Open Doors

The INC is affiliated with an international network called Open Doors. Open Doors was started in 1980 by the International Women's Club (IWC) of Stockholm President, Mrs Elisabeth Sammann. She wanted to create something similar to the Rotarians. The aim was for international women's clubs to open their doors to each other's members if they were visiting or moving to another country. The IWC supported her idea and appointed her Co-coordinator of International Relations- Open Doors. She started with a register of nine women's associations which agreed to appoint an international coordinator to welcome IWC women to their clubs as guests to monthly meetings and other club activities, and occasionally exchange club newsletters and correspondence. At the end of 1983 there were 18 associations on her roster.

Meanwhile, the vice-president of the IWC in The Hague, Ismelda Pellet, started a network of clubs for IWC members to contact when leaving The Hague. She had gathered 12 associations by 1984, when one of the associations on her list realized they were on both registers. Elisabeth called Ismelda and both decided to join forces.

Elisabeth was appointed coordinator and founder of Open Doors and found financial support. In 1988, Elisabeth left the IWC Stockholm and Ismelda agreed to take over as Open Doors Chairman, with financial support from the IWC The Hague, which has made generous donations to keep Open Doors running. Other donations have come from other clubs as well.

Today there are 78 organizations in 38 countries that open their doors to each other. Basically, Open Doors offers connections with sister organizations throughout the world. For instance, if you visit another country, you can call our Open Doors representative and she can help you find a representative in that country. It is really worth doing. Last month I joined my husband in Amsterdam for a weekend after he attended a business meeting. Before leaving, I checked out our Open Doors contacts in the Netherlands and found out that there was going to be a general meeting held on the following Monday at The Hague. I changed my reservations to stay a couple of extra days. I was personally greeted by the Open Door Chairman, Ismelda Pellet. (We have been communicating for over two years by email and telephone but have never actually met.) And I met other fantastic women and had a wonderful time. They had their annual “Country Morning Meeting“. This year's country was Malaysia and it was sponsored by the Malaysian Embassy. After the meeting I had lunch with Ismelda, Mrs Shirish Dunham-Baviskar, The Hague club president, Mrs Marian Voorhoeve-Oldeman, the Amsterdam club president, and Mrs Clara Voslamber, their Open Doors representative, and some other board members. We shared ideas, which I would also like to share with you, and common problems. I invited them all to sunny Spain for another “encuentro”. Afterwards, Ismelda gave me a tour of her lovely city before saying goodbye.

Here is another example of how Open Doors can come in handy. A member of IWC in Chicago has a daughter who came to Spain to study at Madrid's Universidad Computense. She contacted the IWC´s Open Door contact, then got in touch with us. Now, the daughter is here, all set to go in a very nice apartment, ready to study. Ladies, if you are traveling, it is highly worthwhile to find the Open Doors closest to your destination.

-Susan Milla