Details on the above events can be found in the Event Calendar section of the WACA website: www.waca.org/events. Other packages currently being planned by Member Clubs will be uploaded as they become available.

53rd Annual General Assembly (AGA): The 2020 Interline Celebration

Programme

An exciting comprehensive five-night package based in the 5-Star Meliá Bali has now been prepared for the 53rd AGA scheduled to be held from 18–23 October in exotic Bali “Island of the Gods” Indonesia. Almost everything in Bali has a spiritual meaning. The middle of Bali is dominated by dramatic volcanoes of the central mountains and hillside temples such as Pura Lempuyang while the tallest peak, Gunung Agung, is the island's spiritual centre. On Bali you can lose yourself in the chaos of Kuta or sybaritic pleasures of Seminyak and Kerobokan, surf wild beaches or just hang out on Nusa Lembongan. The choices are endless.

A detailed brochure and a registration form can be found in the Event Calendar section of the WACA website: www.waca.org/events.

Pre- and Post-AGA Tours

A Java Grand Tour commencing in Jakarta on 11 October will take in the impressive Borobudur Buddhist Temple Complex amongst many other stunning sites as well as outdoor activities at Mount Bromo and Ijen with its network of volcanoes. The tour will conclude at the Meliá Bali on 18 October.

The post-AGA tour will be to the “Land of the Dragons” and The Lesser Sunda Islands from 23–29 October. The tour will include a cruise around the Flores Archipelago and a visit to the Komodo National Park to see the famous Komodo dragons.
N.B. Members who wish to participate in the pre- and/or post-AGA tours must also attend the 53rd AGA package.

Comprehensive brochures about the pre- and post-AGA tours will be available in due course.

Grand Venture Bonanza

Member Clubs

Member Clubs are reminded that when individual members of their Club renew their membership, they should also be requested to buy tickets for the Grand Venture Bonanza to generate revenue for the Association. Clubs requiring tickets for this purpose should order them from Headquarters and sell them as soon as possible as the first draw is tentatively scheduled to be held in March.

Members-at-Large

Members-at-Large are also actively encouraged to purchase Grand Venture Bonanza tickets for a chance to win one of the great prizes that will be available this year. Tickets cost USD 1.00 each so simply send a cheque, money order or bank draft for the number of tickets you require to WACA Headquarters.

A list of graciously donated prizes will follow in due course.

Can your Club, or you as a Member-at-Large, donate a prize to assist WACA in 2020? All prizes big or small will be greatly appreciated.

WACA Facebook Site

The WACA Facebook site now encompasses just over 550 interliners from all parts of the world. WACA Representatives of Member Clubs are reminded to ensure that all members of your respective Club are told about this social media way of communicating. This is the best communication tool to attract new, young, members into our Association so your cooperation to advise all your members about the WACA Facebook site will be greatly appreciated.

To be accepted as a “friend” on the site, you have to be affiliated with an airline or related industries as well as with WACA. The administrators of the Group page will allow for healthy and constructive two-way exchanges of communication and ideas. It is, however, at the discretion of the administrators to determine which posts are inappropriate and those which must be removed: www.facebook.com/waca.hq?hc_location=timeline.

WACA Relief Fund — Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation

WACA President, Maga Ramasamy, received the following letter at the end of December:
Dear Maga,

I have some great news! With 2019 coming to a close, I'm pleased to share with you a few major highlights of the past year.
Blue Dragon is working in Vietnam to end human trafficking and to make sure every street child is safe. Together with you and our partners around the world, here's what we've achieved since the start of 2019.

We have rescued 107 victims of human trafficking from China; all female, and all trafficked for sexual exploitation. One of these rescues included a case that has taken two years to find the young woman and get her to safety. Altogether we've now rescued more than 900 people from slavery, and in 2020 we expect to reach a milestone of 1,000 rescues.

Blue Dragon worked with the Vietnamese government to ensure legally enshrined protections to victims of crimes. Now, when any person is the victim of a crime, the law is clear that they are entitled to legal representation. Previously this was not the case.

Throughout the year, we met 85 children on the streets of Hanoi and offered a place to stay while we helped them either get back to their families, or find safe long term accommodation.

The number of tertiary students receiving scholarships from Blue Dragon has now reached 100, which means that we are supporting 100 young adults attain a university education, along with another 598 children in school. This is all thanks to sponsors around the world sending a monthly gift - thank you!

In one of the remotest regions of Vietnam, Blue Dragon built a boarding house and classrooms for primary school children of ethnic minority communities who live too far from school to travel each day. Now they have safe, clean accommodation to stay in through the week. Big thanks to our friends at Roll'd for making this possible!

Blue Dragon's lawyers represented 27 people in 18 court cases around the country, with a 100% success rate of sending human traffickers and child sex abusers to prison.

And in November we marked 15 years since we started working here in Vietnam. You might like to read this article that shares some behind-the-scenes facts about the organisation and our history.

Maga, all this is possible because of people just like you: people who believe that if we work together and make the effort, we can change the world!

While these are some key achievements of the year, there are a few trends and developments that you may be interested to know of.

There's been a noticeable shift in public sentiment on the issue of child sexual abuse. A topic that was largely taboo a few years ago is now right out in the open. And that's leading to real change. This year, Blue Dragon was involved in two cases of children in rural areas abused by their teachers; in both cases, the teachers were convicted and given heavy penalties.

Increasingly, the young people we meet in situations of slavery or homelessness on the streets suffer from mental health issues. Right now, for example, Blue Dragon is assisting two women we brought home from slavery in China, neither of whom has any memory of who they are or where they are from.

We've had some great success this year in finding job placements for young people as they come of age and join the workforce. During the year, we helped 46 teens and young adults secure great jobs as bakers, baristas, chefs, hairdressers, make-up artists, and mechanics. Each of these young people came to us in a state of crisis - including 16 who we rescued from slavery - so starting a job is a significant milestone in their lives, and requires a great deal of support, preparation and care.

Sometimes it would be easy to feel overwhelmed by all the problems of our planet - the trafficking, the gloomy news of climate change, the political fights that dominate our news. But there's also real reason to hope. These few examples of achievements throughout the year remind us that change does happen. It often starts small, even with a single person, and grows from there.

We're all part of that change - you and I. Thank you for your part in rescuing Vietnamese kids in crisis and creating the long term change needed to keep children safe, wherever they are.

And now - here's to a great year to come!

Sincerely,

Michael Brosowski

Founder

Blue Dragon Children's Foundation

Yours in interlining,

Keith Miller

WACA Administration Manager

World Airlines Clubs Association

Tel.: +1 438-258-3243

Fax: +1 514-874-9200

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.waca.org