First Meeting Set for Sept. 14

The WTB Council has set the schedule for meetings for 2008-2009 and our start is Sept. 14. Join us for "Leaving Home, Staying Home, Returning Home." Come hear the stories of several women and share your own. More details to be posted here soon.

We meet as usual, on Sundays from 3-5 p.m. at Jowonio School on E. Genesee in Syracuse.

For our service project for September, we'll be collecting items for OnPoint for College, a local non-profit which helps low-income students who never dreamed they could go to college do it! OnPoint can use: dark-colored twin sheet sets; dark colored blankets and comforters, dark-colored towels and wash cloths, and alarm clocks.

Time to Renew Your Membership

WTB President Ann Port (left) and the Council have an exciting year of programs planned. WTB has been such a meaningful organization for so many women. Now is the time to again commit to this organization by paying annual dues, which are a suggested $15 for the whole year. But dues are not required to participate if finances are an issue for you.

If you fill out the forms and return your check now you'll save time at your next meeting when you won't have to stand in line to do this. Please download the two forms -- membership form and a survey about ways you can be involved in WTB -- by clicking on the previous underlined type for each. They are in .pdf form. Save them on your computer, fill them out, print and return with your dues to: Women Transcending Boundaries, PO Box 6847 Syracuse, NY 13217.

WTB Pictures on YouTube

WTB is on the cutting edge -- we're on the popular youth site -- YouTube.com Thanks to Joy Pople you can see three animations of photos from WTB activities. One showcases our International Dinners; another commemorates our 2007 walk, Journey to the Tent of Abraham; and the third is about Interfaith Works' Center for New Americans. Just click on the highlighted text to see each one.

Book Club Meets September 22

The Book Club met through the summer but always welcomes new people. So consider joining them on Monday, September 22 to discuss Dalia Sofer's "Septembers of Shiraz." Although a novel, the book bears some resemblance to Sofer's own story of being forced, as a child, to flee postrevoluationary Iran. It shows the struggles of a Jewish family in a Muslim culture.

For more information about the Book Club, contact Jennifer Roberts Crittenden at 633-2817.

Click here to see a list of books the WTB Book Club has read. And to help you get a head start on some of the next discussions, here is a list of upcoming books.

WTB Sponsors Woman in Sudan

WTB helps support a Sudanese woman, Hellena Awiel Turch, 27, who manages a household with eight people --her three daughters, a son, two step-daughters, and her husband. This is the second woman we've supported since we heard about the important development work of Women for Women at our 2006 International Dinner.

Hellena didn't have any opportunity for a formal education and can write her name but little more. She lives in a small hut without electricity and running water. She reports she has lost family members from war or illness. She asked to help to develop vocational skills, become more active in the community and learn about her rights.

Women for Women is helping her do just that. This international organization helps women survivors of war and civil strife with resources to move into stability and self-sufficiency.