A Bermudian woman who turned her life around while living in the US told yesterday how she is now helping to empower females on the Island.

Margaret Giloth, president of Phenomenal Women Inc. Bermuda, told the Rotary Club of Hamilton: ?Sixteen years ago, my life was in chaos. I found myself living as if a grey cloud was hovering over me; I just felt like I was going nowhere fast.

?Then I had an encounter with a group of women that set me on a path to doing what I call my ?inner work?. Following nine months of intense effort, I emerged a healthier and happier person emotionally.?

Mrs. Giloth was speaking at the Rotary Club?s weekly luncheon at the Royal Hamilton Dinghy Club. She told the Rotarians how she completed her degree, rededicated her life to God and met her husband Michael after her encounter with the group.

When she returned to Bermuda in 2005, she realised that local women could benefit from an organisation set up by a friend of hers in California in 1998.

She started a Bermudian chapter of Phenomenal Women and had it registered as a faith-based charitable organisation. ?I realised there was something I could do to make a difference,? she said. ?Many women simply need a positive encounter, a hand to reach out to, a shoulder to lean on, a place to gain knowledge and inner strength.

?Phenomenal Women aims to provide a sense of sisterhood and a non-threatening place where women can connect with other women and hold each other accountable for achieving personal goals.?

The group has 35 members and would welcome more. It also needs a headquarters with meeting rooms and a small nursery for the children of the women it helps.

Mrs. Giloth said the organisation was planning to hold workshops to help women gain employment. ?We believe that by providing basic life skills, workforce preparedness and etiquette, basic money management and timekeeping, our trainees will be able to get into viable jobs and raise the standard of their lives.?

Phenomenal Women have ?adopted? a family and are trying to find the single mother and her three daughters a home. ?Housing is a dire need,? said Mrs. Giloth. ?The mother is phenomenal in juggling her roles as parent, worker, provider and student as she strives to better her life.

?This family of four shares a tiny studio apartment and endures numerous hardships. Let us know if you?d like to help make their Christmas bright.?

The group?s plans for 2007 include a tea party, a fashion extravaganza, a banquet, a book-signing event for its US founding president and a trip to California for the organisation?s national conference. In the meantime, members will be singing Christmas carols at a number of care homes for seniors.

Anyone interested in helping or joining the group can visit www.phenomenalwomen.tv, call 734-4034 or email margaretrose07yahoo.com.