November 27, 1965 Portland Observer, Page 9
Freddye Petett reports on Nairobi Women's Conference
b \ Hubert I othian
fre d d y e P e le lt re tu rn e d fro m her
t r ip to the N a ir o b i XX o m e n 's (.'on
lerenee im pressed w ith how litt le is
wasted bs women in A frica
D u rin g a side tr ip fr o m N a ir o b i,
Petett said she witnessed w om en in
a ke n s a v illa g e c u rry in g w a te r fo r
three miles I nder those c o n d itio n s,
"X on d o n 't waste i t , " she said
Petett said she was also impressed
w ith how m u ch tim e is spent bs
women to gather firew isod. the main
c o o k in g fu e l in m ans t h ir d W o rld
countries " f o o d is grow n anywhere
there is a p lo t o l la nd Ihes can take
care o l , " she said
R e tu rn in g to the I n ite d S tates,
Petett said the relative wastefulness in
A m e ric a show ed in s ta lk re b e l
“ How we use water around the house
Iras changed."
I he fo rm e r d ire cto r ot the I rb.in
I eague in P o rtla n d re p o tte d on her
trip in (ills to N a irob i, kensa, in fa s t
Xlnc.i, and Is o is I oast and Senegal
in XX exl M r ic a to a meet in g o ! the
W o rld \ f l a i r s t o u n c il o l O re g o n
Nos 12
I he m ain theme o f the conference
overall, she said, was " t o make peace
a p rio rity issue,” O ne o f the benefits
o t the co n fe re n ce , w h ic h discussed
issues and fo rm u la te d policies a ffe c
tin g w om en th ro u g h the year 2(HM),
she said, was m a k in g c o n ta c t w ith
w om en fro m a ll ose r the w o rld . " I
base them a ll c o m p u te riz e d and I
have ins m ailing lis t." Petett said She
hopes to exchange in fo rm a tio n about
how women plan their tim e and about
d iffe re n t methods o f management in
the various countries
1 he co n fe re n ce was a c tu a lls tw o
c o n fe re n c e s — th e one lo r o f f ic ia l
I N delegates on one side ot N airobi
and another for non delegates on the
other side ot tow n, Petett said
Since she had press c re d e n tia ls
fro m the O re g o n ia n , Petett said she
was able Io a tte n d the o f f ic ia l con
lerenee lo r an a tte r n o o n
She
described the p re se n ta tio n bs t S
delegate M aureen Reagan as disap
p o in tin g " I sen th o u g h th e re are
things le ll to be done, wom en in the
I s are in great s h a p e ," P ete tt
paraphrased the president's daughter.
And regarding illite ra cs. " I n ou r ow n
c o u n try , w e 've got it lic k e d , t h a t ’ s
exactly what she said I hat's the kind
o f in fo r m a t io n o u r d e le g a tio n was
pu tting o u t."
A b o u t hall o f the o ffic ia l delegates
were m en. a c c o rd in g to P ete tt, w ho
said the u n o ffic ia l conference ottered
m o re c o n ta c t w ith in te r n a tio n a l
women
In spite o f d iffe re n ce s, discussion
was reasonable at most o f the dozens
o f w o rksho ps, except to r the one on
Isra e l P a le s tin e , w h ic h had to be
c a lle d o f f w hen a s h o u tin g m a tch
d c s e lo p c d , she sa id . Ir o n ic a lly ,
"S o m e o f the w o rksho ps relating to
peace had m ore tension in them than
o th e rs ," she said
M any m ore w om en attended than
were p la n n e d fo r , so h o u sin g and
g ro u p size were pro b le m s, she said
" I f there was anything negative about
the conference it was th a t there was
never a g ro u p sm a ll en ough so you
d id n 't have to yell across so you could
be heard " A n d there weren't enough
translators, which meant that she only
u n d e rs to o d " a b o u t every te n th
word "
I alkm g to wom en at the conferen
ce a b o u t so cia l services in v a rio u s
countries made her realize the unpor
tance o f c o m m u n ity social services,
fa m ilie s , ch u rch e s an d s c h o o ls , in
s u p p o rtin g y o u n g w o m e n in P o rt
la n d " P a r t ic u la r ly in the B la ck
co m m u n ity it seems to be som ething
w e 've g o tte n aw ay fr o m in recent
years,” she said
Petett said she has one m ore year to
go on het three seat Kellogg fo u n d a
n o n fe llo w s h ip I he fe llo w s h ip has
enabled her to take tunc o f f fro m her
D sear care er in g o v e rn m e n t and
non p ro fit agencies to travel and lake
part in events lik e ttie N a iro b i C on
lerenee She has traveled to M exico,
M rica and Paris as a Kellogg I ellow,
and she hopes to study art in I ondon
Museums during tier thu d veai
P ete tt
has
a lso
s ta rte d
a
m anagem ent co n su lta n t business in
P o rtla n d she is curre ntly reorganiz
ing a city bureau and consulting tor a
political campaign
" I d id leave a career and s ta rt a
new one, at age 4(1 p lu s , " she said
" I he p o s itiv e t ilin g is th a t I d o n 't
have to be in n ig h t m ee ting s any
m o re ."
P assinA rt: A T H E A T R E C O M P A N Y
FREDDYE PETETT
(Photo Richard J Brown)
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