Awards
Advertiser Staff
The Lions Club of Honolulu has named Vickie Essner the Outstanding Blind Person of the Year.
Essner had normal vision until she was 13. Diagnosed with a rare eye disorder at 17, she graduated from high school with honors; received her bachelor's degree, cum laude, in health and physical education, and associate's degree in elementary education; and attended The Adaptive Advantage Point assistive technology center in Las Vegas.
Essner is now self-employed, teaching assistive technology to blind and other visually impaired people. Her goals include obtaining a master's degree in rehabilitation teaching and starting her own business in the assistive technology field.
She credits the staff at Ho'opono, the state Rehabilitation Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, for providing her with the guidance and material needed to reach her vocational objective.
She volunteers at Ho'opono and is a member of the Speakers Bureau for the Guide Dog for the Blind School in San Rafael, Calif.
The Waikiki Soroptimist Club has honored three women:
• Dr. Sue Wesselkamper, president of Chaminade University of Honolulu, who along with the university is being recognized for employment policies, scholarships and grants that support the advancement of women.
The first woman to preside over a university in Hawai'i, Wesselkamper says: "We stress community building and developing the whole person. My purpose is not to change women's religious beliefs, but to have them seriously examine their own values. That leads to a commitment to improve not only their personal life, but to improve their family, their neighborhood and the wider society."
• Esther Lau, who received the Women of Distinction Award for a level of volunteerism that exhibits compassion and selflessness.
A Red Cross volunteer, Lau has applied her skills as a registered nurse and personal manager to help families and individuals in need, both in Hawai'i and in New York, since Sept. 11.
• Manu Ka'iama, who received the Women Helping Women Award for her work with the Native Hawaiian Leadership Project.
Ka'iama, a certified public accountant who teaches in the College of Business at the University of Hawai'i, helps students of Hawaiian ancestry get into college. She asks all students she helps to assist others in return.
Her project pays for Native Hawaiian faculty and graduate research projects and helps support Native Hawaiian students who would need to quit their part-time jobs to do student teaching in Hawai'i's public schools.
Soroptimist International is the world's largest classified service organization for professional and executive business people dedicated to improving the quality of life through community service.
