Branching Out Far Beyond Brunches

Hundreds of impeccably dressed women stood in line chatting, waiting to get into the season's first meeting of the International Women's Club. Many knew each other and the greetings that September day were loud, friendly and mostly in English. Others were new to Moscow and stood by quietly, like kids on the first day at a new school.


Across the street, near the Mercedes and BMWs that had squired many of them here, a small crowd made up of their drivers and passersby also gathered, staring unabashedly at the foreigners.


Even today these women, who are among the club's 1,600 members, stand out in Moscow, although less so than when the club was founded 17 years ago as a social outlet for wives of the diplomatic corps.


Increasingly, however, the IWC and other clubs for foreign women, which were once focused inward, are growing and turning their attentions to Russian social problems. And one club, the Professional Women's Organization, is including Russian women and tackling the problems career women face in a sexist climate.


Chana Winer, a Moscow-based psychologist, called women's clubs a "lifesaver" because they give isolated women something worthwhile to do and an opportunity to get together with other women. Winer said she often works with women who have come to Russia for their husband's work and feel trapped. Diplomats and employees of big companies stationed in Moscow often lead what Winer calls "fishbowl lives."


"Many of the wives are isolated," Winer said. "They left behind friends they could talk to. Here, the need is to make everything look like all is wonderful. Many big company employees live in close proximity but there are still social barriers. The wife can't confide in her husband's boss's wife."


"Many women worked before they came here and feel a loss of identity," Winer said. "For women who have been fighting for some kind of equality, it can be an uphill battle. Being in Moscow throws you back 20 years into the mold of being a wife and mother. Womens' rights here have a very long way to go."


Donna Howard, president of the PWO, said, "Getting recognition as more than a potential mother and homemaker here is hard."


"The idea of a career is new to many women. There's not even a Russian word for sexual harassment," said Howard, whose group is one of the few, if not only, clubs serving both Russian and American women.


The 40-member PWO meets the first Friday of each month to network and talk about the frustrations and joys of the working world. The club also co-sponsors an awards ceremony that honors women in business. And, it is starting a mentor program for Russian women who want to get involved in a specific career.


While the primary function of otherclubs is still as an anchor for foreign members, many are becoming more involved in charity work. One reason is the relaxation of government restrictions -- in Soviet times foreigners were not allowed to do charity work. Another reason is the tremendous growth of the foreign community.


With more than 70 members, the IWC's biggest interest group is a charity called Action for Russia's Children. Last summer, ARC was registered in Britain as a charitable organization by its president, Jill Blonsky, a Briton. Almost all of the fundraising efforts of the IWC help the ARC, which, among other activities, has paid for Russian children to have six medical operations abroad.


"We are here to help the casualties of change in Russia -- the people falling through the net," said Blonsky, who came to Moscow three years ago because of her husband's work. "Our dream is to set up a rehabilitation center for kids with Down's Syndrome and cerebral palsy."


Ira Malhotra is corresponding secretary of the IWC and also one of the 50 members of the Indian Women's Club. Her husband, an embassy counsellor, and she were stationed in Moscow from 1982 to 1985 and returned in 1993. She said that when the club was started shortly after Moscow's Indian Embassy was founded in 1948, its main purpose was as a place for wives of embassy staff to get together.


But increasingly, charity work has become a larger function of the group. This year, the club turned its focus to Moscow's Church of the Red Village, which plans to open a home for elderly women in January. With the help of corporate sponsors, the Indian Women's Club plans to donate washing machines and refrigerators, Malhotra said.


Among womens' clubs serving different nationalities, the American Women's Organization, founded about five years ago, is the largest, with some 200 members. Its charitable activities include the partial support of a Moscow orphanage and three soup kitchens.


President Andrea Bates said one of the group's principal social functions is to provide a place for American women simply to talk. "Americans are friendly and like to talk a lot."


Other clubs, like the British Women's Club, which was started three years ago, still serve a purely social function. Kate Vicic, the club's president, said that with only 30 members it is smaller and more informal that the IWC. "The International Women's Club is very big and can be a little anonymous," Vicic said.


Professional women, too, can feel lost at the large groups. Donna Howard remembers her arrival in Moscow and going to a meeting of the IWC.


"It wasn't the young, career-oriented people I was interested in meeting. Also their meetings are during the day, so those of us who work can't go. It's hard to meet people with the same goals, ideals and schedules," said Howard, an American working at Price Waterhouse. "I was asked three times within 20 minutes, 'What does your husband do?'"





To join, call: American Women's Organization, 155-7544; British Women's Club, 932-7027; Indian Women's Club, 290-6341; International Women's Club, 956-9992; or Professional Women's Organization, 290-5653.