3
January 2020
Happy
New Year
On behalf of the WACA Council, I wish all WACA members and their families
a Happy New Year. May 2020 bring good fortune and happiness to all of you. This
new year ushers in new exciting international events including the 53rd AGA to
be hosted by WACA in Bali, Indonesia. In addition, other interesting events
this year will include The Silk Road 2020 hosted by WACA as well as the Grande
Festa, the Passarola Golf Cup Tournament and the Passarola Tennis Cup
Tournament all being hosted by the always active Interline Club of Portugal.
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