The amalgamation of clubs from different international boundaries of Toastmasters International took place on the virtual platform during the time of the Global Pandemic on 2nd June 2020, which was organized by toastmasters from Mauritius, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Nepal. The meeting started precisely at 7:05 pm NPT with an opening address by the Sergeant at Arms Moon Pradhan, DTM, Area A1 Director and the Division Director-Elect for Division A, District 41.
The meeting was Presided by Nikki Quinn, DTM District Director of District 74 (Southern Africa), Suman Shakya, DTM Division A Director from Nepal, Toastmaster Kavish Ramful, President of Port Louis Toastmasters Club, Mauritius and His Excellency Honourable Mr. Pradeep Shrestha, Honorary Consul of South Africa to Nepal. The theme of the meeting was Transcending Boundaries, which was well put by DTM Nikki as a fantastic opportunity to be virtually at different countries due to the lockdown, and DTM Suman mentioned that the Pandemic brought along difficulties and opportunities to connect with fellow members globally. His Excellency Honourable Mr. Pradeep Shrestha said, “Live with the hopes and take up the challenges and go ahead.”
The meeting started with welcoming the guest, and the agenda was shared by DTM Ravin Lama, a member of Port Louis Toastmasters Club, Mauritius, and the initiator of Toastmasters in Nepal (1991).
The first speaker was Toastmaster Sharuna Doyal from Mauritius, who was giving her speech on “Bullying the bully.” The second speaker was Toastmaster Viola Dondo from Southern Africa, who delivered a speech with the title “Dynamic Leader.” Viola, a passionate Toastmasters, loves traveling and is very adventurous, kicking herself with high adrenaline activities. And the third speaker was Toastmaster Seema Glochha from Everest Toastmasters Club, Nepal, who was delivering her 30th speech from the special occasion speeches manual with the project objective of accepting an award with dignity grace and sincerity with the title “ETM Award Ceremony.” Seema is a Toastmaster since 2009, and she is a housewife turned Comedian and Ventriloquist.
Next was the Table Topics session, which was interestingly presented by TM Bikash Raj Giri from Prabhu Bank Toastmasters Club. The first topic was, “Opportunities comes but do not lingers,” which were promptly taken up by TM Neha Amatya from Nepal. The next topic was “Action speaks louder than words,” which was taken by TM Melwyn Madelon from Mauritius, and the last topic was “Leadership does not depend on age,” which was finally accepted by TM Tsitsi Mpofu from Zimbabwe respectively.
Finally, the third section of the meeting took place in the form of the General Evaluation session lead by DTM Dorothy Chanakira from Southern Africa.
General Evaluator gave an excellent review of our meeting, and said that this was the first time that she had attended a joint Meeting across three continents. She commented on all the role players and mentioned that she had a lot of learning from our meetings, such as the toastmasters background on virtual online meeting, comprehensive report of the Grammarian and Ah Counter, and the ambiance of the meeting which transcended boundaries was all commendable.
There was a total of 160 participation at its peak, out of which 120 were toastmasters from 10 countries – Mauritius, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya, United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Cambodia, Singapore and Nepal from 23 clubs globally.
DTM Moon Pradhan adjourned the meeting, who thanked one and all in making this meeting a grand success. The joint meeting finally ended at 9:10 pm NPT with a group photograph by TM Santosh Raj Pathak.
Chandrayan P. Shrestha, VPPR, Bodhi Toastmasters, Area A1 CGD
Published in Inkspire Issue 4. Click here for the full newsletter.