Zonta Club inaugurated to address women and children’s affairs

The Zonta Club of Macau, a local branch of the global non-profit organization Zonta International, was inaugurated last Friday at MGM Macau in order to advance the status of women and to promote gender equality in local society.
Founded in 2014 by female executives, the association has so far initiated over twenty projects focused on charity and social affairs to address the growing needs and social issues of women and children. Its chartered chairperson, Ms Christiana Ieong, acknowledged that Zonta Macau is still “very young” and thus has been testing the waters by organizing children’s activities before committing to a broader range of practices in social affairs.
“I can recall just a few months ago when Pansy [Ho, honorary chartered patron] raised the Zonta idea. At the time, I thought that was a highly ambitious task, given there are already over 6,000 associations in such a small community,” she said at the inauguration ceremony.
“We have to aim high, but we do it step by step. We have just been born, we are still new, and we still have to do a lot of structural work, so we focus first on women and children’s social issues. (…) First, we wanted a soft landing to test the waters, just to see how hard it is. We are new in this area, so we organized ‘happy activities’ to get to know each other. We started with them, but actually any group that’s less privileged and with an unheard voice can come along,” she said.
Ms Ieong further explained that to stand out from some 6,000 local associations, the Zonta Club has developed an innovative approach to women’s affairs in Macau, as it is considered an arena for capable women both locally and overseas to collaborate in efforts towards the city’s development for  the best interests of women, whilst upholding high ethical standards and complying with international practices.
“Many of the ladies standing here have actually been doing charity work by themselves individually in a sense that ‘we do good things and we don’t say.’ But then it came to a point where we wanted to make noise about it, because we want to influence others,” she noted. “To my pleasant surprise, we are all so united when it comes to women and children’s social issues. As women, it is in our maternal nature to do good for our homes and to protect our children and families.”
The Club has over 70 members, supporters and volunteers. “It is very difficult just to bring everyone together for a meeting, because we are all so busy,” said Ms Ieong. “As an association that’s been founded for only a few months, we cannot apply for government funding yet; so all our charity projects have been sponsored by the hotels and the execution fee is out of our own pocket,” she added.
Apart from support gained from the private sector, the young association has also received recognition from its social service counterparts. Marjory Vendramini, founder of the Cradle of Hope Association that provides residential homes for homeless children, joined to celebrate the Zonta Club’s inauguration. She believes that the Club, having been founded by powerful and resourceful women, will bring hope to the sector.
“I have been here for 25 years, it’s the first time I see women being in the spotlight while also sharing from their hearts […] It’s also the first time that I see so many important people taking this as an opportunity to advocate more for women in Macau,” she said.