Be Part of the Solution: HerStory Awardees Inspire By Example
On August 12, 2023, WFWP USA held a virtual, National HerStory Award ceremony emceed by Mrs. Natascha Phillips of WFWP USA. The HerStory awardees represented various cultural and social backgrounds, yet all shared in their dedication to serving their communities, both in the United States and abroad. Through their work, each has brought incredible value to the lives of countless others.
Mrs. Phillips opened the event by greeting all the participants, “My hope is that you will be inspired by the stories that we hear from the three incredible ladies that we will be honoring today and that you will feel the sisterhood of heart, the logic of love that WFWP is known for.” Mrs. Phillips then proceeded to welcome WFWP USA President, Mrs. Kaeleigh Moffitt. President Moffitt expressed the value of the HerStory award and the need to acknowledge those women who serve their families and communities, even though they often do not even need the acknowledgement for themselves. Quoting from Mother Moon, the founder of WFWP, “women have the magical power to heal hearts” and it’s “the true power of womanhood that is needed to change the world.”
Each of the three awardees were introduced with her bio as well as a personal sharing from the WFWP leader who recommended her. President Moffitt virtually presented the award and each awardee was able to share her story with the participants.
The first speaker of the day was Ms. Raluca Heim, a drug and alcohol counselor serving the population at the Virtue Recovery Center in Nevada. Ms. Heim shared lessons she has learned from her journey of coming to the United States from Romania and pursuing her passion for deeper healing. “Really my life and my journey started when I moved [to America].” Upon arriving in 2013, she quickly found herself alone and unsure of what to do and where to go, but felt that God was telling her to stay. Her first lesson was to realize the importance of the feminine. “God put people in my life and those people were women. Having feminine energy in your life and knowing how to balance the masculine and that energy is one of the greatest lessons we can learn. Resilience, faith. I think it comes from the feminine energy.” In addition, this time helped her to heal her relationship with her mother, which led to her being able to love herself and, in turn, show up as a mother for her own daughter.
On overcoming challenges, Ms. Heim gave the advice that when faced with challenges, the best thing to do is “be still and learn to connect with that part of you that is your true self or your higher self.” Because of this, she shared, she can look back and be grateful for all the challenges she has had to overcome, because they helped to shape the person she is today.
Ms. Heim ended on one final lesson: We are not our degrees or accomplishments or anything else. “There is nothing after ‘I am.’” Everything after can go away or change, and so in accepting the “I am” we find that “the only strength we have is inside of us, not outside.
The second speaker was Mrs. Joan Chanman-Forbes, Executive Director and President, Our Children the Future Inc.
“One never knows what lies ahead,” opened Mrs. Chanman-Forbes. “We all had a vision of what we’d like to do when we grow up. To me my vision was not God’s plan.” For Mrs. Chanman-Forbes, God brought her from her vision of being a businesswoman to serving her family and community. Her love and passion for service began when she would volunteer with her mother. Upon her mother’s passing she “decided to forge ahead and in her name.” Years later, her brother got sick and Mrs. Chanman-Forbes and her husband took him in, with her leaving her job to become his full-time caretaker. However, “there was a void that I needed to fill” and so she and her husband started their volunteer organization, Our Children the Future Inc. This allowed her to control her time without giving up on her passion for service to the community, and especially their main beneficiaries, the children of Trinidad and Tobago, her home country.
“The obstacles, challenges and adversities have meshed all in one. I cannot say that I have overcome but I’ve adjusted myself to fit the situation,” Mrs. Chanman-Forbes reflected. She has learned to step back from the situations at hand and look at them from the outside, out of the chaos. “I am always looking to make a situation better so it can be a win for all concerned.”
Mrs. Chanman-Forbes concluded with three key points she has come to live by. First, to “keep my faith in the forefront.” Second, “I take time for self care.” And third, to “live by example and be the solution, not the problem.”
The third and final awardee of the day was Dr. Pamela Sandico Zapanta, Dentist, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist.
“My journey of life from my formative years to adulthood and throughout my career has been a tapestry woven with challenges and triumphs,” shared Dr. Zapanta. She spoke first of how as a child she faced the challenge of her own shyness and lack of self-confidence, which was exacerbated by the teasing she would receive from her peers at school, for her provincial accent as well as her English. However, these challenges ignited a fire in her to improve herself, and she gradually did so with her life’s motto, “I should, I must, I will.” In college, she continued to blossom in the much more open environment and deepened her own Catholic faith and identity during this time, which has played a large part in her work ever since.
Dr. Zapanta next spoke of her appreciation for all those who have inspired her in her humanitarian work over her life, starting with her father. “My father’s kindness profoundly shaped me. Witnessing his selfless deeds like offering free medical care and establishing a scholarship to college students instilled in me the importance of giving back.” With this example, Dr. Zapanta made offering free dental care on dental missions a cornerstone of her own humanitarian work throughout her career, and has continued this work in her retirement. She also expressed her gratitude for all the other organizations she has served with. “Witnessing the joy and gratitude on the faces of those I have served has enriched my life in profound and indescribable ways.
These faces are the true reward for Dr. Zapanta, however, upon receiving the HerStory Award, she also found deep meaning and gratitude. “This award is not only a recognition of my personal journey, but also a spotlight of the countless women who are dedicated to making the world a more harmonious and compassionate place,” Dr. Zapanta ended tearfully.