 |
| In
the photo, I’m holding the two certificates for the FAWCO Development
Grants that were awarded to the two projects nominated by AWG – Mentawai
Boarding School in Indonesia, and Growing Guayule to Fight AIDS and
Provide Bio-fuel, a/k/a Condoms, Cash and Cooking Fuel, in South Africa. l to r: Sue Rich, Kim, Maggie, Orla and Cerese behind | | | | |
The month of March was very full of AWG activities, so I suppose not many members had any energy left by the 30th
to attend the post-FAWCO conference tea. One of the members who did
come wondered if there was more participation last year because so many
members had attended the conference, but I don’t think that was the
reason. I’d like to think that everyone read the articles in the April
newsletter about the FAWCO Interim Meeting and other FAWCO
announcements, and thus felt they didn’t need to attend the tea to learn
anything more. Or they watched the videos I posted on the AWG Facebook
page. But of course I’m joking. I know exactly who has already looked
at those videos on Facebook. But the rest of you don’t know what
you’re missing.
Since
four of the five ladies at the post-conference tea had already seen the
FAWCO in a Nutshell video at the Bordeaux Regional meeting last
October, there was no sense showing it again, but we did watch the video
The Girl Effect; The Clock is Ticking, in preparation for the new
Target Project, Empowering Women and Girls Through Skiills and
Education. And we watched the FAWCO 80th and 85th
anniversary video compilations of photos from conferences over the
years, as well a video of this year’s Interim Meeting made by one of the
participants. (The board has decided to show the FAWCO in a Nutshell
video at the AGM in June.)
At
one of the meetings for FAWCO Reps at the Interim Meeting, a suggestion
was made that one way to impart information about FAWCO is to put slips
of paper in the teacups at a meeting, and on each slip of paper, write a
fact about FAWCO. These are the nine facts I prepared for the teacups
chez Kim:
1
- The Federation of American Women’s Clubs in Europe was formed in 1931
by seven clubs: London, Antwerp, Amsterdam, Berlin, The Hague, Vienna
and Zurich.
2
- The first conference was held in Berlin in 1932. Paris delegates
attended. A Constitution was drafted, and Caroline Curtis Brown,
President of the American Women’s Club of London, was elected President.
3
- In 1936, at the meeting in Copenhagen, Shanghai attended as an
observer, inspiring the name change to The Federation of American
Women’s Clubs Overseas. The FAWCO acronym was adopted in 1937.
4 - In 1949 at the conference in Copenhagen, it was decided to hold Biennial Conferences.
The first Interim Meeting was held in Rome in 1960.
5
- The FAWCO Foundation was established in 1968, and the first Grant was
made to victims of the Lisbon flood. The first FAWCO Foundation
scholarship was awarded in 1971.
6
- An Associate Member Club category was created in 1975 for those
groups with a large non-American membership. AIWC Genoa was the first
Associate Club. In 1985 Associate Clubs were granted the same voting
rights as Regular Clubs.
7
- In 1982 the Interim Meeting was opened to all club members for the
first time. The first Interim Meeting outside Europe was held in
Casablanca in 1986. The first Conference in Africa was held in 1993.
8 - In 1987 there was a Disaster Relief Fund for victims of the Mexican earthquake.
In 1994 FAWCO applied for NGO status with the UN.
In 1997 FAWCO was granted special consultative status to UN ECOSOC
9 - In 1997, in Dublin, the President of Ireland, Mary Robinson, was the first head of state to speak at a Conference.
Several of these items led to further discussion.
I
also brought along the books by FAWCO clubs and members that AWG has
purchased for the lending library, and one of them was borrowed after
the meeting. The books are:
- Beyond Borders, Portraits of American Women from around the World, photographs by My-Linh Kunst, Essays by Charlotte Fox Zabusky (our own Carol Mimran is one of the women featured in the book)
- Learning
Without Boundaries; breaking down barriers that surround the education
of learning-differently people at home and abroad, by Susan Van Alsenoy
- Subtle Differences, Big Faux Pas; test your cultural competence, by Elizabeth Vennekens-Kelly
- Waltz of the Asparagus People; the further adventures of Piano Girl, by Robin Meloy Goldsby
Please
let me know if you would like to borrow one. Robin Meloy Goldsby’s new
book, Manhattan Road Trip, will be available on April 6th.
It's a compilation of short stories about several colorfully unique
musicians—and what happens to them outside of their stage lives. It's a
funny, poignant and engaging book—showing us the quirky, challenging
lives of musicians in Robin signature style. Robin is Julia’s mom, and
Julia was with us at the post-FAWCO conference tea last year.
I
also cited the various FAWCO e-newsletters and bulletins, and the
possibility of subscribing to them via the FAWCO website. I
particularly recommended the Environment Bulletin, but here is the list:
e-newsletters with general FAWCO news
The FORUM: semi-annual official news magazine
Connections: FAWCO President’s quarterly message (Letter from Headquarters)
FAWCO News in Brief (NiB): monthly newsletter for FAWCO Reps and all others interested
News You Can Use (NYCU – not to be confused with any universities in New York City): The FAWCO Foundation’s newsletter
e-bulletins with special interest news
UN Issues
UN Liaison Bulletin: bulletin from the UN Liaison with information and updates on UN issues and NGO activities
Global Issues
Education: bulletin on global education issues
Environment: bulletin on global energy, conservation issues and climate change (usually full of interesting information)
Human Rights:
bulletin addressing the work of FAWCO’s Human Rights Task Force (AWG
is often mentioned, thanks to our activities with regard to the 16-Day
Campaign, One Billion Rising, Join Me on the Bridge)
Target Program:
bulletin providing a regular update on the FAWCO Target Program (AWG
is also mentioned for its regular contributions to the Target Programs)
US Issues
US Liaison Bulletin:
bulletin from US Liaison with the latest Washington updates on the
American Abroad Caucus, voting reform, citizenship issues, taxation,
banking and other ongoing legislative issues
US Tax & Banking: bulletin on US tax and banking issues affecting American living and working overseas
I
you have any questions about FAWCO or the Interim Meeting, or how to
log onto the FAWCO website, or sign up for e-newsletters and bulletins,
I’m only an e-mail away.
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