Welcome to 2012 one and all

It is great to be in contact with you all again and I hope we can work together through 2012 and improve the lives of others across the world, and especially across the South Pacific.

Women Walk the World’ 29th April 2012
Have you all made arrangements for your participation in this great event. Not only is it an event to raise much needed funds for ACWW, but it is also a great opportunity to provide greater awareness of the work we do and the work we can do if we have further assistance.

I will attach a few documents to this newsletter and I hope they will assist you with your organisation for this momentous day.

These documents will be:-

1. Imagine
2. Women of the World- a poem written by a speaker at the Conference in Arkansas which is a lovely piece of verse for all to read.

Could I ask that any sponsorship received on this day be collected and transferred to the Area President’s Account by 31st May 2012? All monies will then be sent to London with notation of all money received from each society.
You will have all received the December mail out with a number of items which you should all be aware of, take notice and maybe take action.

1. Board and Executive meeting minutes
2. Circular 1- Nominations for Officers and Specified Committee Chairmen.
3. Circular 2- Call for resolutions and recommendations.

Item 2- As you would all be aware every position on the Board is open for nomination each Triennium. A person can serve two terms in each position (i.e. 6 years) but cannot serve more than 4 terms on the Board. All voting societies will have received the appropriate documentation and information on how to nominate a person for a position.  These are very specific instructions and if not carried out correctly, the nomination becomes invalid.  They MUST be sent in the envelope provided. If you wish to make a nomination, please carry out these instructions carefully.

Item 3- Member societies can send a resolution and/or a recommendation for consideration for the agenda at the Triennial Conference.  Please give due consideration to topics for this agenda and again follow the criteria set out in the papers forwarded to your society.

The booklet for the South Pacific Area in Tonga has been completed and is, at this moment, at the printers. These booklets will be posted to all attendees and to all societies in the Area. I am hopeful that this will happen before the end of March, 2012. I have some lovely photos of the preschool children in Tonga receiving the goodies from the Conference so if you would like some of these photos, just let me know and I will email them to you.

Chennai, 2013- I hope many of you have already decided to start saving to attend the Conference in Chennai.  I have had some discussion with a travel agent and it seems the approximate cost of a 12-14 day trip prior to the Conference will cost in the vicinity of $3.500.  This includes the airfare to and from India as well.  It does not include the cost of registration for the Conference nor does it cover the cost of accommodation for the conference.

I would really like to have some idea of people who would be interested and I ask that those who might be able to attend please make contact with me just so we can work on numbers.  This tour would be available to all members of all societies in the South Pacific.  Flights can be arranged from various cities with the Area as the preliminary pricing was NOT done with a Group booking where everyone has to leave at the same time and from the same place.  This gives everyone more flexibility with their travel. If you could contact me by the end of March would be great and I will then be in touch with further information when it comes to hand.

I have recently attended a very well organised International weekend with CWA of NSW and will travel to QCWA International weekend in March. I will attend the CWA of NSW Conference, which is the 90th Anniversary Conference in Sydney in May, and also the CWA of Australia Conference in Hobart in August.  I have then been asked to visit some branches in Victoria on my return from Hobart so my calendar is filling up nicely for the year.
If there are any Island societies who have an impending project and would like some assistance, can you please let me know so that I can pass on information to other societies who are always looking for projects to work towards? New Zealand Rural Women are particularly looking for a water project to assist.

That is all for now, so please members, please attend to the above mentioned matters and also keep in touch with your needs and expectations.

Cheers for now

Ruth Shanks Area President

Hello everyone,
It’s newsletter time again and I have quite a lot of information for you and some items for your attention. I would like to say a special thank you to all those who attended the South Pacific Area Conference in Tonga.  It was a great success and I hope we can continue with the good work, which was achieved at the conference.

• Thank you also to all the societies, who made donations to assist us to get the Pacific Island women to the conference.  All societies were represented except the Solomon Islands so I believe this was a credit to you all.
  
  
• The conference booklet will be sent out early in 2012 so all Societies and all attendees will receive a copy.
  
  
• Following the Conference I stopped off in New Zealand and through the courtesy of Rural Women New Zealand and WI in New Zealand, I travelled through the South Island on  meet and greet trail.  Thank you to all those who offered me hospitality and also a special thank you to Jeanette Tarbotton for her capable driving and hospitality at her home.  I hope I was able to provide some feedback about ACWW activities and instil some enthusiasm for the work we do.
  
  
• I then was only home for a short while and travelled to London for the Board meeting. This was a very productive meeting and much positive work was achieved with a lot of positive thoughts as to the future of ACWW.
  
  
• The restructure of the office staff is proceeding well and we look forward to working with the new staff and keep everyone up to date with procedures, etc.
  
  
• Women Walk The World:-  this is our major effort for 2012 and I hope that everyone is enthused about the concept.  It is very much a locally owned project and societies, branches and/or individual members need to “own” the product and carry out their own sponsorship, promotion etc as befits for your own area.   I will attach a sponsorship form to this newsletter so that you can print as many copies as you would like to enable your members to attract their own sponsors.  I would like all money raised to be sent to me be 31st May 2012, so it can be sent to London in one lump sum.  I will acknowledge each and every donation when the funds are sent to London.  I did hear a rumour that the Rural Women New Zealand are going to figuratively attempt to walk the length of New Zealand!! This is a challenge for all to try for.
  
  
• There are societies who have asked for an updated ACWW Constitution since the conference in Arkansas. As there had to be some alterations made to the Constitution with regards to resolutions at the Conference and also changes which were required to be made to comply with UK Charity Laws, this has not been completed as yet.  The Constitution Committee which was set up by the Board in 2011 has been working diligently on this task, and as you can imagine, it is not an easy one. I will keep you up to date with what transpires and at the moment, you need to transpose the 2010 changes into the copy which you have.
  
  
• At the Board meeting, the Area Presidents had a small amount of time for discussion as we felt this was not enough, we requested that at each future Board meeting, room and time be made available for the 9 Area Presidents to informally meet and discuss Area activities and maybe have some constructive input into the functioning of the Areas as part of ACWW. This we felt, was a way of further cohesive activities on a world- wide basis.
  
  
• I would remind you, at this time, all positions become vacant at the World Conference in Chennai in 2013. Each position is only for one term, i.e. three years, and then the position becomes vacant. This is the time you need to be thinking about who is the best person for a position and if there is a person in your society who would be able to fulfil that role.  Each person can only nominate for one position so much thinking needs to be done and then, of course, the person needs to be asked if they would like to be nominated for the position.  Nominations will be called for probably in the first half of 2012 so put your thinking caps on and hopefully find someone to nominate.  PS I will finish my second term as your Area President so am not able to stand for this position again.
  
  
• We are continuing with the foreign currency collection and if you have any further funds then let me know and we will arrange collection. 
  
  
• Stamps are also continuing to be collected and sold and this is raising extra funds for the work in the SPA.
  
  
• I am working on a Project submission form for the Area and this will enable those societies who are looking for funding to fill in the appropriate form with all details and a budget and these will then be available for Societies to pick up on a special project.  This will also enable us to follow up on the projects and monitor them as well.  There are much better checks and balances on the monies we send to the societies if the funds can come through the one Area account.
  
  
• I am having discussions with a travel agent at the moment, re the proposed tour in India prior to the World Conference.  This was mentioned at the Conference in Tonga and I will have some further information shortly.
  
  
• CSIRO- I will attach a newsletter from the CSIRO girls from the Conference in Tonga and this will update you as to what is happening with the report.

I would like to wish you all best wishes for the coming festive season and I hope that you, your families and your societies have a happy and prosperous 2012.

Ruth Shanks Area President

Hello everyone

My last newsletter was in March this year and since then I have had a very busy time, so sorry for the delay.

Some major activities have taken place since March, my visit to Townsville, Queensland to take part in the Queensland Country Women's Association's (QCWA) International Weekend. QCWA are studying East Timor this year and it was a very interesting weekend. As part of this study QCWA are hosting two ladies from the Alola Foundation, in East Timor for 2 and a half days on their return journey from the Conference in Tonga.

I also attended and spoke at the CWA of NSW State Conference in Nowra in early May and from there I went to Auckland, New Zealand to attend the Annual Conference of Rural Women, New Zealand. It was great attending the different society conferences to learn how different, but how alike, our societies were. I would like to thank the President and members of Rural Women New Zealand for making me feel so welcome amongst them.

I then travelled south through the North Island, hosted by members along the way and visited a number of different branches, finishing up in Wellington before flying home. Thank you also to all my hostesses and my drivers who looked after me very well.

Other points of interest and some that require attention:

• The Conference in Tonga: All plans are going very well and I look forward to welcoming over 200 delegates, partners and observers to the tiny Kingdom of Tonga. The organising committee, capably led by Mona Lisa, are attending to every detail, and I know they will extend the wonderful Tongan hospitality to us.

• I have sent out a leaflet called ‘Tonga Talk’ and I hope that all attendees receive a copy. This just gives a few housekeeping details about the Conference.

• VERY IMPORTANT- shortly State offices and as many members as I can contact with email will receive a copy of a questionnaire developed by the CSIRO, in consultation with myself. This is a questionnaire which can be downloaded, completed on line or printed out and returned to the CSIRO. Full details will arrive with the questionnaire. The CSIRO are sending two representatives to the Conference in Tonga as they are doing some research into the effects Climate Change will have on women and families, especially in the South Pacific. They are also interested in having your male counterparts i.e. husbands, sons, etc fill in this questionnaire. They will be hosting two workshops in Tonga and require some of this information prior to the conference. Please contact me if you have any further queries.

• All societies are given a time of 10 (ten) minutes to present their reports to the Conference. This report can be either in verbal form or in PowerPoint form as we will have electronic facilities available. I would ask that the Australian and New Zealand societies keep their reports to their International work and we must keep to the time frame, PLEASE.

The island societies may report most of their activities but again ONLY 10 minutes. If I can also have an electronic copy this would be useful for Heather when preparing the Conference booklet.

• “Women Walk the World” This is the project I have been speaking about and it is intended that on 29th April, 2012, members from all societies across the world will walk at approx. 10.00am. This means that for twenty four hours, women supporting ACWW will be walking across the world. This is intended as not only a promotional exercise, but also a fund-raising episode for “Pennies for Friendship” Please start preparing for this wonderful promotional exercise. Even if you only walk around the block, across the street or even do a major walk, it will mean we are all in it together.

• “Help Women Help the World” -We are continuing to collect our foreign currency and I know that CWA of NSW has cashed in quite a number of kilos of coins. I would like to be able to present the results of this to the October Board meeting and maybe this idea can go around the world. If you find that you do not have the 20 kilos required, perhaps some of your members coming to the conference could split the coins and bring them to Tonga. We can organise a bulk collection on our return. If you happen to be travelling through Sydney on your way to Tonga, the coins can be left at the CWA of NSW Club.

• For those of you who are looking for the Constitution of ACWW, remember that at the Arkansas Conference it was passed that all references to ‘Council’ were to be removed from the Constitution. This is being done by the Ad Hoc Constitution Committee and will be presented to the October Board meeting. As soon as this is okay, we will get some copies so that they can be sent to you. Maybe it could be placed on the website so it can be downloaded.

• Central Office has moved down a floor at Mary Sumner House and after this upheaval, things are now getting back to normal. There have been some staff changes and rationalisation of positions, but these are all being carried out to improve the efficiencies and costs of running ACWW, as was requested at the Triennial Conference in Arkansas all is certainly going well.

• I am very pleased to acknowledge donations from societies to the sponsorship fund to be able to have a representative from the Island Societies, at the Area Conference. At this stage we look like having the following representatives in Tonga:-

1. Alola Foundation, East Timor 2

2. Jiwaka CWA, PNG 2

3. Highland Women’s Assoc, PNG 1

4. RWDI, PNG 3

5. Tuvalu 1

6. Kiribatis 1

7. Catholic Womens’ League, Fiji 7

8. Catholic Women’s League,Samoa 1

9. East Timor (CWA Vic Sponsor) 2

• Wollondilly Group, which is part of CWA of NSW has made a magnificent donation of more than $800 to this cause, and most of it raise through collecting 5c coins in small jam jars. It is amazing how it all adds up..

• I still have South Pacific Area pins for sale and I will take some to Tonga. We have made a profit of more than $900 and I have approximately 800 left so if you would like some more, please let me know.

• Now I know it is early, but I finish my term as the South Pacific Area President at the 2013 Triennial Conference in India. Nominations will be called for about March/April 2012, so it is time to get your thinking caps on and work out whether you would like to stand for this position. It is a great job, frustrating at times, but the experience is unique and is overwhelmingly satisfying when you can see the benefit of the work ACWW carries out right across the world, but especially what we do in the South Pacific.

Well, that’s all for now folks and I will continue with dotting the i’s and crossing the t’s in conjunction with the Tongan ladies, for the wonderful South Pacific Area Conference we are going to have in September .

Best Wishes to you all

Ruth Shanks,AM South Pacific Area President