vancouver from Dublin, ‘for a change and for a year’.
“I liked Vancouver. I liked being by the sea and I liked the mountains,” she says of her first impressions. She started working at UBC shortly after her arrival and has remained there ever since.
“I was very fortunate with the work I got at UBC. I love co-ordinating and organizing things and realized that I could make a living from it,” she says simply. She’s now director of UBC’s ceremonies and events.
Shortly after joining UBC, she began a long involvement with United Way’s fundraising efforts, which has remained to this day.
“I hadn’t heard of United Way of the Lower Mainland, but I was really impressed with their model at the time. It was the concept of an umbrella organization helping smaller organizations that weren’t able to raise money on their own, like Neighbourhood Houses and women’s groups.”
Eilis sees the efforts that she and other volunteers put into supporting United Way as more than just fundraising.
“It’s about building community on campus. There’s so much talk now about social sustainability and building community, and the need for that not just in workplaces, but in every facet of our lives.
“A job is a job but why would you stay in a company if there wasn’t more to it than just the job? That’s always been a part of it too.”
In September 2007, Eilis realized a long-held dream when she took three months’ leave of absence from her position and went to Uganda to volunteer with TASO, an organization that supports people with HIV/AIDS.
Founded in 1987 by a group of people, some with HIV, TASO has now grown to be the largest indigenous NGO addressing HIV/AIDS in Uganda and Africa.
What quickly struck Eilis about the Ugandan people was their dignity. “Though there is a lot of poverty, no-one begged for money. Even though I was a ‘mzungu’, a white person, and the perception is that if you’re white, you have money, no one begged for money from me.”
Right from the start, Eilis was confronted with the scale of HIV/AIDS, its devastating effects and the challenges TASO and the Ugandan government face in responding to it.
“Though the drugs to treat HIV/AIDS are free, many people, especially men, won’t get tested because of the stigma. Many children are living on their own – 13 and 14-year-old girls are holding whole families together because their parent’s generation are all dead.”
Part of Eilis’ role with TASO was to provide advice on small business development for people living with HIV. “All they want is an opportunity to help themselves. Like to get a sewing machine so they can sew clothes and earn money to support their family. It’s not charity they’re looking for.”
Returning from Uganda via Ireland to Vancouver wasn’t easy, Eilis acknowledges. The contrast between the wealth and plenty of Ireland and Canada and the poverty of Uganda was initially difficult to reconcile.
But as Eilis points out, Vancouver and British Columbia have their own poverty issues. “When I came back in January 2008, I was at a United Way event which gave an award to an agency in Surrey who said that one in four children in Surrey lives in poverty. And B.C. is the worst province in Canada for child poverty.”
Eilis continues her involvement in United Way and her support of TASO Uganda and is convinced that small actions lead to real, longer-term change.
“Margaret Mead said ‘Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has’.
“You only have to look at the work that so many people do in their communities to see it’s true. But we can often take them for granted and not see the impact.”
She thinks the award goes some way to redressing this. “Any recognition that women get for the hidden work they do, it’s a good thing.”
Nominees for IWN ‘Woman of the Year’ Award 2010 now being accepted.
The Award is given each year in recognition of the contribution that members of the IWN make to their communities. Nominations for the 2010 Award are now being accepted up until December 31. For further information, contact Geraldine Megannety, IWN secretary at (604) 451-4125 or megannety@hotmail.com and see the IWN website at www.iwnbc.ca for further details on the award and nomination process.
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Deadline for Nollaig na mBan
celebration fast approaching
Ladies – a date for your 2010 calendars! The IWN 12th annual celebration of Nollaig na mBan will be held in the Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside, Vancouver on January 9, 2010.
The evening will kick off with cocktails at 6 PM, dinner at 7 PM followed by entertainment by Brian Nichol, and dancing and all manner of craic after that.
Tickets are $55 per person (inclusive of taxes and gratuities) and reservations by receipt of payment must be made by December 18 to Eilis Courtney, 302-1445 Marpole Avenue, Vancouver V6H 1S5.
Contact Eilis at (604) 325-7650 or e-mail: eilis34547@hotmail.com. Please advise of any dietary requirements when you book.
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