During a whirlwind visit to Bermuda this past weekend, Pilot International president Lily Tatafu Moore presided over the inaurgural session of the Island's first Anchor Club -- junior arm of the women's service organisation.

Pilot, whose name means `leader' and `guide' and whose volunteers promote awareness of and raise funds for brain-related disorders, was formed in Georgia 76 years ago.

Mrs. Moore was born in the Tonga Islands but at the age of only 20, she travelled alone to the US to complete her education. Now an American citizen, she said she felt completely at home in this "beautiful Atlantic island''.

During her stay here, which has included meetings with the Governor and Premier, she has also visited the Alzheimer's Unit at King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, and `Arcadia', the communal residence established by the Bermuda Mental Health Foundation, both of which have received support from The Pilot Club of Hamilton.

When current local president Shirley Brown represented Bermuda at the group's international convention in Hawaii this summer, she extended an invitation to Mrs. Moore to visit Bermuda. Having also met up with lawyer Peggy Kett, who was named Governor of C.O.E.D. (Clubs Outside Established Districts) and Claire Perry, designated a representative of Pilot International Foundation, Mrs. Moore said that even before arriving in here, she realised the Bermuda club had "great potential''.

"Shirley is a fantastic president and I was thrilled at Peggy's appointment to the international body,'' she said. "I am very attuned to the global aspect of what Pilot is trying to achieve and I would like to see some international leaders emerge out of Bermuda. It's overflowing with talent and expertise and I'm not going to let them say `no'.'' Mrs. Moore noted, too, that since Pilot is also dedicated to training professional and business women for leadership roles, the establishment of the first Anchor Club in Bermuda was a natural progression. The club has been organised by faculty advisor Tina Fountain at the Bermuda High School for Girls and caters for young people from 11 to approximately 14 years of age.

"We perhaps take the contemporary role of women a little for granted,'' observed Mrs. Moore, "but I wish I had known those 40 pioneering women in Macon, Georgia, who got together to form Pilot at a time when it was still very unusual for women to have careers of any kind. Now,'' she added with a wry laugh, "it's the complete opposite -- most women are involved in the business or professional world. This means that people have the money but seem to have less time to spare for volunteer work. I tend to believe, though, that lack of time is not really a statement of fact, but a statement of choice.'' Asked how she became interested in the Pilot Club, Mrs. Moore said that, in fact, it took a friend more than a year to get her along to a meeting, "because I was so busy in other women's groups. That was in 1985 and as soon as I joined Pilot, I became completely involved.'' One of her initiatives since being elected president was to appoint a task force to research the future thrust of Pilot's interests. "The field of brain disorders covers a very wide range -- it could include anything from Alzheimer's to drugs and alcohol, or accidents -- so there may be a case for concentrating our efforts in a particular area of brain-related problems.

There is some thought that we need the kind of identity that Lions enjoys with its `Eyes' project, for instance. Personally, I should like to see us target children or young people.'' Overall, Mrs. Moore says her strategic plan has identified four main areas to be surveyed and researched between now and the year 2000. "These are service and community issues, membership and growth -- if we are to survive we need to attract new members. Then there is education and training, as we have to train our leaders to be effective..., and, finally, there's the question of visibility. Pilot does tremendously good and wonderful work but there's a feeling that we are not visible enough compared with other service organisations in the community. That has to be rectified.''