Lenore Rogers

During all this time, CCLOW was developing in Saskatchewan. With one network in Saskatoon and another in Regina, the organization was growing and flourishing.

Carol: What was the CCLOW Network doing at this time?

Lenore: There was some lobbying going on, but mainly the network functioned for information sharing on issues related to women. It connected women from diverse organizations who were working with women.

It was during this time that the Canadian Committee for Learning Opportunities for Women was researching the learning needs of Canadian women. [This culminated in a report by Janet Willis, which was a turning point in CCLOW's decision to leave the shelter of the Canadian Association for Adult Education and become an independent organization.]

The networking grew; large numbers of women came to monthly noon-hour meetings. Most of the time was spent in sharing information of what was happening for women in the Regina community.

Some participants began to say that the group needed more focus in order to accomplish things. A strain developed between strictly networking and the need to write letters, develop briefs, make presentations: the tasks necessary to support advocacy. Though the information-sharing was exciting and empowering, it was clear that lobbying was necessary and that the network was not focusing on educational issues.

A decision was made to turn the coordination of this network over to Regina Status of Women as a more appropriate umbrella group, so that those particularly interested in women's learning could focus on that. As well, CCLOW members decided to ask their various employers to acknowledge the need to focus on women's learning, by setting up meetings during work hours.

Unfortunately, the network, which was to meet during the evening, never really got off the ground. As usual, the issue of women's time affected this. Some could only come at noon, others only at night ... the information sharing network dwindled.

The active CCLOW group, though considerably smaller than the former network, was a group of women who could justify the time during work. We set goals and focused very directly on education issues and the impact on women.



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