Bor Women Association (BWA)

P.O.BOX 41337
Des Moines, Iowa
United States of America

Sunday, July 4, 2010
Fourth Annual meeting/conference

Opening Prayer by lay woman: Achol Kuek Atem

Public Welcome by Iowa Bor women chairwoman Elizabeth Ajah Malith: Welcome to Des Moines Iowa for the second time to have the Bor Women Association (BWA) conference. This is our fourth annual meeting; we are happy to have you here today with us.

Introduction by Monica Adut Anai: We are pleased that you are here today with us to encourage one another and to brief ourselves about our organization. We are here today to brief ourselves about what we have done in the past twelve months. This is a fruitful weekend and a very important day in the history of the United States of America. Yesterday, Saturday, July 3^rd 2010, we had a general Bor people meeting which included everyone and today, Sunday is Bor women meeting. We are glad to see men supporting our meeting, and we urge you to continue that support in the future.

Mary Aluel Kuol Tiir: We meet for unity and blessing. We come together for a meeting to have joy and unity to keep us connected. When a substantial farmer starts farming, she/he doesn’t look backward but forward to clear more land. Let’s compare ourselves to the substantial farmer, when we depart from this meeting, we need to carry out the action to reach our goal. With the commitment you have, I have confidence in you that we will reach our goal.

Meeting coordinator: Monica Nyanchol Akuien: We found this association four years ago with a purpose of helping the needy people of Bor, especially women and children back home. We found this organization not just to help back home but to help ourselves here in United States of America to solve our own problems facing us in our new home. We are facing too much culture difference hence by coming together under this organization, we belief we can discuss some of our problems. We started this organization in 2007 and the purpose was to get organize to carry out the vision. We all came from the same situation and we all know how hard the life is in Southern Sudan. Many of us who are here today in this meeting have been back to Sudan and found the same condition as it was when we left. Monica Adut Anai and I, Monica Nyanchol Akuien went back to southern Sudan in 2009. During our visit, we visited hospital and school in Bor town while we were in the area and the situation we saw was horrible. As we agreed before that we want to build a women center in Bor town, we are progressing with our project positively. To go forward with our meeting, we want to hear the reports from state leaders. Many states leaders and representatives gave their reports. We promised before that we are going to raise $100,000 for our project so let’s hear from our treasurer Aluel Kuol Mading.

Financial report by Aluel Kuol Mading: In 2007 we had $300 in our account and in 2008, we raised $525. We agreed to pay $150 for registration and $5 per a month as a membership per a person. I want to thank our members for their commitment of paying their dues. I am very proud of you women of Bor for the work you are doing. With all these contributions and fund raising, we have raised 25% of the promised amount so let’s continue that spirit to reach our goal. 

Monica Nyachol: We need to support one another; if you are a marriage couple, you need to support this association with one voice as a family. State leaders need to know their members one in one to work closely with them to build a strong network; that’s the best way to build a strong team. We want to welcome anyone who is interesting to become a member to support this organization. We are now registered as a non-profit organization under 501c3 under the law of Iowa State. Therefore; our organization is a tax deductable. We encourage fund rising by state or by cities. Please invite your friends and other associations to get involve.

Amuor Match: Let’s sing a hymnal “paac ke paac ke rem de tong in Dinka, which translate to wake up wake up generation of war”. I started with this hymnal to wake you up youth, elders, mothers and fathers to do some work. Let’s do some mission work don’t sleep my dear sons & daughters, friend and colleague. 

Ayak Jok Anyang: We need to be aware of our teenagers; they don’t perform well enough in school and many of them drop out of school; we need to find out the reason why. Some quit school with no good reason and it’s our duty as mothers to investigate our children; be their friend and advisers.

Yar Jook Alith: I am glad to be here today, and I want to thank God for being with me. I am a disable as you can see, but I push myself to come to the meeting to support you and to encourage my community. You need to respect one another and work closely to keep the unity and culture.

Words of encouragement came from Bor elders/leaders:

Mr. Mareech Biar

Dr. Akech Khoc

Dr. Butrus Nhiany Jok

Monica Nyanchol: Within us, we have two candidates who are running for Greater Bor office, which is scheduled to take place in September 2010 in Grand rapid Michigan. We want to hear from them. The first candidate to take the floor is Michael Ayuen Kuany Riak; he is running for a Greater Bor chairperson position and the second candidate running for the same position competing with Ayuen is Mabior Achiek Chau. We encourage more people to join this competition to work for Bor. These individuals have come forward to serve their people; hence, we need more people to join the line to run for a position.

In closing, our website is under construction; hopefully, it will be done soon. Our office is going to be change next year 2011, and we ask anyone who is interesting in holding a position to come up, get to prepare early before time. We want to start our project within next year if things are going well. Our next annual meeting is scheduled to take place in Salt Lake, Utah on July 2010. Let’s enjoy our activities such as traditional dance and a disco in peace and thank you once again for attending this meeting.

Bor Women Conference Report for 2010

Prepared by: Joseph J. Atem

Bor Women Association (BWA)