Frustration fueled her fire

Sadly, she couldn’t, because she was a woman.

While Mrs Johnston went on to have a fulfilling career she loved as a primary school teacher and librarian, she said she had never forgotten the frustration and upset of the day they told her she couldn’t pursue her dreams.

The Griffith Soroptimist, who is nearing her 27th year of service to the club that makes a positive difference to the lives of women locally and internationally, said her desire to help other women achieve equality stemmed, in part, from that moment.

In conjunction with funding local scholarships for young women to access education, the Soroptimists are also supporting a scheme to reduce infant and maternal mortality in Papua New Guinea.

“We are also helping the females in Nepal, they can’t even get sanitary care and this means once a month these women and girls can’t go to work or to school,” Mrs Johnston said.

Mrs Johnston’s dedication to helping others was learnt early on as she remembered her mother baking fruitcakes to send to soldiers fighting in World War II.  

“I grew up on a farm where we were always helping people,” she said.

Her help with the Soroptimists however, was an unexpected bend in the road.

“I remember the day it all began, I was invited to an afternoon tea and later I was nominated to join – but I knew nothing about it,” she said.

From that surprising beginning Mrs Johnston quickly went on to become president of the club and later regional president of the Riverina, going on to travel to Malaysia and to Indonesia in her role.

However, for her the most moving part of her time was not the travel or the success but the female friendships forged over the years. 

“When we get together we are like a lot of old hens we all have so much in common and we are sisters, the best sisters, which is what the word soroptimist means in Latin,” she said.

“We work hard and I am very proud of what we do - and to think it all goes back to that afternoon tea.”