FAWCO Conference 2011: A Report from the FAWCO (Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas)
Conference in Marrakech, Morocco: 16 - 20 March 2011
Andrea Martins
Morocco: home of wonderful spice markets, gorgeous-colored materials in the Medinas, exotic jewelry, shoes straight out of Arabian nights, buildings ornately decorated from floor to ceiling with the most exquisite tiles, delicious food to shake up the senses... it is little wonder that last month's 40th Biennial FAWCO (Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas) Conference, themed Celebrate Tradition, Embrace Diversity, in Marrakech was so well attended.
FAWCO Fever
I spoke at FAWCO 2011 this year because I wanted to see for myself what "FAWCO fever" was all about. I was not disappointed: such great camaraderie and so many fantastic women - each busy with their own lives, yet still volunteering their time both for FAWCO (which is a global non-profit organization) and also for their local club. Americans and non-Americans, expatriates and repatriates, we were all welcomed when we arrived and inspired by the time we departed.
Conference Schedule
The daily conference schedule was intense as the Board meetings and Annual General Meeting (AGM) reports stretched over several days. But to break up the intensity, there were other sessions as well about FAWCO-specific projects and also about non-FAWCO-specific topics, such as:
Teamwork: Personal Lessons about Partnering in Life, Politics and Diplomacy
By US Ambassador to Morocco, Samuel Kaplan, and his wife Sylvia Kaplan
No Excuses - Why Running is a Metaphor for Life
By Gwen Dellar, AIWC Casablanca, a marathon runner who completed the Marathon des Sables (a 6 day, 151 mile/243 km endurance race across the Sahara Desert in Morocco - getting lost overnight on the way)
FAWCO and US Issues (Q&A session)
By Lucy Laederich, US Liaison, and Mary Steward Burgher, Voting from Overseas Committee Chair
** One very important issue Lucy raised in this session was that if you are an American citizen and you have signatory rights on your expat club's finances, you must report these accounts in your personal tax return. **
Follow the Leader Within: Be the Best of Whoever You Are - Wherever You Are
By Elizabeth Abbott (AWA Rome)
American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center (AODVCC) presentation
By Paula Lucas, Repatriate, Founder of the AODVCC
Investing for Fun and Profit: Understanding the Importance of Financial Planning
By Sheila Ohlund (AWC Zurich)
Morocco and Global Rights
By Stephanie Willman Bordat, Global Rights Maghreb Regional Director
Sustainable Management of Water
By Dr Houria Tazi-Sadeq, the Co-chair of two university programs
And more.
Top 5 Insights from FAWCO 2011
If I were to summarize my top five insights from this year's FAWCO conference, they would be:
1.
We can all shine. What never ceased to surprise me was the number of times I met very lovely, humble women, who would later wow me when they facilitated one of the sessions, or sang or performed at one of our dinners. Time and time again, I would go from thinking "nice woman" to "incredible woman!"
This proved to me yet again, just how much we all underestimate each other. We all have so much potential, that when given the opportunity, we can all really shine... which also speaks volumes about the concept of opportunity.
2.
We can turn negatives into positives. This was indeed one of the themes of my own presentation, as I showcased the stories of a few dozen women from our Expat Women Success Stories and Business Ideas sections who had reinvented their careers after losing their identity by moving abroad.
However, no one at the conference embodied our ability to turn negatives into positives more than American Dianne Reed. On 29 May 2004, Dianne was living at the Oasis housing compound in Khobar, Saudi Arabia, when it was attacked by four al-Quaeda terrorists. Trying to escape, Dianne was shot twice by an AK47 (once in the calf muscle and once in the thigh) and lost a massive amount of blood. Twenty-two people died in that attack. So should have Dianne. Her doctor told her that if she had arrived to the hospital two minutes later, he could not have helped her.
If this would have happened to you, would you have run back home?
Dianne didn't. She was convinced that she was receiving the best medical treatment possible by staying in the Middle East and she did not want the terrorists to "win" by chasing her home. Nearly seven years later in Abu Dhabi, with ten surgeries behind her and the completion of the Dubai marathon to her credit, Dianne Reed is the epitome of the ability to turn negatives into positives.
Dianne did not present at FAWCO 2011 (I met her one lunchtime, through my new friend Tanya Teichert) but she has inspired many audiences over the past seven years and is currently working on a book to tell her story. I applaud you Dianne. It was an honor to meet you and I would love to profile your book once it is finished!
3.
Most of us are so very fortunate. Former critical care nurse in the United States and long-time activist against gender violence, Tanya Teichert (AWC of the Taunus in Germany) presented a very disturbing session, Kicking the Habit of Gender Violence, which made me really sit up and count my blessings.
She shared many statistics and anecdotes. But the statistic that hit me the most was that "one in three girls in America are sexually assaulted" - and these are just the reported cases. (In war-torn countries, the figures are much worse.) One in three? My gosh!
Susanne Hirschberg, Clarissa Hu-Andersen, Clarice Scott, Andrea Martins
My-Linh Kunst
(FAWCO President 2011-2013) and
Sergio Sanchez
(Director of Marketing,
Clements Worldwide)
FAWCO participants
FAWCO participants
FAWCO participant with Kathleen Simon (FAWCO President 2009-2011)
FAWCO participants
FAWCO participants
Moroccan spices
Moroccan street stalls
4.
It is important to remember both short-term and long-term expats. Many of the women at FAWCO 2011, if not the majority, were in fact long-term expatriates married to nationals of their current country. Some of these women met their partners and married in their current country, and some met and married elsewhere but then later (often many years later) moved to their partner's home country to settle-down for the long term.
There are many crossovers in the experiences of short-term and long-term expatriates. But there are also many differences. FAWCO 2011 was a great reminder that neither group should forget the other when discussing all things related to the 'expat experience'.
5.
FAWCO volunteers put in a lot of work. No volunteer organization would operate as effectively as FAWCO if it were not for the tremendous dedication by the many FAWCO volunteers on the many FAWCO committees. This hard behind-the-scenes work, and the volunteers that put in the work, is rarely recognized the way that it should be (within any organization) - but it should be. These volunteers do an amazing job!
Fellowship Award Presented to Clements Worldwide
During the conference, FAWCO's President Kathleen Simon presented a FAWCO Fellowship Award to Clements Worldwide, in recognition of their support of FAWCO over the past fifteen years. Full details here.
Clements Worldwide is a company who puts their money where their mouth is, in terms of supporting internationals - they also support our ExpatWomen.com site, as well as run an annual Expat Youth Scholarship.
To return the goodwill, please visit the Clements Worldwide site if you are interested in learning more about their expatriate auto, health, life, property and other insurance programs. And/or visit their Expat Youth Scholarship site if you are interested in learning more about their annual scholarship program, which gives away US$10,000 shared between six winners. The deadline for this year's program is 13 May 2011.
FAWCO 2011
The stage for next year's FAWCO conference has been announced as Dublin, Ireland. If you are interested in attending the conference and becoming involved in FAWCO, I encourage you to visit the official FAWCO website and/or talk to your local American Women's club.
Final Message
FAWCO, congratulations on your 80-year anniversary! Keep up your great charity work, advocacy, information sharing and community building. You are doing an excellent job - thanks to your fabulous network of committed volunteers - and I wish you all the very, very best!
Andrea
Photos courtesy of Clarissa Hu-Andersen and My-Linh Kunst
Andrea Martins is the Director and a Co-Founder of ExpatWomen.com.
