Story posted Friday, December 18, 2009
International Interest
Local Women's Group Enjoys Building Relationships, One Country At A Time
By DENISE FLEISCHER Lifestyle Editor
A group of women are tucked away in a conference room at Atherton Machinery & Equipment in Des Plaines discussing their recent trip to Libya in North Africa. They are members of American Women for International Understanding. They finished lunch and have scattered hundreds of pictures on the table before them. Flashing across a digital player and smaller digital frame are photos snapped during a marvelous wedding, at a common market, at restaurants, massive Roman ruins and of children in their cultural dresses.
"We were one of the first delegations to visit Libya since the 1970's. We were treated as celebrities, interviewed for TV and TV cameras followed us to the tourist sights, even down in the Sahara, 300 miles south," stated Katherine Hefferman.
Hefferman added that U.S. diplomatic relationships were renewed in September 2008 after an absence of over 30 years.
According to Martha Atherton, vice president of American Women for International Understanding, "We were invited by a person on the board of directors for Sister Cities International. A woman in California meet her and they'd traveled to Italy together." Mrs. Atherton is w ell-known Des Plaines business leader. She was the first woman to serve as president of the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce in the 1980s.
Sister Cities has a history of sending business women and educators to other countries and American Women for International Understanding has sponsored more than 50 delegations to Europe, Africa, Asia, the Soviet Union, Latin America, the Middle East, China, Australia and New Zealand. Members journey to these countries to meet with women in leadership positions, business and charitable organizations. One of Mrs. Atherton's passions has been Des Plaines' Sister Cities program.
"We are paving the way for better international relations," said Atherton.
Chicago chapter member Magda Fehema Sharkasi, a Libyan American, who was born in Libya and came to the U.S. so her husband could pursue his doctorate degree, made necessary contacts.
"Approval came rapidly once they issued our visas. Permission was all in the hands of Dr. Abdrahim Mattooug, executive director of the Libyan American Friendship Society," Atherton stated.
Eleven members of the 20 in the Chicago chapter then scrambled to get air reservations with personal costs of $1,200-$2,000. After a 22-hour flight from O'Hare to Heathrow, London and on to Tripoli they presented their passports to the Libyan Embassy, were processed through customs and provided with a security officer.
"We had a Libyan guide, a security officer who was English speaking," stated Atherton. "Our accommodations were nice. We had dinner and then went to a wedding. It was the third day of the wedding. The groom's mother had 500 guests in the officer's club of a former air force base."
Atherton said the women wore gala occasion dresses and wore a lot of gold jewelry. Music was furnished by women drummers. There were no men in the room.
The U.S. Ambassador, Eugene Cretz, invited their delegation to his official U.S. residence for tea, with his wife, Annette and other U.S. diplomatic personnel.
Members stated that everywhere they went they found people who wanted to talk to them. They found some U.S.-based companies were already making investments in Libya. The Raddison had opened in late August. They learned that Libya has amazing historical sites from Roman and Greek times having visited Sabratha and Leptis Magna. Both were ancient cities and active trading ports.
Qaddafi is referred to as "the Leader," according to Hefferman. He has six sons and one daughter and all of his bodyguards are female.
They visited The Petroleum Institute on their second day in Tripoli.
On the way to Ghadames, a desert town, they stopped for dinner in a subterranean structure that was 343-years-old and still owned by the same family.
They learned about Zakat, which is the requirement that Muslims support charitable and religious programs. They learned about the wearing of the Hijab or heard scarf that women wear, how they dress at home and entertain. That men and women have equal treatment in employment and education. They also visited the Seventh of April University and met women students, as well as visited a grade school and spoke to students in first through sixth grade through an interpreter.
They went to the Sahara Dunes, ate Sand bread and saw a dune version of an auto rally. They attended a Toureg Festival, visited fortified food storage buildings in the desert, saw modern caravan serrias and more.
Where will the local members go from here? They are planning a trip to Russia in May and Japan in September.
For more information about the organization, log on to www.awiu.org.
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