WOMEN AS PEACEMAKERS “HERSTORY”

WFWP Las Vegas has been inviting incredible women to tell us their stories. May 16 was the fourth such gathering since the Turning Point Assembly was held in Las Vegas in October 2012 The guest speaker this time was Ms. Barbara Wood, Director of University Relations for Roseman University of Health Science.

She gave an incredible story of her life. She has gone through numerous life-threatening medical challenges, including five bouts of cancer, five heart attacks, three strokes, and, to top it all off, severe injuries that resulted from falling out of a hot-air balloon. However, her physical maladies were not the only challenges she had to face. She also lost her loving husband after only 14 years of marriage and was left to raise her children on her own without his support and love to keep her strong. Yet she kept going with a positive attitude and a heart of giving despite all the challenges she was going through.

She really prepared her talk well and summarized 13 life lessons that she had learned to live by. The audience was so inspired by the creativity she showed in overcoming the difficulties she outlined.

Ms. Wood was introduced by her close friend Ms. Rita Vaswani, President of the Indian Chamber of Commerce and Vice President of the Nevada State Bank. In the audience were several heads of different organizations: the President of Las Vegas Ward 5 Chamber of Commerce, the Director of the Asian Community Resource Center, the President of the Nevada Black Historical Society, the Managing Director of the Community Alliance Network and Developmental Outreach, the President of FEEF, the Dean of Wongu University of Oriental Medicine, the Founder of Operation Life, and Dr. Sarran Knight Preddy, who will be 94 years old soon, and is called one of the history-makers of Nevada.