What have I been up to?

We went to Menorca for our summer holiday in June....

 

and we visited our family in Wales in August (where we did a lot of family tree research!) and celebrated seven years of marriage :)

 

And in September I went to Rome for the first time for a FAWCO board meeting - I did have a free day where I managed to get a 'skip the line' tour of the Vatican and St. Peter's Basilica.

FAWCO Conference - Dublin

In mid-March, I attended this year's FAWCO conference, this time as a board member and the Presidents' Coordinator - much more work than play this time compared to Morrocco, Boston and Vilnius.

We had an evening at the Jameson Distillery - where I did the Irish jig in my high heels (not really recommended as my knee required physical therapy for a few weeks following...) another at Dublin Castle.  I was able to take a very short bus tour (about two hours) to view some of the city, but from a moving bus it was challenging to take it all in :) 

Although it was a tremendous amount of work, we did get into Dublin proper and met some wonderful, warm and welcoming folks - including a cop from Cohasset, MA - small world!  It was another fabulous conference, at which I took hundreds of photos which are posted on my facebook page.

Upon my return, I dove into a project for the AWC of The Hague, managing PR for our spring fundraiser, the Hearts & Minds Gala, to raise money for the Lighthouse and Stichting Papageno, organizations supporting children with autism and their families.   The films I created for the event (one to explain autism and the beneficiaries, and one to promote the sponsors and the items donated for the live and silent auctions) are far too large to post, but they came out very well and the event raised over 40,000 euros!

Just a few days after the gala we began travelling - first to the U.S. where I celebrated my birthday with friends and family, visited some more friends, headed to Maine for the Memorial Day weekend and then came back to Holland - and then a week later we left for a holiday in Menorca, Spain.

I'm getting ready to post about our trip to the U.S. and Menorca soon.....!!

Kony 2012

Unless you’re living in a paper bag, you’ve at least heard of Kony 2012. If you haven’t watched the video, it is worth seeing, regardless of what opinion you form, and you will more than likely not agree with its entire message. Is it propaganda? Of course. By definition propaganda is information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. Their purpose is to get Kony.

The film was nine years in the making and is slick, compelling and very powerful. And if you watched the video and didn’t know much or anything about the LRA or Joseph Kony, you probably felt emotional, sad and perhaps outraged - that would be a normal response. And if you know about the LRA, it is still thought-provoking.

Clearly, this campaign has gotten my attention and I've been furiously researching it.

If Invisible Children can get people, especially young people, sensitized to and thinking about important global issues (despite the questions raised about the organization - all of which they've addressed thus far) then power to them. I know that if *any* group devoted to a cause were able to raise the same level of awareness, it would be considered a great success - and no one would criticize it for doing so. Strangely, it is this campaign’s massive success that inspired so much criticism.

Frankly, when I researched the organization's financials (which are all publicly available), and understood their mission and their unique approach, I was satisfied. But even if I weren’t - the fact that at least 70 million people, primarily young people (many of whom had little or no idea of Kony or the conflict in Africa) are now engaged and interested in doing something about it is pretty priceless.

The message isn’t "forward this/click on this" and you will have done your part - but if viewing and clicking is the first step towards getting involved, then kudos again.

Here’s a video from Invisible Children addressing many of the critics' accusations that you might find helpful http://vimeo.com/38344284

During the last couple of days I've posted some recommended viewing and reading on my facebook page - there is a lot of information out there which you can find easily - it is being debated everywhere.

Why Kony and not Syria, or sex trafficking, or cancer, or imprisoned youth? Because this is something with which the creator has a personal connection. Like any social cause, once you truly realize what you’re fighting for, you don’t give up till you win the fight. He has one goal - stop kony.

Jason Russell began the campaign after he and his friends met a young child soldier while on a trip to Uganda and they made a promise to him that they would help him and others like him. He is trying to keep that promise. Good for him.

Oh, and an aside, calling for the prosecution of one of the UN’s most wanted men on charges of crimes against humanity is not supporting military intervention. Does IC support military involvement? I don't know - probably. Could there be a peaceful way to end what's happening? Perhaps not.

Yes, the conflict in Africa is a VERY complex issue - there is no question. And in interviews I have seen with Mr. Russell he absolutely encourages viewers to do their own research. He isn’t suggesting that you simply blindly support the cause before investigating the facts. He recommends that you DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH and make an informed decision. And the critics should do the same. His video presents what he has found and what he wants to share with us.

He admits that the video oversimplifies the situation, but he was trying to get our attention - and he did. The fact that so many watched a 29 minute video when the average YouTube video is about 4 mins 12 seconds tells me he created a compelling message; 29 minutes was certainly a stretch when considering the average viewer's attention span. He couldn't possibly have explained everything and succeeded in getting viewers to stay engaged for the duration.

Most healthy teenagers and adults are unable to sustain attention on one thing for more than about 20 minutes at a time - people are generally capable of a longer attention span when they are doing something that they find enjoyable or intrinsically motivating - so it seems the video is just that. He tugs at our emotions, he wants us to get upset, get involved, do something. However he did it, it worked - as a minimum, we are taking notice and we are engaged - that was his objective.

And now, because of the explosion of the video far beyond expectations, Invisible Children is taking heat. If they’d only gotten 500,000 hits, their original target, we probably wouldn’t be discussing the issue now - but we are. Kudos. Can’t we agree that they are trying to do a good thing??? Yes, there could be consequences we hadn't considered - but no one ever anticipated that this would take off the way it has.

I was upset by this criticism “The LRA is much smaller than previously thought. It does not have have 30,000 or 60,000 child soldiers. The figure of 30,000 refers to the total number of children abducted by the LRA over nearly 30 years.” Someone explain this to me - does this make it any less important???

And this quote really stuck in my craw “It is the right message but it's 15 years too late, " said Col. Felix Kulayige, a Ugandan military spokesman. “If people cared 15 years ago, then thousands of lives would have been saved and thousands of children would have stayed at home and not been kidnapped." Is the implication that we shouldn’t bother prosecuting those responsible because it is in the past?? If we'd had facebook 15 years ago perhaps it would have made a greater impact - but we didn't - but Mr. Russell is using it now in a way that seems positive.

Controversy about the video and the Invisible Children organization aside:

Kony is accused of kidnapping and forcing as many as 66,000 children to fight for the LRA, or to become sex slaves, and of forcing the displacement of more than 200,000 people in a northern area of the country.

Keep in mind that Kony has been criminally indicted by the ICC (*and* that the ICC can *only* charge for crimes committed SINCE ITS FOUNDING in 2002 - Kony became the LRA's leader in 1986/87 so essentially he gets a pass on his first 15 or 16 years of terror). Kony has remained at the TOP of the ICC's most-wanted list.

The LRA's crimes are significant and transnational. Just because Kony has left Uganda doesn’t make him any less wanted, or any less dangerous. The LRA is still active. In December 2009 the LRA massacred at least 321 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The deaths were verified by the Red Cross and Human Rights Watch. Victims were hacked or battered to death, and survivors were made to carry loads for their attackers. At least eighty children of both sexes were captured, the boys as fighters, the girls to be sex slaves for the LRA members.

Kony is allegedly criminally responsible for thirty-three counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility:

Twelve counts of crimes against humanity (murder; enslavement; sexual enslavement; rape; inhumane acts of inflicting serious bodily injury and suffering); and,

Twenty-one counts of war crimes (murder; cruel treatment of civilians; intentionally directing an attack against a civilian population; pillaging; inducing rap; and forced enlistment of children).

But in all these cases there has not been a strong enough international effort to pursue him.

It isn’t all that unusual for people to get behind a charitable cause without doing all their research -- it is also popular to condemn causes which get so much rapid attention. It is good that this has received attention and we are responsible to have an informed opinion.

The video and the ensuing debate has everybody - supporters and critics alike - discussing, fact-finding, debating and talking about an issue that a week ago certainly wasn’t of interest to such a large and diverse audience and not in the awareness of a large percentage of those viewers. It has stirred debate - and that isn’t a bad thing. We're talking about it. That's a start.

I don’t know what the answer is, but if our kids are less interested in Kim Kardashian’s love life and watching funny cat videos and more interested in learning about important global issues, and feel outraged by crimes against humanity, I think we’re headed in the right direction. And this event has made me view social media as more than just a "time suck".

Maybe Kony isn't your priority - and that's up to you. But I hope that doesn't mean that you can just file it away in your mind as something that doesn't concern you.

I never thought they'd catch Whitey Bulger, nor did I think I'd live to see that day that they found Bin Laden - maybe there's a chance that Kony 2012 will meet their deadline - and that wouldn't be a bad thing, would it?

What do you think?

Better late than never...Christmas and more

I've been meaning to get to this post!

In November 2011 I began volunteering at the Lighthouse special education school (see www.lighthousese.nl) and I'm currently assisting with development of their library.

The Lighthouse is the only school in The Hague area that serves international students with special needs using a special program conducted in English. Many students have autism (and autism related disorders) - a condition about which the AWC of The Hague began raising awareness in the Netherlands during the last year.

If you recall, the AWC held our first "Hearts and Minds - Lighting the Way for Autism" gala in May 2011 and we raised 50,000 Euros - 25,000 of which was donated to the Lighthouse (and the remainder to Stichting Papageno, an organization that helps those with autism through music - see www.stichtingpapageno.nl).

In February I attended a lovely appreciation tea that was hosted by the Lighthouse staff for the AWC. With the money raised, the school has been able to purchase much-needed computers, curriculum, assessments, and play equipment. I look forward to this year's second annual Hearts and Minds gala and hope that we are able to make another generous donation to the school.

Christmas 2011
We travelled to the UK in December, stopping to visit close friends in Wycombe on the way, and then spent Christmas in Kidwelly, Wales with the in-laws and we also celebrated Lucy's birthday (Lucy is our 2nd cousin once removed on Alex's mum's side of the family) at a lovely birthday dinner in Swansea.




New Year's Eve 2011-2012
I celebrated New Year's in The Hague with friends, but poor Alex was home suffering from a nasty cold. As always, I enjoyed the insanity in the streets with fireworks in every direction - a bit of chaos for a couple of hours - loud, smoky and just too much fun!

Enjoy!

FAWCO in Berlin - A working trip

The week after the Marine Ball, I headed to Berlin for a three-day FAWCO board meeting, followed by the Region 5 meeting, with participants from all over Germany as well as the board (with members living in Dubai, Saudi Arabia, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Germany and the president of the FAWCO Foundation who lives in England). They are an amazing bunch of women and I'm really honored to be working with them and with FAWCO.

Our board meeting was held in the home of the FAWCO president in Berlin. Our meetings last the entire day and, naturally, discussions continue over dinner.

We were invited to attend a performance by Robin Goldsby, a friend of mine who lives in Cologne. She is a piano player and author of many books about music and combines the two in a very entertaining performance in which she reads excerpts from her books and performs her music (for more about Robin go to http://www.goldsby.de/robin/index.php). We were privileged to attend her performance at the Steinway showroom in Berlin.

We had dinner at a traditional German restaurant where I ate crispy pork knuckle (and beer) and also ate at an Australian joint where I had a kangaroo burger! Although the burger was, well, edible - and I'm glad to have tried it - I wouldn't recommend it over a regular beef burger :)

Oh yeah, we had some more beer - this is Germany after all!


After our board meeting we moved into the city center to the Hollywood Media hotel where the Region 5 (Germany and Austria) meeting was held and attended by 32 women spanning the region. Friends from all over Germany attended and it was such a delight to spend time with such a fun group. Although we had many hours of meetings, we had time for a bus tour of Berlin with special stops at the Holocaust Memorial and the Berlin Wall Museum. It is strange to think that it was only in 1989 that the wall was torn down. We also visited the Ronald McDonald house in Berlin which is strongly supported by the AWC of Berlin. My friend Angelika, a native west Berliner married to an American, and the president of the AWC Berlin, was recently honored by the city of Berlin, as one of its 200 most inspiring citizens. I'm privileged to know her.






That eveing we gathered at the Hard Rock in Berlin to celebrate our friendships and have a bit of fun - and yes, a bit more beer :)

Happy 236th Birthday

This year we attended, for the third time, the annual US Marine Ball, celebrating the 263rd birthday of the United States Marine Corp. It is always a big event, a formal dinner with about 200 guests, including civilians, military personnel (from all branches) and their spouses, employees from the embassy and consulate and other distinguished guests. There is a cocktail hour before guests are seated for dinner, which is followed by a formal military service, led by the most senior embassy official (last year the US Ambassador, this year the US Deputy Chief of Mission) and a somber reminder of marines lost and stories of marines. Both the oldest and youngest marine in the room are acknowledged. After the ceremony there is music and dancing and lots of merriment. It is particularly rewarding to see the young marines enjoying themselves - and always a delight for me to be photographed with them in uniform :)

Many of my AWC friends regularly attend, and it is always a fun evening.

This year we met some new friends and did lots of dancing. At about quarter after midnight our cab arrived to take us home to get to bed in order to be ready for a wine tasting on Sunday afternoon!

What a weekend.

Girls in the Dam

In October, friends from the States had plans to visit Amsterdam, and we caught up for an evening. I know Sheila and Michelle from college, and Hollie is a friend with whom I worked at Midnight Networks. As it turned out, Michelle and Hollie were attending the same conference, although they've never met. Small world



Sheila and Michelle were staying at the Citizen M hotel in Amsterdam - a cool, self-serve, "pod" hotel.



The rooms are all exactly the same, with one very large bed, a shower with a circular, clear glass door, and a toilet, with a circular, frosted-glass door. The concept is an interesting one, and works well - the place was modern, safe, clean, new, comfortable and efficient. The remote operates the lights (including the color), the temperature, the window shade, the tv and the alarm clock. Cool stuff.
This artwork is a bit tough to see, but if you look closely you'll see the artist's depiction of what might be happening in each of the rooms...Sheila was bit shocked when she took a good look! This is Amsterdam, after all :)

We had a late night with a few martinis so I stayed with Sheila and escorted her to the airport the following morning and heading back home on the train.

What a delightful reunion!!!

Two days later I headed back into Amsterdam to meet Hollie. From central station I took a tram to the Leidseplein. As I stepped off the tram I was struck from the left from a full-grown Dutchman who was running past the door at speed. I was knocked backwards into the steps and then fell forward onto the ground. I scrambled away from the tram, afraid that it would move before my feet were clear. I realized that my phone, which had been in my hand, had been knocked away and I bent to look under the tram for it. I think the woman standing in front of me thought I was collapsing. I'd twisted my knee, but was ok - more shaken than anything.

The perpetrator had apparently seen the phone fly out of my hand and had retrieved it. He handed it to me and said something in Dutch, which I didn't understand, but presumed he'd asked if I was ok so I said, "I'm alright, I'm ok, I'm ok" - but he said, "oh, you speak English - just make sure you have everything" - not "geez, I'm awfully sorry, are you ok?"!!! Anyway, moments after the tackle, it was better than ever to see Hollie and give her a hug - and have a large beer!

I'd wanted to return to the restaurant where I'd had dinner with Sheila and Michelle earlier in the week as Sheila and I had both left our umbrellas behind. Nothing that couldn't be replaced - and I certainly own more than enough umbrellas - but retrieving the lost umbrellas would feel like a coup. It was just a few hundred yards away so we headed there. Sure enough, the owner recognized me before I asked and handed me both umbrellas. Certainly we'd thought we'd never see them again - umbrellas the kind of things prime for losing :)

We walked back to the plein and settled down for some beer and a catch-up while we enjoyed the interesting people-watching that Amsterdam offers on a Saturday evening.

Feeling hungry, Hollie and I headed back down the street where the Argentinian restaurant is and considered the menu. And then we walked a bit further to find what turned out to be a spectacular Indian restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious and spicy meal! It was kind of special as, it was Hollie and the Midnight Networks crew that introduced me to Indian food - and it has been a favorite of mine since.

I headed back, not too late, accompanied by about 20 German tourist on the tram, to Amsterdam Central Station to catch the train home. Always a pleasure to see Hollie, always!

Here's a film capturing the fun visits:

Another visit to Brussels

The second weekend in October I took the train to Brussels and attended the Region 4 FAWCO Conference held at the AWC of Brussels in Waterloo. If you're interested in what FAWCO is about and why I'm involved, you can see more at www.fawco.org

As you can see, we mix work with fun but make no mistake, we work hard to try to get some good things done in the world.



The picture above is of the group on the day we learned about the Well Deserved Desserts program, one way our local clubs can raise funds to build wells for the Tabitha Project in Cambodia (http://www.fawcofoundation.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=169&Itemid=137). In about 30 minutes we raised $210 - enough for another well!!!

Here's a video clip for you to think about. In an effort to raise awareness about our Target Water Project and the water crisis our world faces, please take a look at this:




Our goal is to raise $80,000 for the project, and we're now more than halfway there!

What else do we talk about at such conferences? Here's another example of what is important to us:



To see more pics from the meeting, go to my facebook page.

Girls Gone Wild in Paris

Last weekend I met up with my friend Sue (from St. Mike's) and her hilarious friend Mary for a long weekend in Paris. I arrived before Sue and Mary and was delighted to find that our hotel was about 1,000 yards from the Eiffel Tower. The girls arrived a few hours later and we began a weekend of good food, wine and fabulous company. We laughed A LOT!

We wandered around the city to see the Eiffel Tower, Trocadero, the Louvre, Notre Dame, St. Chapelle...what a beautiful city. And the weather was remarkable - sunny and about 80 degrees. I wore shorts for the first time all summer!

On Saturday evening we'd arranged for a package deal that provided transportation to and from the Moulin Rouge theatre, which included a three-course meal and champagne. When we arrived we were escorted to our table - in the front row right up to the stage edge. The dinner was excellent and I can't even put into words how amazing the show was. It included a raised stage that was filled with water - and snakes - into which one of the performers jumped and swam with with the snakes....yikes! There was a ventriloquist that made me laugh so hard I thought I might pee myself!! The dancers, simply amazing. Lots of naked boobs! We were so close to the stage that when the dancers went past, there was a "whoosh" and at times I found myself under a cape or a boa! During one performance, a dancer who was playing a drunk spied our champagne bucket - and when I pulled the champagne bottle toward me, she scowled, so I gave it to her. It was, of course - and to her chagrin - empty - and she returned it. Mary was quite taken with the male dancers, and because we were so close, they were well aware of her. During the next act, from an elevated stage, they looked down and winked at her. The whole show was just extraordinary, impressive - and thoroughly entertaining.

After the show we met a charming couple, Warren and Sally, who were in Paris to celebrate Sally's 75th birthday. Warren, who is 78, was in the US foreign service, and saw Moulin Rouge back in the 50's and was as impressed this time as he was then. Since we'd just been to the show (which has lots of exposed bosoms) the topic of boobs was top of mind for Warren, who prefers the larger sets, but assured me that it is quality, not quantity...

On Sunday evening, Sue's sister, Patty, and her husband, Mark, arrived from Wales and we all enjoyed a fun evening of more food, lots of beer and plenty more laughter. The following morning we all got up rather slowly and headed out to explore more of the city, getting a bit lost in the Metro and making our way to Sacre Coeur and the surrounding areas until I had to catch a cab back to the hotel and another to the train station for the three hour ride back to The Hague. I hated to leave.

It was a simply fabulous and perfect weekend!

I love you Sue and Mary!!!!

A fun birthday

Not much I have to say here - I was able to celebrate my birthday this year with family in the States. We celebrated being together, but very importantly, celebrated being from Boston - early in the Red Sox season, and right at the time that the Bruins were fighting for the Stanley Cup (we were still in town for game 1 and watched it anxiously from the Netherlands upon our return) - GO BOSTON!!!

I can't take credit for any of the pics, as I was busy being the birthday girl - so thanks to my aunt Nancy and hubby Alex for capturing the essence of this very fun day!

Alex bought me a MacBook for my birthday, so it has taken me a bit of time to get out of my PC head and into the ins and outs of the Mac (which I love!) It has some great advantages, particularly where processing and working with my photos is concerned, but it has taken some time to make the transition and learn how to do it on a different platform.

I'll be posting about our trip to Greece shortly!!

Our Holiday in Greece

In mid-July, Alex and I headed to the island of Corfu, Greece in the Ionian Sea (about 100 miles southeast of the heel on the boot of Italy and only about two miles from Albania). The island offers a bit of everything and is stunning. We stayed at the beautiful Grecotel Eva Palace, a romantic and luxurious resort on the Kommeno peninsula. The hotel offered live entertainment in the evenings and it was nice, although we spent most of our evenings out and about. It also had an amazing spa which Alex visited several times and at which we spent one relaxing afternoon having a romantic couples massage.

For the first couple of days, it was time for decompression - lounging by the pool or the beach, reading, sipping cocktails, just enjoying the amazing beauty and perfect weather. During the course of our time in Corfu, we had plenty of feta cheese, lots of lamb, Greek yoghurt with walnuts and honey - and I've been Wii-Fitting like mad since our return as I only used the fitness center once during our stay!

The resort has a beautiful pool area, but also a lovely beach tucked into a private cove. There is really no tide, perhaps a six inch varation in 24 hours. We chose a side of the beach where there were stones rather than sand, which was a bit tough on the tootsies. And for the first time since I purchased a pair of water shoes several years ago (and have yet to wear) I didn't actually *pack* th water shoes :) So we coined the awkward dance across the stones to and from deeper water the "Corfu Shuffle" - well worth the hobbling to reach deeper water where we could float and swim in the very salty Ionian Sea.



Mid-week we rented a car so that we could explore the island - and we did so for three days, driving up along the northern part of the island, through the middle, to the south side and all around. We drove through villages, olive groves, along the beaches and even through the center of a *tiny* village - where the buildings were so close together and the road so narrow that the rear view mirrors actually scraped along the walls! So many interesting places! Corfu, Dassia, Ipsos, Roda, Sidari, Paleokastritsa, Pelekas, Agios Gordis, Agios Mattheos, Agios Georgis, Kavos and more!



We travelled along the north side of the island from Ipsos to Sidari and making our way back across and south through some zig-zaggy roads! We also explored the southern side of the island, making our way all the way Kavos, a resort designed for young Brits (late teens to 30) to spend their holidays. I'm afraid it seemed all a bit seedy and sticky to me, but I'm sure if I was 20 it might have lots of appeal. We continued our journey by way of Korission Lake, Agios Mattheos and Sinarades, crossing back across the island to Corfu and back to Komeno Bay.



We'd planned to use a taxi to get to and from the local towns for the remainder of the trip, and chose first to go to Gouvia, just a five minute drive from our hotel. We happened upon a huge traditional Greek restaurant with live Greek dancing (interactive)! Alex wasn't so keen on trying it, but you know I had to and I found myself holding hands with strangers and dancing both in and outside of the restaurant with about 50 others who enjoyed the experience with me while Alex took videos and photos.








A couple of nights later when we returned to Gouvia we had not only some of the best Tex-Mex Food (no kidding - a placed called "Three Monkeys") that I've had in Europe, we saw the BEST ELVIS IMPERSONATOR EVER! This guy was smooth. He had it all - the body type, the costumes, the voice and the star quality and magnetism. It was a small pub that we'd just randomly chosen for a beer before heading back to the hotel. Several hours later we poured out of the pub having had just a delightful evening of partying and dancing with a friendly group of punters other pub-goers - a smashing good time! We loved Gouvia!

On our last day with the car we drove back up north and spent the afternoon at the beach on Roda and came back via a different route than before so that we could see even more of the island. Planning to return to Gouvia again for another fun night, we were disappointed to find out that the taxis - all across Greece - had gone on strike.

No worries for us, we knew of a restaurant nearby that we'd wanted to try, so we walked just a few minutes and up a very steep hill to be rewarded with a spectacular view and we enjoyed a relaxing dinner overlooking Gouvia Bay. Not Gouvia, but at least we could see it :)

The following day the taxis were still on strike (as they were for the remainder of the trip), so we walked into nearby Dassia. Not a terribly long walk, but it is pretty hot in Corfu in mid-July, so we burned some calories! We wandered around the shops and stopped for lunch before walking back to the hotel - more uphill than down so more caloric burn!

We were almost glad that the taxis were unavailable the next evening becuse the phone-hacking scandal in the UK was all over the news. We didn't want to miss anything and it gave us an excuse to stay in! So we ordered room service and watched all the testimony from the Murdochs and others. It was juicy stuff and quite interesting to watch live testimony to Parliament by such prominent figures.

On our last full day we took another walk into Dassia during the day, cocktails by the pool and a quiet dinner at the hotel's beautiful restaurant and it was an early night before our departure from Corfu.

It was a delightful and relaxing trip with yet more new terrific experiences - simply wonderful.