A time to share and plan: WFWP Canada annual retreat

The Women’s Federation for World Peace Canada held their annual retreat weekend on September 14th and 15th, 2019 and created many memorable experiences. WFWP members of all ages from Ottawa, Hamilton, Toronto and Cobourg gathered for this heart-filled weekend to emphasize the importance of marriage, family, mother-daughter relationships and leadership of the heart. The group reunited in a variety of activities bringing them closer to each other and in turn, closer to achieving their goals for the upcoming year. 

Some of the team-building highlights included the exploration of the Tyendinaga Caves near Belleville, Ontario, a potluck of croissants, sandwiches, salads and an array of delicious desserts, and a visit to the Glamor National Historic Site, a museum that displays the history of Belleville by preserving architecture and furniture dating back to the 1890s.

After these excursions, members proceeded to the Belleville Wellness Centre, where the President of WFWP Canada, Lilly Tadin, shared about the organization’s mission, goals and future projects. All projects and efforts are focused on empowering women and families through education and healing for reconciliation of racial, religious and cultural conflicts.

To achieve the numerous desired goals, it was evident that some fundraising projects could offer help. WFWP Canada Secretary/Treasurer Blandine Stringer presented various ideas such as organizing bake sales, selling roses or creating fundraising events that could all contribute to the financial goal, and she also stressed the importance of community support to achieve success.

Just as meaningful as the external discussions were our internal ones. WFWP Board Member Eveline Stewart initiated an engaging moment to connect and cultivate our community of heart by introducing ourselves and our backgrounds, and expressing our current life situations. It was important to create this foundation to acknowledge our community and help empower each other. Strengths and values were shared to support one another and allow for every woman to have some time where she could express her accomplishments.

The evening closed with a meal at Paulo’s Italian Trattoria, with a great selection of pasta and pizza. The women continued to bond and reflected on the day’s events before heading to the hotel, where a few ladies decided to swim or to have a more quiet and introspective night.

The following day began with a few interactive games initiated by Unity Cheng-Hendricks and Jennifer Biscocho, both WFWP board members. This included a guessing game to decide which given facts were correct about each woman. 

A beautiful moment of repurposing, recycling and sharing took place afterwards, as everyone exchanged clothing and items that were no longer needed, giving them a new home.

The program then turned towards brainstorming for new projects that fit the mission of WFWP Canada. Led by WFWP Board Member Yulia Tarasova, the participants were divided into smaller discussion groups and came up with several creative ideas as they also planned out the necessary details to make their ideas a reality. One project idea, titled “Happy World Peace Cafe”, was to give support to low-income families by offering free lunchboxes in the Toronto area. These lunch boxes would be government-funded. In addition to this, we also discussed holding events that educate youth and families about the importance of the family, while offering an entertaining environment at the same time. In this, the values of the group would be shared among the people in the community.

Overall, it was a successful weekend where about 20 women of all ages came together to empower each other and spread positive motivation, the end goal being to place family and community at the center of their hearts. The success of this retreat was in great part due to good planning and organization by Ms. Yulia Tarasova, for which we are all most grateful. We were able to get a better grasp of what WFWP Canada can become and how everyone can be more involved and most importantly, how to get more and more people connected.