NIGERWIVES RIVERS STATE BRANCH:

Meet the new Executive Committee :

Nigerwives Rivers State Branch had their first meeting in 1984 and was inaugurated as a branch of Nigerwives Nigeria in May 1985.
Some of the founding members were:
Judith Mamah (Hungary)
Judy Nwanodi (USA/UK)
Susan Jatto (Bermuda)
Sue Okungbowa (UK)
Jackie Nwanodi (USA)
Helen Allwell-Brown (St Kitts)
Monika Itari (Germany)
Claire Bassey (Jamaica)
Pauline Alete (UK)
Margaret Allonso (UK)
Myrtel Abulokwe (West Indies)
Pamela Akiri (USA)
Maeve Hart (Ireland)
Hannalore Amachree (Germany)

For many years, Rivers State Nigerwives met regularly on Saturday afternoons once a month at the Conference Room of the Faculty of Engineering, University of Science & Technology, Port Harcourt. As the City of Port Harcourt expanded and traffic increased, traveling to the meeting place became more difficult, so now we meet at a member’s home on the last Sunday of the month at 3.00 p. m. New officers are elected at the April meeting.

Our usual activities during the year include:
Business and Social meetings
International Night (to raise funds)
Husbands’ Night
Children’s and/or Teenagers Party
Christmas Party for ourselves, where we exchange gifts
And Special Events like video afternoons, family excursions, lectures, demonstration/discussion groups and children’s sports days.

Our branch members support each other, especially in the case of a bereavement. We assist in assessing schools for our children, enjoy family weddings and other family occasions, scout for bargains, find jobs and help new members to adapt to the Nigerian community.

Activities Highlights

• In 1997 Nigerwives Rivers State Branch hosted the Nigerwives National Annual General Meeting of the association. The wonderful Gala night held in the Port Harcourt Shell Club is unforgettable to all our sisters able to attend. The Nigerwives’ Husbands’ Song debuted that evening, written and sung by our member Sophie Amus,and we entertained our guests with a fashion display and dances.

• We hosted the Nigerwives Nigeria Annual General Meeting again this year, in March 2005, entertaining our guests with lots of exotic food, the Husbands’ Song, beautifully performed by the songwriter, as well as brave Rivers State Nigerwives dancing a serene Philipino dance, the provocative Salsa, and our own interpretation of local Riverine women’s dance.…and we were delightfully overwhelmed by the show of appreciation from the guests and our husbands.
  Baerbel led Nigerwives from all over Nigeria on an enjoyable trip to Opobo, her husband's riverine village. Those who went will not forget the boat ride through the thick mangrove swamps and out into wide open river.

• We organise and hold International Nights, Bake Sales, Bingo and Bazaars – all to raise funds for local charity and the Nigerwives Braille Project. We donate to and support the Sisters of Charity in Eleme, who provide an institution for destitute women, and we assist individual disabled children. We are working towards providing more support for the visually impaired in Rivers State.

• We distributed school books donated by the World Bank Book Project to Nigerian schools in 1990. Even though the project travels around the world, each country benefiting once, the originators of the project included Nigeria again in 1991 because of our reports to them.

• In 1991 we invited famous author Gabriel Okara to read from his poetry “Piano and Drums”. During an evening of poems and song at Hotel Presidential, his daughter, sopranist Timi, brought the poems to life in their local language.
  
• We came closer together when we buried Rosemary in the mid 1990s. Rosemary Koroyin was a founding member and our newsletter editor for many years. When a young Polish Nigerwife lost her husband, when the Mamahs died, (both in car accidents), when other sad news has come to us we support and care for each other.

What do we do, here in Port Harcourt?
Well..... we cook, clean, sew, shop, raise children and grandchildren, build homes (quite literally) and all of those things ..... some trade or run businesses, some demonstrate their administrative and teaching skills in all levels of the educational sector. Many of the reputable schools in Port Harcourt have Nigerwives as teachers, administrators and founders. We have Nigerwives providing excellent accommodation and catering in many good hotels and restaurants, as well as members working in oil and gas sector companies, non-governmental organisations and the medical field.

Where do we come from?
All over the world, just as our husbands come from all over Nigeria - we are a very diverse set here in Port Harcourt! That makes life, sisterhood and friendship interesting and we cherish the resulting experience.
We currently have members from:
Liberia Russia Greece Canada
Ukraine USA The Philippines Germany
Italy Jamaica Scotland India
Bulgaria Kenya Switzerland Cameroon
Belarus Spain Malta Australia
Moldavia Croatia Monserrat France
Romania St. Kitts Trinidad and Tobago Isle of Man

If you are the foreign wife of a Nigerian living in Rivers State do contact us.

If you are the wife of a Nigerian travelling to Port Harcourt or anywhere else in Rivers State, or Bayelsa (there isn't a branch there yet) we might be of assistance to you.

Please get in touch:
nwaphcnig@yahoo.com
info@nigerwivesnigeria.com

Useful links:
www.oyibosonline.com - Expatriate Port Harcourt
www.phcityonline.com