Newsletter Fall 2022

Dear Friends,

We are happy to share the first quarterly newsletter of SHOM's new Board for the year 2022-2023. It has been a busy Fall with many new comers and fun activities and gatherings. We look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events!

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF THE BOARD

Dear Members,

I would like to thank you for your confidence in the new Board 2022/2023 by choosing to become a Full member of SHOM.

In the Newsletter, you will be able to read all the events with photos that have taken place in September, October, November and December.

In this context, I would like to thank heartly the Spouses of the Ambassadors of Italy, Zimbabwe, USA and Chile for their hospitality and generosity by organizing beautiful SHOM Coffee Gatherings.

The group coordinator of your region is the Link between you and the Board to answer all your questions, to transmit your ideas, also complains, or new projects.

You will be able to consult on our Webpage the activities of the SHOM groups like Charity Group, Green Group, Cooking Group, Walking Group and more.

Please be more active in SHOM!!! I am taking this opportunity to wish you all a good end to the year 2022 and a very happy and successful new year 2023,

Mediha Nami Osmanoglu de Martinez

Please find below the list of the board members for this academic year 2002/23, and check who is your regional coordinator.

Board members list 2022 -2023

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Download DOCX • 16KB

MEMBERS NEWS

We wish a warm welcome to the spouses of the Ambassadors and Heads of International organisations who have recently assumed their duties in Ankara.

This Fall more then 60 of you became active members of SHOM and joined in our monthly Coffee mornings, special events and groups activities. We are pleased to see that gender balance is also getting better, as male spouses are taking active part in our programs.

We wish to congratulate Mrs. Zohal Hashimi, spouse of the Ambassador of Afghanistan, who became a mother for the first time one year ago.

Our congratulations also to Anna Berdyklycheva, spouse of the Representative of WHO, for the wedding of their daughter.

We express our deep condolences to Mrs. Amal Alzubeed, spouse of the Ambassador of South Soudan, who lost her mother this fall.

For info: the membership for SHOM is 500 TL, and can be paid directly to our treasurer Mrs. Hala Alam (+90 546 513 23 11) or to your regional coordinator.

SHOM PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

Morning coffees

Italian residence on 29 Sept.

We met for the first time after the summer break at the residence of Mrs. Loriana Fabian, spouse of the Italian ambassador. We enjoyed seeing each other again and welcoming new comers in the beautiful residence of Italy downtown Ankara. For more information, please see your website.

19 October, Zimbabwe residence

Our second gathering was hosted by Sarah Mutiwazuka, our SHOM president last year and spouse of Zimbabwe ambassador. October being the month of breath cancer awareness, Sarah had invited a guest from her country to speak about prevention and share experience. Again, you will find more for on our website.

15 November, United States residence

In November, we celebrated Thanksgiving at the residence of the United States thanks to Sheryl Flake, spouse of the US ambassador. What a treat we had! You will find all the details of this wonderful gathering on our website.

9 December, Chile new residence

Margarita Suarez, spouse of the Ambassador of Chile, welcomed us on a cold December morning in her beautiful residence in GOP with Christmas delicacies and music.

EVENTS

Our partner association DMEDD, which represents the spouses of the Turkish ambassadors in Ankara, invited us to explore the cultural heritage of the city through two very unique events.

On 22 October, we met with the Ankara Club association, a group founded in 1932 under the auspices of Ataturk, to protect and maintain Ankara traditions.

On 24 November, we were invited to join and explore with one of the oldest and most lavish natural fibres in use today originated from Ankara: Mohair. Made from the hair of ‘Angora Goat’, (which is one of the symbols of Ankara) Mohair has been known for centuries as “the diamond fibre” for its lustre warmth, strength and durability. We delved into the details of Mohair’s unique characteristics, it’s economic and social history and production stages with an exclusive presentation from the founder of Mohair&Angora, an artisanal Ankara company known for it’s meticulous craftsmanship.

The association "Music around us" invited us to a special rehearsal at the Presidential Symphony Orchestra on 18 November with the famous South Korean violin Soyoung Soon. To watch the PSO at work and observe how a piece of music is shaped by the musicians is a unique experience. The association informed us that we will get more invitations like this one, watch for it on our Calendar in the website!

Cankaya Municipality Women producers of handcrafts products, 6 December

This is SHOM members' favorite fair. The Municipality invited us to come at the opening hour at 11 am to be the first ones to discover the stands. It was a wonderful opportunity to buy wonderful local products before Christmas and support skilled women in financial difficulties from Ankara.

CHARITY

We hope to raise enough funds throughout 2022-2023 to be able to contribute significantly to the association that this SHOM Board will choose to support.

Our first fund-raising initiative is the "SHOM recipe book".

The last Board published a first edition with only soup recipes from our members.

This Fall, we are publishing the salads edition.

You can still send your recipe with a picture to Beatriz Garlaschi, spouse of the International Federation of the Red Cross representative, by 20th December 2022. Her email: beatrizgarlaschi@gmail.com

GROUP ACTIVITIES

Book club

The Book club meets every first Thursday of the month. It aims at discovering Turkish authors as well as writers from all of the countries active in the group. In October we read "Lady Who", taking place in Istanbul, and in November "The years", by the 2022 Nobel Prize Annie Ernaux. In December we discussed "In the shadow of the yali". Our first meeting in 2023 will be on 12th January, around the book "Papyrus". If you wish to join, please contact Selina Sager, spouse of the Hungarian ambassador (+90 531 882 64 93).

Green group

The Green group re-started its activities with a meeting at the Swedish residence on 20th October with focus on yoga. Mr. Attila Güllü, introduced us to some light yoga. This practice aims at harmonising the body, and and spirit, thus enhancing our sensitivity to the environment around us.

In October also, a visit was organised to METU Faculty of architecture to visit the exhibition SustainIT.

Following a Bokashi training held before the summer break, Marta Henriques, spouse of the Australian ambassador, was pleased to announce that the embassy is now using it. Congratulations!

If you wish to join, please contact: Karin Herrstrom (+46 70 962 44 09)

Walking group

Led by Rina Okumuran-Vivara, spouse of Latvian ambassador, the walking group meets every Friday morning. After walking around Emir lake, the group moved to Dikmen park for the winter. Contact: +90 552 461 42 30.

Cooking group

On 31st October, the cooking club was invited by Teuta Robo, spouse of the ambassador of Albania, to prepare traditional dishes from her country.

The group joined a special event organised by the South Korean cultural center on 23rd November on "Kimchi"making, followed by a delicious Korean lunch.

Don't miss the cooking class at the French embassy on 23rd January, to learn to make the traditional "galette des rois"!

For more info, contact Hala: +90 546 513 23 11

Movie group

The movie group watched a movie from Singapore, "Tiong Bahru Social Club", and could meet with its director during the Ankara international film festival early November.

On 7 Dec, we met with the team from Istanbul of the Turkish movie "Mirror mirror", during the Festival on Wheels.

To join the club, please contact Anita: +90 53 53 72 66 01

UPCOMING EVENTS

12 January: book club meets at Beatriz's house

13, 20 and 27 January: walking group meets at Dikmen park

23 January: cooking club meets at the French embassy

27 January: rehearsal at the Presidential Symphony Orchestra

All activities start at 10:30 am.

SAVE THE DATE

18-19 March 2023

Week-end trip with "Music around us"

We wish you a wonderful end of year festive season with family and friends!

Anita Robert-Leclerc,

Co-Secretary-General, SHOM Board