On Wednesday, Sept. 30, more than twenty members of Integris Credit Union, their families and one very special guest. Rose Gatakaaa Kithinji gathered at the Cariboo Corn Maze for a wrap up event. Rose is CEO of a credit union in her home country of Kenya and a member of the Canadian Co-Operative Association Women’s Mentorship Program (CCAWMP) which sponsors women managers of credit unions around the world to come to Canada and job shadow and share information with Canadian credit union women.
Kithinji arrived in Prince George Sept. 24 and spent the night there with Joan Burdeniuk, Integris Credit Union manager of Corporate Responsibility and also branch manage of Fort St. James. Burdeniuk has also travelled around the world with the CCAWMP.
On Friday Kithinji joined the Integris Credit Union board of directors for the yearly strategic planning session before travelling to Quesnel to stay with Kim and Brian Matthews in their home as a guest.
On Saturday she had her first visit to the Quesnel branch before heading off to the Farmers’ Market then to Bouchie Lake’s Harvest Festival (a Culture Days event.) It was off to Barkerville on Sunday where the group took in a Theatre Royal show before knuckling down Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday job-shadowing with various members of the Quesnel branch staff to get a feel for what they do and share how it is done in her credit union in Kenya.
As Kithinji was heading back to Ottawa on Thursday where she’d re-connect with the other members of the group who has spent time in other credit unions across Canada, hosting a send-off party at the Cariboo Corn Maze seemed like a good plan.
Beginning with a walk through the famous corn maze, Kithinji then settled down to a traditional hotdog roast before taking a wagon ride around the large Yorston’s ranch.
As the sun was setting and the bright fall colours were fading, the group gathered by the bonfire before heading home.