JEDDAH, 31 October 2005 — A group of Filipino electrical engineers has joined the growing Toastmasters movement in Saudi Arabia, becoming the 8th club in Jeddah.
The new club is known as the IIEE-WR Toastmasters Club, the initials standing for the Institute of Integrated Electrical Engineers’ chapter in the Western Region of Saudi Arabia.
Chapter president Jerene Talam said they joined the movement to give their members another avenue for personal growth.
“The mission of the IIEE Toastmasters Club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning experience, in which, every member has the opportunity to develop communication and leadership skills, which in turn, foster self-confidence and personal growth,” Talam explained.
Elected officers of the new club for 2005-2006 were Ric Amper, president; Edwin Apacionado, vice president for education; Jose Marion Baloran, VP for membership; Raymond Rivera, VP for public relations; Rowell Andres, secretary; Quintin Arellano, treasurer; and Octavio Vera Cruz, sergeant-at-arms.
The club meets every first and third Wednesdays of the month at the headquarters of the PSME-WRSA Toastmasters Club, composed of members and friends of the Philippine Society of Mechanical Engineers in the Western Region.
PSME members helped their cousins in the IIEE organize their own club, said Nilo Lucena, the incumbent governor of Area 24, which groups four clubs in Jeddah, including the IIEE and PSME.
Lucena, who holds the rank of CTM, or competent toastmaster, is a member of the PSME chapter and club.
Ben Guerra, a CTM who is the current governor the Toastmasters’ Division G, welcomed the entry of the IIEE into the movement and encouraged other professional and civic groups to form their own clubs or join the existing clubs.
“We know of many engineers, accountants and other professionals who used to have difficulty communicating or who cannot speak in public until they joined the Toastmasters movement,” he said.
In addition to learning skills in communication and public speaking, members are also given a crack at developing their leadership potentials.
“We now have eight clubs in Jeddah area, including one in Yanbu. Feel free to join any of these clubs,” said Guerra, addressing his call on members of all professions and nationalities in the Kingdom.
“If you happen to be in Riyadh or the Eastern Region, there are also plenty of Toastmasters clubs there. Shop around and join the club that you feel comfortable with,” he said.
Guerra’s Division G is composed of Area 24, the Riyadh-based Area 22 which also has four clubs, and Area 11 which comprises three clubs in Jeddah and a fourth one in Yanbu.
Guerra is the founding president of Tanglaw, the first-ever Toastmasters club in Jeddah, which has among its members Filipino, Saudi, Indian, Sri Lankan, Pakistani, American, Kenyan, Turkish, Ethiopian and Canadian nationals.
All clubs are registered with the California-based Toastmasters International, founded by Dr. Ralph C. Smedley in 1924, which now has over 10,500 clubs and more than 211,000 members in approximately 90 countries.
