Tuesday, October 19 10:00-11:30 a.m. Eastern Time Via Zoom Webinar We hope you will join us to meet many of the fascinating and impressive 2021 winners of the Secretary of State Award for Outstanding Volunteerism abroad (SOSA) and the Eleanor Dodson Tragen, CCE-EFM (Champions of Career Enhancement for EFMs), and Dorman Awards. The winners will speak about their volunteer work and their inspiration, and audience members will be invited to type in questions. The discussion will be moderated by AAFSW President Lara Center and SOSA Chair Patricia Linderman. The volunteer work of the 2021 winners includes support and advocacy for exploited migrant workers in the Middle… Read More
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FBS Outing to the Carlyle
The AAFSW Foreign-born spouses group organized the first in-person tour after the pandemic. Special thanks to all 16 EFMs that participated in visiting the Carlyle, a historic mansion in Old town Alexandria. During the outing, we learned about the Carlyle family and their traditions. Followed we took the city trolley that took us to Via Volcan shop an EFM family-owned business where we tasted her own family farm coffee. Finally, we enjoyed lunch at a local restaurant.
Continue ReadingMartine’s Must-Reads for October 2021
1 – How to Avoid a Clarity Disaster By Bill Gates Bill Gates has spent a decade investigating the causes and effects of climate change. With the help of experts in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology, engineering, political science, and finance, he has focused on what must be done in order to stop the planet’s slide to certain environmental disaster. In this book, he not only explains why we need to work toward net-zero emissions of greenhouse gases, but also details what we need to do to achieve this profoundly important goal. He gives us a clear-eyed description of the challenges we face. Drawing on his understanding… Read More
Continue ReadingLetter from the President October 2021
Happy October! It’s starting to feel like fall in the DC area. How is the weather where you are? I’m excited to share with our members the outcomes of two initiatives. First, I want to thank everyone who filled out a survey in May. AAFSW received over 400 complete surveys. Over the summer, Ann La Porta, the AAFSW FORUM Chair, and I analyzed the data. There were over 100 pages of written comments. That section proved to be the most fruitful. AAFSW will use this information to better plan for the future and determine how best to advocate for you! Be sure to read Ann’s article in this month’s Global Link, with more… Read More
Continue ReadingForeign Affairs Community Survey Report
In May of 2021 the AAFSW Forum Committee sent out a survey to members of the foreign affairs community designed to determine what is important to members of the community we serve. The survey invited all active and retired members of the community plus adult family members and members of household from all agencies including military under Chief of Mission authority to respond. During the two weeks the survey was active, 402 completed responses were received. Over the summer Lara Center, President of AAFSW and Ann La Porta, Chair of the Forum Committee, read over 100 pages of written comments and distilled them into areas that AAFSW could work on… Read More
Continue ReadingGuided Tour of the Dia De Muertos Altar, Nov. 9 at the Mexican Cultural Institute
AAFSW cordially invites you on Tuesday, November 9 at 11:.00 am, to a fascinating exhibition at the Mexican Cultural Institute’s annual Day of the Dead Altar One of Mexico’s most famous events. This well-known community event features an intricate altar. In 2003, UNESCO proclaimed Mexico’s “Indigenous festivity dedicated to the dead” as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. Before European contact, death for the Mexica and other Indigenous Peoples was not seen as final. Death was the place of silence, of regeneration; it was a natural part of life. Día de los Muertos uses skulls and skeletons as symbols. Because it’s called Day of the Dead in English, the assumption by many… Read More
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