It was during a birthday dinner in August 2004 to which only women had been invited that the thought came up to organize more often this kind of women-only dinners. In Holland, where I (Else Denninghoff Stelling) lived for many years, it was not strange to be a member of a group of women who met every month, to listen to an interesting subject and talk with each other during the dinner. These networks were part of a national network group which could be a local or professional group.
2004
As this birthday dinner was such a great success, the idea grew and a group comprised of the following four women – Annemiek de Vries, Lenie Exaltus, Olga Solovova, and Else Denninghoff Stelling – was formed to organize the first WING Coimbra day. Although the women of this group all knew each other, it was the first time they had gathered together and talked about a day like this. Four different people, four different personalities, backgrounds and cultures. It took a few meetings and discussions to find a compromise for the first event of International Women’s day. As we did not know how women might react, or who and what to expect, the organization group decided upon the concept of a workshop (meeting each other).
2005
On 8-3-2005 the first WING Coimbra meeting took place at the restaurant of Flor de Coimbra. Although we ran out of time with the workshop, the afternoon and evening were a great success. The atmosphere was excellent, as were the participants, who came from many countries. We promised to make a meeting again the next year. Due to changes in my private life, I (Else Denninghoff Stelling) could not keep this promise but as soon as there was time and space a new group of four women was found to organize a new WING Coimbra meeting on 8-3-2007 – Amelia Tellechea, Antoinet Brink, Winy Schalke and Else Denninghoff Stelling. After the first experience it was much easier to find a form for future meetings. We agreed that the priority should be giving women the opportunity to meet other women and having time to talk to each other. Another important issue should be for each meeting to have an interesting subject, talk or workshop, so we could learn new things.
2007
In this WING Coimbra meeting 8-3-2007 the subject had been Practical Questions about Mental Health/Illness and Women’s Well-being (Questões Práticas sobre Saúde/Doença Mental e Bem-Estar da Mulher), by Luisa Brito, a teacher at the Escola Superior de Enfermagem de Coimbra. Besides the statistical information about mental illness and its treatment, an interesting item was how to take care of your own mental health and how to keep the balance between, study, work, family and friends. For each one there was a syllabus to take home and the practical suggestions were very useful. The dinner, again in Flor de Coimbra, was superb and the atmosphere was splendid.
2008
International Women’s Day
We had a very nice commemoration of International Women’s Day on Saturday, 8 March 2008 in Flôr de Coimbra. This year, for the second time, besides the usual reception and dinner there was a guest speaker, who gave a short presentation on a specialist topic.
The presentation ‘Queijo de cabra artesenal’ was given by Io Laubenthal, cheese maker, with a demonstration how to make cheese and the opportunity to taste several types. There was also cheese for sale.
Our aim was to meet other women, to learn from each other and have a pleasant evening together. The dinner was excellent, thanks to Eduardo, Jorge and João from Flôr de Coimbra.
First informal meeting
We had our first informal meeting on Friday, May 2nd. Although there were not so many women, we had a good time together.
Autumn Meeting
On Friday, October 24th we had our Autumn meeting, which was held as usual in Restaurante Flor de Coimbra in Coimbra. After the welcoming cup of tea and “small talk” we had “the main talk”.
Our guest speaker, Carla Gomes, researcher at the Law Faculty of Coimbra University, gave a presentation entitled “Women and sustainable development – The case of East Timor”. Her excellent communication skills and dynamic way of interacting with the audience made the talk both intellectually stimulating and fun.
After Carla had provided us with plenty of “food for thought” we had exquisite food for eating prepared by Eduardo, Jorge and João.
The official language of the meeting was a sort of “Portglish” as most participants can easily switch between Portuguese and English. Dutch was also spoken and the word that comes to my mind when I want to express the atmosphere of the meeting is “gezellig”, which could be translated as “cozy warm atmosphere”.
Thanks to the organizers, the guest speaker, the wonderful women who participated, the “cooks” and my partner Andrew who made the suggestion to invite Carla, this meeting was a great success! What would we do without “our” men?
2009
International Women’s Day
March 8, 2009. This time we tried something new and held our meeting at lunchtime. We were so many! 37 women of at least 7 different nationalities!
Before lunch, our guest speaker Teresa Tellechea showed us some pictures she took in several countries in South America during a trip she made last year. Teresa is an architect and she “has an eye” for forms and frames so she succeeded in giving us a very personal view of Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil and Bolivia. Teresa talked in English since some of us experienced some difficulties during our last meeting when the presentation was in Portuguese. But also English brought problems to some of us…
After Teresa’s talk we had time to walk and talk a bit and look at the pictures Teresa had put up in “Flôr de Coimbra”, while the team of Flôr prepared the room for lunch. And that wasn’t easy…the room is nice and cosy but 37 is an absolute maximum that can be seated… Fortunately they managed to get a setting in which we were all comfortably seated. At least, I was….
Lunch was excellent! The Flor de Coimbra-team did us proud once again! Delicious, original and a great variety of dishes.
Meeting all these different women, from different nationalities, generations and backgrounds is very inspiring, so may WING go on for many more years!
Autumn meeting
Friday 13th of November, WING Coimbra organized one of its meetings. This date was chosen since in some areas in Portugal it is known as the Sao Martinho day for women. (This day women are allowed to taste the quality of the new wine).
There were 19 women (as 2 of us had to cancel at the last minute) from 7 countries. Our guest speaker was Rita de Azevedo – the topic of her speech: the only Portuguese female dramatist of the 18th century, Teresa Josefa de Melo Breijner, who participated anonymously in a contest organized by the Royal Academy of Science in Lisbon….. and won!
The play she wrote was about Osmia, a princess who fought next to her husband, prince Rindakus against the Romans (11th – 8th century BC). Princess Osmia feels more then sympathy for her enemy, Praetor Lealius, but stays loyal to her husband. The fact she has these feelings makes her feel so guilty that she did not see another way out other than by commiting suicide.
The writer (Teresa Josefa de Melo Breijner), countess of Vimeiro, created an intellectual group and organised frequent cultural soirees in her house. After her husband died she spent the rest of her life in a convent.
Rita de Azevedo, our speaker, explained us the two stories (the one of Osmia and the one of the writer) with such enthusiasm and passion that it made us think about the position of women in these two different periods of history and also she made a link to our situation in ‘modern times’.
After this most interesting and inspiring ‘palestra’, we enjoyed a good dinner and nice wines.
Interesting thoughts, good company, delicious food and good wine, what does a woman want more?
View photos (by Josephine van Bennekom)
2010
New Year’s meeting
Thirty women of ten different nationalities attended the first Wing meeting of 2010, which was held on January 23rd in Flor de Coimbra.
The New Year ‘s presentation, entitled “Penelope’s Web”, consisted of an exhibition of paintings by Sarah Minnis and a poetry reading by Karen Bennet. The poems were beautifully read in English with feeling and emotion, but were introduced in Portuguese and related not only to the paintings, but also to the mythological context in which they were set.
In some cases the poems and paintings depict quite distinctive responses to the same myth, while in others, Sarah’s paintings function as an illustration of Karen’s poems, the same way as her poems function as a poetic reading of the paintings.
Painting, poetry, good food, excellent company… what better way to start the New Year?
View photos (by Ella Nooren)
View movies on YouTube (by Loes Nooren)
International Women’s Day
March 8. We celebrated international women’s day and Wing’s 5th anniversary getting a group of women from different nationalities together at Flôr de Coimbra.
Our guest speaker, Sandra Marques, gave a presentation about the schist villages in Serra da Lousã, with special attention to the role of women. She spoke of the project Lousitânea with enthusiasm and dedication and her natural communicative skills made the presentation interesting and appealing.
After the presentation we were ‘presented’ with excellent food and drink and soon the cozy dining room was full of lively conversation. As I wouldn’t be able to express it in such a beautiful way I will cite Carla Gomes: “There is no other group of women I would like to celebrate international women’s day with”.
For those who are interested Sandra will organize a guided visit to the villages in April or May. For more information about the project you can visit the website http://lousitanea.org/tradicoes-do-xisto (in Portuguese).
At the moment our organization group has collected various subjects and suggestions for interesting future. We have arranged these events in a way we think is pleasant, useful and meaningful, but it is quite likely that with the influence of time and other members of the group meetings will develop and change. We hope WING Coimbra may have a long history of meetings where women meet other women, learn from each other and if possible, help each other.