The USA Cultural Presentation at the Malaysia Conference

20th International Conference Pre-Conference workshop

PPSEAWA USA Delegation to Conference

N.Y. Chapter Spotlight: Janet Nixon

PPSEAWA New Jersey Chapter Begins

A View on What Happened at the Conference

Solomon Islands Merit Scholarship for Women (SIMSW)

NGO Liaison Officer Appointed

Old Friends (New PPSEAWA Members) Attend Malaysia Conference

Wall Hanging

To Mani Chari, thanks, Godspeed

Old Friends (New PPSEAWA Members) Attend Malaysia Conference

Sonia Gunderson had heard about PPSEAWA for years from her mother Lorene, a longtime member and former President of the Toledo (Ohio) chapter. When Lorene invited Sonia to join her for the conference this year, Sonia rearranged her work responsibilities so she could attend.

As President of Performance Solutions, a human resources firm specializing in teaching stress management through Transcendental Meditation (TM), Sonia has offered training services to individuals and organizations for 22 years, traveling throughout the U.S., Philippines and Southern Africa.

In the early 1980s, when Sonia served as Project Manager at the Institute for Research on Consciousness and Human Development at Harvard University, she developed a close friendship with Lisa Dreier's grandparents, Theodore and Barbara Dreier, co-founders of Black Mountain College and longtime TM practitioners. During that period, Sonia met other members of the Dreier family, including Lisa and her sister Ruth.

Over the years and miles, the friends have stayed in touch. On a trip to California in April of this year, Sonia spoke with Lisa by phone and heard about her plans to travel and write about women activists. Sonia suggested she consider starting her research project by attending the PPSEAWA conference in Malaysia.

"I'm delighted Lisa decided to attend the conference. It was the first extended visit we've had in many years. And as I saw her interviewing, networking and photographing women from various countries at the conference, I was quite proud of the extraordinary woman she has become," Sonia said.

Lisa grew up in the Boston area. During and after her graduation from Bowdoin College with high honors, she worked in Ecuador as a public health volunteer and exchange student, then traveled throughout the continent on her own. After several years of freelance journalism in New Mexico, she moved to California where she has worked for the past five years in nonprofit development, administration and communications for the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF).

Through her volunteer work with the Global Fund for Women and other international women's groups, Lisa has cultivated a growing interest in women in the developing world. Starting in January of 1998, she plans to spend 6 months traveling in Asia as a freelance writer, focusing on the work of women activists in the region. She looks forward to learning from and working with women leaders and NGOs in India, Pakistan, Nepal and Indonesia.

Lisa attended the PPSEAWA conference in Kuala Lumpur to meet Asian women activists and begin learning about the issues that are important to them.

"PPSEAWA members were wonderfully welcoming and generous," she said. "I learned a great deal about women's goals and activities in a number of Asian countries, and I made many good friends whom I hope to visit during my travels."

For Lisa, the highlights of the conference were the speakers, discussion workshops, and cultural presentations. "I was also very impressed by our Malaysian sisters. The conference was beautifully organized. And it was interesting to see how the status of women in Malaysia has improved in the past decade, becoming a model in the region."

Lisa is writing a brief report on the conference for Ms. Magazine, a feminist. U.S.-based publication.

Where will Lisa and Sonia meet next? "Perhaps in the Cook Islands," Sonia mused recently.