President Mary McAleese of Ireland, Prime Minister Helen Clark of New Zealand, President Tarja Halonen of Finland, Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany, President Cristina E. Fernández de Kirchner of Argentina.
Indeed, women are busy trailblazing these days. And while Hillary Clinton conceded defeat to Barack Obama, she got the glass ceiling littered with 18 million cracks on it.
But women who aspire to break the glass ceiling need not look farther.
There is the indefatigable Rhia Rita Y. Abalos, our very own true-blooded Kagay-anon, who today will be formally inducted as the first lady district governor of the Rotary District 3870. In assuming that very prestigious office, Ms. Abalos becomes the 10th elected Filipina Rotary governors since the worldwide service organization admitted women into its fold in 1987.
In breaking the glass ceiling -- the invisible and artificial barriers that prevent women from going up in organizational ladders, Ms. Abalos combined unflinching generosity, inspiring leadership and relentless determination to achieve organizational goals.
These qualities exuded all around her when she first joined the Rotary Club of West Cagayan de Oro and became her mark that fellow members in the club made her their first lady president.
Now at the helm in one of the most dynamic Rotary districts in the country, "Rhe", as she is affectionately called, trains her eye on civic initiatives that would make this year's Rotary theme within reach: "Making Dreams Real."
"It's a tall order, there's no question about that. But with a committed Rotary community, we can reduce the rate of child mortality in the world by focusing on the Rotary emphasis on water, health, hunger and literacy," she says, referring to the specific programs set by Rotary International President-elect Dong Kurn Lee.
Ms. Abalos is married to the late Dr. Pedro Abalos. They have six children and eight grandchildren.
She is currently president of the Cagayan de Oro Medical Center. In this position, she follows the footsteps of her deceased husband, a brilliant and compassionate medical practitioner, who was the hospital's first president. (Press release)
