FAWCO Update -- February/March 2005

Region 5 spricht deutsch

FAWCO’s Region 5 grew by extending east to Austria, resulting in a total of six clubs, including the five German clubs: AWC Berlin, AWC Cologne, AWC Düsseldorf, AWC Hamburg and AWC Taunus plus our Austrian club AWA Vienna. It seemed logical since we all have one key point in common: the German language.

Twice this year we had the opportunity to meet in person and become friends, friends who unpretentiously ask questions and share experiences and join in projects.

The first meeting was in March at the Interim Conference at The Hague. Although the conference program kept us busy in all directions, we did find time to meet with FAWCO reps and club presidents. A suggestion for future conferences was to provide a fairly quiet meeting place to enable clubs to meet by regions and have a set program, so that attendees can ask questions and share topics and opinions and plan serious regional joint work and projects.

The second regional meeting took place in September in Düsseldorf. It was indeed a weekend of Bridges to Loving, Learning, Sharing and Caring, the theme of Region 5’s meeting, hosted by the AWC of Düsseldorf. Paulette Fagen, president of the AWCD, the Planning Committee and the members of AWCD presented an excellent and unforgettable meeting from start to finish. In all, the compact program with highly valuable information, the presentations with heartwarming depth of concern and often very personal messages, and the pleasure and joy for eyes and ears at the concert during the German-American Day Celebration at the Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum followed by a “feel-right-at-home” potluck supper, displayed the true sense of FAWCO spirit. For more information, also click here.

There was a 100% attendance of Region 5 clubs including 17 official delegates, 70 AWC Düsseldorf members and seven additional presenters. We did find time to discuss our individual club work and plans; however, more time could have led to more complete solutions.

The largest project the region will need to support in a true team spirit is the upcoming Interim Conference in Berlin in 2006, March 2-6, plus an exciting post-conference trip. We are proud our AWC Berlin is courageous enough to plan this important event, especially since it will be the 75th anniversary of FAWCO conferences. The first conference took place in Berlin in 1931. Angelika McLarren, the AWC Berlin president, will introduce the Berlin plans at the Birmingham Biennial Conference.

Each club in Region 5 has been very productive with activities within the clubs and within the local communities, and it is exciting to hear about the ambition and results from this work. Some topics, however, are the same for each club: the improvement of networking, increasing membership, paying dues, fund-raising and recruiting volunteers. Here joint regional work could save time and effort. Besides these “basic topics”, one proposal discussed was a possible joint “Regional Philanthropic Project”. The latest tragedy in Thailand, Indonesia and surrounding countries show the long-term need for support. Following the immediate support given by, e.g., FAWCO’s Emergency Relief Fund, there are proposals for individual sponsorships of schools, children care projects, etc. We will discuss this within the region and the clubs and see what can be done.

We continue to exchange newsletters, sending them to the presidents or FAWCO Reps, thus informing each other within the region.

Breast Cancer or World Peace?

At the upcoming 37th Biennial FAWCO Conference in Birmingham, U.K., March 17-21, delegates from 33 countries will approve goals and guidelines for the next two years. Called Resolutions and Recommendations, they are the answer to “What do FAWCO’s 17,000 members stand for?”

Looking back, we can evaluate how the AWC of Hamburg applied the Resolutions & Recommendations, which were approved at the Stockholm conference in 2003, to club life. They dealt with the rights of women and children, education, health, working rights and conditions for Americans living abroad, environmental awareness and world peace. They were our guidelines for two years, giving us goals to choose for our club activities. Of the many recommendations (see the complete list on www.fawco.org), some are more relevant to the abilities and the size of the AWCH at any given time. However, I feel we chose some key goals, which our members supported with sincere interest, and we can be proud of the results.

Resolutions & Recommendations	AWCH Activities in 2003-2004
Disseminating basic information on legal and employment rights of foreign women in host countries.	We published information in Currents and the AWCH website about taxes, driver’s licenses, voting, and a letter on tax laws.
Supporting efforts to protect women and children in abusive and conflict situations.	The AWCH donated funds to Amnesty for Women to support counseling and guiding women in situations created by trafficking and immigration on false promises.
Promoting special programs for literacy training of women and children and supporting job training programs.	Funds to Amnesty for Women also provided language and job training for trafficked women in Hamburg.
Continuing to contribute to educational needs, especially for dual national children.	Published Children’s Corner and other articles in Currents and the website, children’s play groups, and Christmas and Easter parties.
Publishing information on the control of breast cancer.	Highly informative workshop on breast cancer, written information in Currents, advice for cancer patients.
Continuing to organize voter registration campaigns and encouraging easier overseas absentee voting.	Very active in Voter’s Registration Drive with high resonance by voters, consulate, etc. Over 150 voters registered by club members, follow-up survey given to Election Assistance Commission in Washington.
Continuing to monitor citizenship issues.	Members from Illinois encouraged congressmen to ratify the ERA.

As a club, we perhaps neglected the areas of environmental issues and world peace, although many members worked privately in these areas. New goals for 2005-7 will be available in March. Let’s chose some good ones and really make a difference.