Zonta Club of Central Tuguegarao

A Brief History of the Zonta Club of Central Tuguegarao-- Club No. 1294, District 17, Area 04. The Zonta Club of Central Tuguegarao was chartered on June 8, 1990. Its charter membership was composed of 24 dedicated women leaders in different businesses and professions. Samia Abraham Henrage was the Charter President. This was organized by its mother club, the Zonta Club of Tuguegarao. In its 31 y

ears of service and counting , the Zonta Club of Central Tuguegarao has had seventeen (17) presidents as of todate. Members meet once, either physically or virtually during the pandemic, every month where they discuss their plans, current activities and bond with each other. In the past, the venue for the meetings was usually at any designated place in the City. Although this has already changed as the Club was officially appointed as the Manager of the GAD Center of Tuguegarao City on December 10, 2020. The GAD Center will serve as the Club's office, at the same time, a shelter for victims of gender-based violence. It is located at the City Hall grounds in Carig, Tuguegarao City particularly at the Tuguegarao City Senior Citizens Building and manned by two personnel. For now, the Center is open from Monday to Friday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm. Club Board & Committees: The Board is headed by the President, with the Vice President, Treasurer, Assistant Treasurer, Secretary for Recording and Secretary for Correspondence, as its officers together with five members as the Board of Directors. The immediate past president serves as an ex-officio member of the Board. Chairpersons are appointed to head the different committees--Service with Fund Raising and Environment as sub committees, Membership, Advocacy, Education, Z Club and Golden Z, Leadership, SOM, PR & Communications and GAD Management. Membership: Club membership averages 22; there was a time when membership reached 37 with a low of 17. Presently there are 59 paid-up members (2020-2022) and five new members due for registration. This will make the Club 64-strong. Orientation of new members is regularly held. Fellowships are also done in the the monthly membership meetings, either face to face or virtually or both. Membership is being strengthened through meetings, annual parties, during induction/installation ceremonies and field trips/out-of-town activities while attending seminars or officials activities of the Club. After the pandemic, the members hope to have a team building to cement the friendships that have been formed. ZONTA TODAY

You may have been hearing a lot about our club, the Zonta Club of Central Tuguegarao, which is one of the two clubs here in this City. Our club is a member of the Zonta International, a global community of more than 29,000 women and men in nearly 1,200 Zonta clubs in 63 countries. In the Philippines, there are 51 active clubs and counting with 1,800 members. Zonta International has provided resources to empower women and girls and expand their access to education, health care, economic opportunities and safe living conditions. Zontians believe in making the world a better place by empowering women and finding joy in working together toward gender equity in a supportive community of like-minded professionals that extends to other countries and cultures. Zonta advocates to end violence against women and girls. Every year from November 25 through December 10, Zonta clubs around the world participate in Zonta Says NO to Violence Against Women, our international campaign to raise awareness of and increase actions to end violence against women and girls. Zonta empowers women in the workplace by providing educational scholarships to promote women in traditionally male-dominated fields. At the local level, Zonta clubs are making a difference. We identify the most urgent issues affecting women and girls in their communities and develop service and advocacy projects to address these challenges. The issues and solutions vary, as each is tailored to local needs. Under the new normal, the Club can be the link to the future because our tagline for this biennium 2020-2022 is The Link to the Future is NOW…Embrace the New Normal with Optimism for Women, and our theme is “Transitions, Changes and New Opportunities” which is very appropriate because all our programs and/or projects to be carried out should address efforts to "Recover" from the effects of the global crisis, and provide assistance to "Rebuild and Rehabilitate" the community. Since the start of the new biennium this June, we have embarked on activities that would address these needs such as the Gadget Mo, Sagot Ko project which aims to help young girls who belong to indigent families stay in school and pursue their online schooling. As of todate, we have distributed more than 100 gadgets to poor young girls and boys. As we posted in this page, this is one of the biggest “passion” projects that we have because the activity touched us to our very core as we experienced and witnessed their living conditions. One belonged to a family who was a victim of robbery, another has a blind mom, or whose parents lost their jobs during the pandemic, and one lives deep in the forests or in remote fields, or in urban poor areas or slums. Despite all the odds that we encounter during the planning and distribution, we carry on because we know that we make a difference in the lives of these young people. We also have the Knit and Crochet Project which aims to empower unemployed women by providing them a source of livelihood, generate income for the family and maintain their self-worth and self-esteem. We have partnered with several groups of women to produce beautiful crocheted products like face masks, sanitizer and alcohol holders, table runners, coasters, place mats and the latest, which became a hit, are the beautifully created dangling and hoops. The Club has earned a lot from the sales proceeds of these products. As our contribution in the prevention of the spread of the corona virus, we distributed masks, posters and flyers that disseminate information on how to fight the COVID 19 crisis. We have also helped in the alleviation of poverty by replenishing the community pantries in several adopted barangays. And this time, taking advantage of the benefits of internet connectivity, we launched this talk show, ALL ABOUT EVE, to help empower, educate and inspire women and girls about their relevance and importance in the community. This talk show will be one of the means to reach out to the people specially women and girls and listen to them. We make our Club more accessible if not physically then through the internet. We have revitalized our page which is open to the public and where we entertain comments, questions, or requests for assistance. You can easily search this Page on Facebook. Meanwhile, we now have our own physical office because we have been appointed as the Manager of the GAD Center of Tuguegarao City which is located at the city hall grounds in Carig. Any client of the club can meet us there and seek for our assistance. There are so many things to do and we have laid out so many plans for the biennium we are thankful to our partner organizations and agencies, families and friends who have been very supportive of our endeavours. Of course, these would not all be possible without the members’ active support and participation and of course, our God to whom we offer all the glory. Updated by: RACQUEL C. REYES-AGLAUA, President, 2020-2022 Biennium