Women learn about Rwandan school

About 100 guests gathered recently at the home of Malanie Knight to learn about Akilah Institute for Women, a Rwandan school co-founded by a Tampa native.

Women & Wine featured a presentation by Elizabeth Davis, 26, daughter of Cody and Beth Davis, focusing on the school in Kigali, Rwanda, and the nonprofit organization behind it.

Davis said the event was to thank those who have supported the school, which opened in February; it also was to recruit volunteers for an Oct. 1 event. At that time, two students from the inaugural class of 50 young women will be in Tampa.

Davis, a graduate of Berkley Preparatory, left for Rwanda after graduating from Vanderbilt University.

In 1994, almost 1 million people were killed in genocide in the African country.

"I still haven't been able to wrap my mind around the devastation," Davis told guests.

When the genocide ended, 70 percent of the country's population was female, she said, adding "they were rape victims, widows and caretakers of orphans."

She said the country began to recover and now focuses on becoming an eco-tourism destination with major hotel chains opening there.

Akilah's first program of study is geared to hospitality, with skills including leadership development as part of the curriculum.

"Careers in the hospitality area are very prestigious in a country where 80 percent of the people are in agriculture," Davis said.

The presentation also included a video of South Tampa resident Ged Caddick, owner of Terra Incognita Ecotours, taking some of the students to see gorillas in the nearby forests.

Women & Wine guest Luanne Ferguson has traveled to the school, which is in a rented facility but will have its own campus within the next two years.

"I was so taken with her commitment and moved by what grew from a vision," Ferguson said.

For information about Akilah, go to www.akilahinstitute.org.

Ribbon-cutting set for today

SULPHER SPRINGS - Officials from Hillsborough County and the school board will participate in a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the new Sulphur Springs Partnership Library at 10 a.m. today.

The event, at 8412 N. 13th St. is free and open to the public.

This library is a joint project between the Hillsborough County Commission, which provided almost $1.3 million in funding, and Hillsborough County public schools, which provided construction and oversight.

The new Sulphur Springs Partnership Library allowed the Sulphur Springs Elementary School's media center to be expanded by 3,500 square feet. The library opened March 1.

Meetings group installs board

NORTH TAMPA - The Tampa Area Chapter of Meeting Professionals International installed its 2010-11 board of directors at a recent annual awards gala at Busch Gardens.

The board members are Jason Carroll, director of sales and events at The Florida Aquarium, president; Irene Caban, director of marketing and sales, Eventions of Florida, president-elect; Terri Jeffcoat, client services coordinator, The Suncoast Institute at Suncoast Hospice, vice president of administration; Linda Elland, president of A2Z Meetings & Events, vice president of education; Michele Schilling, sales manager of Visit St. Petersburg/Clearwater, vice president of finance; Diana Vann, chief creative officer of The Type-Writer, vice president of communications; Jill Manthey, vice president of sales for Yacht StarShip Dining Cruises, vice president of membership; and Margaret Williams of Pizzazz Meeting & Event Planning Group Inc., vice president of strategic alliances.

Other board members are Devon Murray, director of marketing for the A La Carte Event Pavilion, director of special events; Lovelynn Jensen, director of sales for Grand Events of Florida, director of leadership development; Angelika Spahl-Wing, manger of GAL Meeting Services, director of professional development; J.C. York, director of client services for Wise Guys Interactive Entertainment, director of public relations and community outreach; and Patty Metcalf-Sobczak, director of national accounts for the Don CeSar Beach Resort, director of member care.

Foundation adds board members

TAMPA - The Friends of Joshua House Foundation recently added new members to its board of directors. They are:

•Melanie Bavol, a past hostess of the Friends of Joshua House Circle of Friends Dinner Benefit

•Kim Frey, HOK Florida, where she directs finance, office operations and human resources

•Kathryn Hughes, a Hillsborough County public school teacher

•Randy Lay, chief financial officer of Lazydays RV Center