Sunday, February 15, 2009

CTAUN

168 Delta Kappa Gamma members were in attendance at the CTAUN conference in New York City, January 30th. CTAUN is a yearly conference on the curriculum for teaching about the United Nations. The theme for this one day conference was Human Rights. It was well planned and executed under the direction of member Anne Marie Carlson. Phyllis Hickey, our business services administrator, was very involved and presented awards to the winning projects...one of whom was Dr. Linda Dix, a member from New Jersey.

Of course the special attraction at this meeting was author Greg Mortenson who wrote Three Cups of Tea, the story of building schools in Afghanistan. It was exciting to have him autograph my copy and to have our picture taken together.

Rita King, our UN/Non-governmental Rep, took Corlea Plowman and me on a whirlwind tour of shops along Fifth Avenue stopping at the Plaza Hotel for lunch. It was great to have your own personal tour guide. I also had an excellent tour of the United Nations. This building is under going some needed renovation and will be closed for some time in the near future. Of course I managed to spend some money in the UN shops. If you have never shopped there, you can find beautiful items from around the world.

We also met with staff from the US Fund for UNICEF. We have contributed over $189,000 to the Afghanistan Teacher Training Project. I know that many of you have supported this project. The staff provided us with an update on the status of the UNICEF projects.

There is so much work to be done in the world and Delta Kappa Gamma members are always front and center to raise their hand and say "Let Me Help". I am always proud to represent this organization as your president.

Carolyn

CTAU