FAWCO Region 4 Conference
by Karen Kelley

The purpose of this conference was to get the FAWCO reps and other club members to share experiences and help and support each other.   It was a great time and really nice to hear from other FAWCO reps, as well as other club members who experience the same things we do J  I stayed with a host family and really enjoyed being able to feel more like a "local" than a business traveler.

Celeste Brown, FAWCO Foundation President and member of the club in The Hague, talked to us about the meaning of Vision + Value = FAWCO.  I never understood until I went to this event.  It turns out it is from the founding vision of 1931 plus the 4 areas of focus (or value) of today.

There were several people who shared experiences from their clubs, including our very own Lisa Williams who shared the online grocery system she has worked on.   There was a very interesting children's program called KAMP whose goal it is to help American children understand and know their heritage shared by Maria Hofmeyer of Amsterdam.   Susan Meyers of The Hague shared their experience on their publication At Home in Holland.  Nicole Rajkumar shared Antwerp's experiences on setting up programs and activities.   Kathleen Doherty from ANCOR wrote up and shared a packet on Care Giving from a Distance.  Kim Harrison and Debbie Buzard of Amsterdam shared experiences and the Support and Mentor Committee they have set up for that area.   And Emily Wingfield of Brussels shared her experience on the Breast Cancer Walk.

We also had breakout focus group sessions for the following topics which will be summarized and sent back out to everyone: Increasing Membership, Encouraging Volunteering, Organizational Structure, and Philanthropy/Fundraising.

Anne van Oorschot FAWCO Environment Committee co-chair talked about the "One Member One Tree" challenge.

Our very own Melanie Salava, FAWCO Education Committee Co-chair, talked about learning differently and the importance of recognition and education on this subject.

Jann Mitchell of Stockholm showed us some wonderful pictures and educated us on the Grandma-to-Grandma project in Tanzania http://www.bibijann.org/ to help Grandmas and kids affected by AIDS.   This is an awesome grassroots project.

Lots of great ideas flew around the room.  One in particular I liked was offering a "Professional Membership" to working members since they are not able to fully participate in events (most being during working hours).