AWC Going Dutch May June 2021

Slate of Officers (cont.)
Continued from page 23
Clubhouse Administrator – Monica Rodoni:
Buongiorno! I am originally from Italy, but have been an
expat all of my life including my childhood, so you could
say I'm a “fake Italian.” I have been lucky enough to have
lived in various countries, from Asia, the Middle East, the
Caribbean to Europe. I have always been part of an international
ladies group as I find it my home away from home
and it can be a great support group. I can even remember
my mother volunteering me for various activities in her
groups when kids where needed, so you can say I have always
been part of something. I studied hotel management
in Switzerland in the oldest school in the world and that
is where I met my husband. After a short stint in the hotel
business, I decided to go into conference and trade fair organizing,
and I continued this for many years and in many
different countries. After becoming a mother and not wanting
to travel as much for work, I went back to my first passion
– food and cooking – and this is where I’ve stayed. I love giving cooking classes.
The pandemic has given me the opportunity to do virtual classes, which I really enjoy.
However, I can’t wait to open up my house and kitchen to in-person classes and to sit down
and have a great meal together, as I am true believer that food brings people together. I look
forward to meeting you all in person at the Clubhouse soon.
Communications – Lesley Gerrese: My husband and I
happily settled in The Hague in June 2020, and we’re thrilled
to be here. We’ve had many international relocations over
the past 30 years with a few more to come, but meanwhile,
each stopping point becomes our home. I’m a former Texas
lawyer, having taught law and trained lawyers in English
writing, and have taught English to children and adults in
several of our postings. We have two sons, born in Paris and
Dubai, who now live in the US. I come from Texas and my
husband, John, is from The Hague. I joined the AWC in Fall
2020, looking forward to getting involved, attending events,
going on tours and making new friends. COVID-19 slowed
that down, of course, but I was impressed by how the Club
continued to offer fun options. Now in 2021, the number of
“virtual” weekly activities has grown exponentially―we’re
unstoppable! It’s very exciting. It is my hope and pleasure
to get involved, and to contribute to AWC communications
and social media platforms. I look forward to spreading the word, both within the Club, so
that all Members are aware of the fun options and feel involved, and to the greater public
so that others may also discover this great welcoming Club.
Club and Community – Open
24 GOING DUTCH
FAWCO Corner
by Molly Boed
Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, a United Nations NGO with
consultative status with the UN Economic and Social Council
www.fawco.org.
Reflections After Six Months
in the Role of FAWCO
Representative
In March, I attended the FAWCO 2021
Virtual Biennial Conference and am happy
to report that I am motivated and more
knowledgeable in my role as our AWC
FAWCO Rep. The conference was refreshingly
full of easy-to-access and interesting
information. Very crucially, I was able to
navigate Hopin, the online platform they
used for the conference, to hear the excellent
speakers and to view the events over
the busy four-day agenda. I am pleased to
be learning more about what this charitable
extension of our Club accomplishes
through working with the many other affiliated
clubs around the world. On another
hand, attending this conference also laid
bare that I still need to learn so much more
about FAWCO and get more involved in
their various and important global issues
and charitable projects before I can claim
even to have scratched the surface of this
fabulous organization.
I learned more about one US issue recently
when a Member contacted me with a
question and I realized that I needed more
information to answer such varied questions
about being an American abroad.
Thankfully I have fellow AWC Member,
Roberta Enschede, and former AWC
Member and current FAWCO US Liaison
Johanna Dishongh to guide me.
As FAWCO Rep, I can help those of you
who are interested in applying for an
Educational Award for you or your kids, or
to help a local charity who needs funding
apply for a Development Grant, or assist
Americans who have voting or tax questions,
as well as be a guide for those of
you who would like to get more involved
in FAWCO’s various global issues or charitable
projects. Stay tuned for more articles
delving into what FAWCO does and how
our Club can contribute to the various projects
and initiatives.
FAWCO’s current Target Project 2020-
2022 is Project S.A.F.E.: Safe Alternatives
to End Female Genital Mutilation in
Tanzania. (See the Jan/Feb and Mar/Apr
2021 issues of Going Dutch for more information
about Project S.A.F.E.)
When the decision was made to postpone
our Club’s traditional big fundraising event
for the Target Project, the much loved and
anticipated Handbag Auction―we are still
hoping to host this in person in September―
it was very clear that as long as we were
still restricted from getting together in-person,
we needed to come up with creative
and fun ways we could fundraise for the
Target Project online. Since “thinking outside
the box” and doing events online is not
my strong suit, I was thrilled to meet fellow
AWC Members Carin Elam and Minal
Rajan and hear some of their unique ideas
to fundraise online. I have now learned a
lot more about computers and fundraising
despite myself!
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