By Brenda A-R

I’ve got the fever and I hope it is contagious! I was so grateful when my name was called as the winner of the FAWCO raffle at the AGM! I said to myself that was a sign that I should go to Marrakesh. Later, our Board voted and thought that it was important that I attend so I quickly signed up and bought my plane ticket. I flew and roomed with Tracy to double the fun without doubling the cost. We had a great time and here are a few of the many things I would love to share with you.

FAWCO was born eighty years ago to assist Americans living abroad. The goal at the time was to “…aid women whose citizenship rights were being ignored or restricted.” Today there are two facets to FAWCO: one is the side of the organization that champions issues important to Americans living abroad, such as taxation, voting, citizenship for us and our children, among many other crucial topics. The other side of FAWCO is known as FAWCO Foundation. This piece of FAWCO serves as the charitable wing and is committed for the next two years to working toward clean water initiatives.

FAWCO is crucial to all Americans living abroad in Germany or anywhere else in the world. I was taught by my parents that voting was a privilege not a right, and I have voted in each and every election as a result. I owe my ability to vote from afar largely to FAWCO. Did you know you must re-register to vote every year? I am grateful for FAWCO because this effective organization continues to fight for voting rights, taxation issues, and many other imminent issues for all of us living abroad.

In addition to all the FAWCO initiatives, updates, and the Board vote we also had a chance to meet others in our region (Germany and Vienna) and other clubs around the world. We discussed our fall regional meeting set to occur in Berlin this year. If you are interested in coming to that meeting, please talk to Tracy or me. All club presidents in attendance participated in breakout sessions in which I gathered and shared many of the ways to improve our already phenomenal club. We discussed everything from holiday bazaars and financing to membership drives and ways to increase involvement. Certainly, this networking was invaluable and it was not limited to only the scheduled meetings; we shared ideas over breakfast and lunch and much of the time we were together. In one of the breakout sessions I was asked how I would describe my club and chose one word: DYNAMIC! We are a dynamic group of women that vary in age, religion, backgrounds but share one goal: the commitment to keeping the spirit of America and its traditions alive while living abroad. I plan to use the many inspirational ideas I gained from this unforgettable conference to keep this DYNAMIC club great and to make it even better!

Originally published in the May/June 2011 issue of Currents, Vol.XXVII No.3 "Travel"