WORDS: GLORIA GABER
PHOTO: MIA MEDAKOVIC
THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S CLUB IS NOT JUST A COFFEE CIRCLE FOR WOMEN FROM DIFFERENT COUNTRIES. IT IS ALSO DEDICATED TO CHARITABLE PROJECTS.
The times we are currently living in are challenging. Wars, crises, environmental disasters – rarely a day goes by without negative news. People and population groups argue and protest with each other, each insisting on their own opinion. The tone has become harsher. Nowadays, you can really get the impression that there is less togetherness and that charity and solidarity are dwindling, similar to what the Black Eyed Peas expressed in their song “Where is the love” back in 2003, already 20 years ago, wondering where love has gone. Well, the good news is that it hasn’t disappeared. It is there, you just have to look closely. So it’s all the more pleasing that this issue of RYL is entirely dedicated to love and shows how many different facets love can have.
MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S CLUB HAVE BEEN COMMITTED SINCE THE ORGANISATION WAS FOUNDED
One of these facets is charity. According to the definition, it is the “inner attitude from which someone is prepared to help their fellow human beings, to make sacrifices for them”. Fortunately, even today there are many people in organisations, associations, clubs or groups who have set themselves the goal of helping others. The International Women’s Club Belgrade (IWC) has also been supporting charitable causes since its early days. As a dedicated group of women from the diplomatic circle in the late 1960s, its charitable work was still limited to a few individual projects, such as supporting the Tiršova Children’s Clinic in Belgrade. At that time, donations were used to buy hospital equipment and the members of the club regularly visited the children in the clinic to read to them and spend time with them.
A lot has changed since then thanks to the tireless work of many visionary women as club members and as IWC board members. Meanwhile, the association’s charitable work has become more extensive, processes have been established and professionalised, donations have increased and have benefited, and continue to benefit numerous people in need in Serbia.
But how does this work exactly? Most of the club’s charity work is donation-based financial support for selected projects. The annual theme is determined at the beginning of the club year in September. In this club year 2023/2024, the club would like to support projects that aim to empower women. These could be projects that support single mothers or take care of women who suffer from domestic violence, for example. Or projects that promote educational equality and specifically foster women. Subsequently, a fundraising event is planned. This is the now well-established and very popular IWC Charity Bazaar. This took place on the 3rd of December 2023 with over 30 participating embassies at the Hyatt Regency Belgrade and filled the donation pot with over 3.5 million dinars. In the following months, the members of the Charity Committee will decide together with the IWC Board how this sum will be divided up. To this end, applications from individual projects will be collected in February, then carefully reviewed and a basis for a decision drawn up. The official signing of the agreement on cash donations usually takes place in mid-April.
THE IWC HAS MADE A HUGE CONTRIBUTION OVER THE YEARS
When asked what contribution the IWC can make to supporting projects in general, Christina Czettl, Head of this year’s Charity Committee, replies as follows: “The IWC is mainly concerned with providing financial support for interesting projects in Serbia. The spectrum here ranges from the purchase of work materials, hygiene products and equipment, to various workshops in the field of further education, education in general and psychological support. Overall, it is all about improving the quality of life of people, whether young or old. We strive to select projects that are less recognised by large organisations due to their shorter duration or their subject matter.” An example from the past club year shows what she means by this. Part of the donations in 2023 went to the Kreativno Edukativni Centar (KEC) in Belgrade. The centre supports people with intellectual disabilities and helps them to lead an independent life. During a visit to the centre, the IWC members learned that there are very few initiatives in Serbia that help people with intellectual disabilities, especially when they reach adulthood. With the donations from the organisation, the KEC was able to offer psychosocial support in the form of creative workshops for its protégés, for example.
PROJECTS FROM SWAG COMPLEMENT THE CLUB’S WORK
The financial charity work of the International Women’s Club is supplemented by the projects of the club’s own Social Work Activity Group, SWAG for short. This group plans and organises individual smaller projects independently of the annual theme, tries to help spontaneously where necessary and focuses on providing support and donations in kind. The group was founded in October 2022 and has since organised collections of various kinds. Of particular note is the Christmas parcel campaign, in which IWC members are called upon every year to pack Christmas parcels for children in need. Last Christmas, the IWC was able to hand over more than 70 parcels to the Sava Jovanović Sirogojno Primary School. Katarina Silevski, Head of the Social Work Activity Group, is convinced of the importance of even smaller projects. “We encourage the recipients to believe that there are good people and that the circle of good is constantly growing. The IWC is there for them and helps them to overcome their current problems and find new hope for the life they really want to lead.”
LOVE OF FELLOWS AS THE DRIVING FORCE BEHIND THE VOLUNTEERS
But none of this work would be possible without the people behind it. This is because the International Women’s Club is an association and therefore thrives on the voluntary commitment of many people. These are people who put a lot of time and heart and soul into their work for the club and thus act in the spirit of charity. This becomes clear when you ask the people who work at the IWC what motivates them to get involved. Katarina Silevski answers: “Every activity must contain a dose of love, charity activities perhaps even more than others. The compassion of being there for others was my personal motivation for joining charity work.” Christina Czettl is of the same opinion, because it makes her happy to bring joy to others. “In my work at the IWC, I can even do this on a slightly larger scale. So I ask myself the following questions these days: “Who will the club give happy moments to? Can someone manage to change their life thanks to the money we have donated? It makes me happy just to think that my involvement has helped someone to take a step in the right direction, or perhaps a child has felt or seen things that have made them realise what they want in life and where they want to go in life.”
In answer to the question posed by the Black Eyed Peas at the beginning, we can perhaps say that love is often hidden in small gestures, but fortunately it is still there. Charity and solidarity are important cornerstones of our society and are particularly meaningful in the current times. How wonderful that even today there are still so many people who are wholeheartedly committed to the well-being of others.
INFO BOX
The International Women’s Club has already opened the application phase for projects in this year’s Charity Cycle. Organisations have until the 29th of February 2024 to submit their application to the IWC for financial support for a project that focuses on women’s empowerment. All information on this, the funding requirements and the application form can be found on the organisation’s website (www.iwc.rs).
If you would like to support the IWC in its charitable work, please get in touch. You can contact the organisation’s board by sending an email to info@iwc.rs.
