Dear fellow AWCB members,
As usual, so many things have been going on these past weeks and months.Happy memories such as the last very popular Birthday Party held at Cecile’s home when we celebrated Kristen’s 50 th birthday!! Not to mention last week’s trip to Bastogne with Marianne as the most fabulous guide ever found and then the walk to see the Bluebells!! And of course our wonderful Hearts team still so enthusiastically sewing pillows twice a month, now with TWO hospitals to support!
Some sad news with quite a few members stopped by diseases or surgical operations. Hopefully Spring will help to bring back good health to each one and also to each of you.
At this time of the year, the important news is the annual FAWCO meeting. This year is held in Malta with lots of sunshine…. Sea, sand and sun!! Although there was so much to work to do that only ours eyes saw the sea, sand and sun. We greeted “Monica Jubayli”, the former FAWCO president who lives in Lebanon. She and her club members keep us updated, each day, on what’s going on. Fortunately, no AWC members have been touched. They all work hard to get food and clothing to the displaced people.
Back here in Belgium, we will continue our very much appreciated sisterhood with Antwerpen but also Den Haag and Amsterdam, all of whom we are inviting to our 4 th July Party! We are also looking forward to our trip to Normandy at the Val Richer, this takes place the last week end of September. Register as soon as you can, spouses our more than welcome!!
Something completely NEW to our club; Karen Northsfield, our wonderful speaker last November at the Fawco Region four meeting that our AWCB club hosted in Brussels, is offering a 3-4 days meditation time in June in a lovely and peaceful property in the Belgian Ardennes. More news will come up shortly, so keep an eye on the Events Calender.
As usual, please keep up with the Event Calendar, so many things happen all the time it is impossible to fit them into the Newsletter!
Wishing all of you the best time ever. If you’re travelling, keep safe and come back to us full of joy and enthusiasm.
Florence, your president happy to serve you.
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Florence Jeannin President, AWCB |
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“War is an invention of the human mind. The human mind can also invent peace.”
- Norman Cousins |
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New & Returning Members!
Please join the Board in welcoming our new and returning Members: - Katja Mampaey,
- Francesca Ross,
- Noella Weverbergh,
- Antoaneta Dimitrova,
- Cecelia Kye,
- Oydin McCane,
- Karen Northshield,
- Heidi Kingman
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Join our Board! Volunteer!
Interested in Volunteering or Becoming a Board Member? Let us know if you’re interested in becoming a Board director before May 15, so that we can include you in the June 4th General Assembly elections. Write board@awcb.org if you’re also interested in volunteering. |
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AWCB Whatsapp Community
Are you in our AWCB WhatsApp Community? We have a number of group chats within the group - Events, Hearts for Hope, Serendipity, French Classes, and more! We also create group chats for specific events, like our Val Richer Trip. Ask to join by messaging Kristen or emailing kristen@awcb.org |
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Relay For Life
The Relay for Life event in Waterloo is June 13th and 14th of June, 2026!
Hearts for Hope is proud to participate in our third year supporting the Cancer Foundation’s fight to defeat cancer and prolonging life! Please reserve the date and plan on joining us at the Pachy stadium at 2:00 p.m.
If you would like to participate in the team, your help is greatly appreciated. We need people who would like to walk/run during the relay and managing the stand. Please register on the official page on the following link. Waterloo & International Community Hearts for Hope | Fondation contre le Cancer – Relais pour la Vie
If you are unable to attend, please make donations to our team Hearts for Hope | Fondation contre le Cancer – Relais pour la Vie.
This year only cookies will be sold. This way, the left overs can easily be packaged and frozen for another time. June 3rd, will be an opportunity for all interested members to make Key Fobs and Seatbelt cushions. We will meet in my home and aim for about 20 of each item. If you’d like to help make these items, please send me your confirmation and I will give you my address. Melita Campaignolle at 0497 048742 or by email on melita.campaignolle@hotmail.com. |
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French Conversation Classes
Pour les membres, par les membres! After a members’ discussion on our Whatsapp Serendipity chat, our club created the French Conversation Classes. Two classes a month (Brussels and Overijse) taught by members Florence, Melita, Sophie, and Aglaia. Free for our members and only 5 euros for a guest. Guests may attend once before being asked to join the club. Our membership is only 100 euros a year, so if you know anyone new to Belgium who has talked about learning French and finding a community - our Club is a great place to start! |
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Club Historian
Do you have a strong interest in history and a passion to preserve the records of the past? Can you tell the difference between wheat and chaff? Do you know the basics of digitisation and enjoy organising? Then we have a fantastic volunteer position for you! We have boxes of material that need to be reviewed, catalogued, scanned and then uploaded into an on-line historical library.
So we need a volunteer to lead this and to become the AWCB Club Historian! Interested in the role? Would you and a friend like to share it between you? We have over 75 years of history already to explore and we make new history every day. Interested? Just send a mail to board@awcb.org and we will be in touch! |
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Selection of Special Upcoming Events
After a cold winter, we are ready for Spring and Summer events! As usual, we have a PACKED agenda to share with you; all Events still have spaces so hurry and sign up! All the details and booking info in the Events Agenda https://www.awcb.org/events |
And of course we have our very active Book Club that meets monthly, plus the wonderful Hearts for Hope team who meet every 2 weeks to make breast cancer recovery pillows for Institut Bordet and Leuven Hospitals (any Club member can come and help!) And our new French Conversation Classes that meet twice a month! Still want more? Ok, well contact us on events@awcb.org and we will add more for you; bring your ideas and plans! We are always looking for volunteers to organize and host events, please let us know if you would like to get involved. |
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Bastogne Trip Weekend
We had a social and historical weekend visit to the town of Bastogne, famous Battle of the Bulge site. Our fearless leader (and AWCB member) Marianne Hubert guided us to different museums, and shared family and local stories about civilian life during the battle time.
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Back to the 80s Dinner & Dance!
Totally Tubular! Our Back to the 80s Dinner & Dance was a blast to the past! Attendees had a 3-course meal cooked by Chefs Karl & Katya (and Florence’s desserts) amidst the spinning sounds of DJ Commander Lieven (Patricia’s partner). The delicious meal and dancing brought smiles and dancing feet to all who attended! The proceeds benefited our Angel Tree charity. Stay tuned for next year ….maybe a Sock Hop? |
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Members Birthday Party
We had a great start to the New Year with our Members Birthday Party hosted by Cecile! The food was delicious, the drinks superb, and the cakes yummy. We celebrated the birthdays of Betty, Cecile, Kristen (50th), and Melita! Our next birthday party is May 30th at Betty’s home, so register now! |
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Angel Tree 2025
The members at AWCB are extremely generous when it comes to giving to others! Over 300 gifts were purchased for The Angel Tree collection, and the wrapping stations were full of members who delighted in wrapping gifts for the children whose current situations are uncertain. Nothing feels better than helping others less fortunate than ourselves. AWCB appreciates everyone who contributed their time, money, and talents making this event a huge success. Florence and other members provided a magnificent Christmas lunch afterwards allowing everyone to appreciate the joy of giving and the community of sharing. Would you like to participate next year? Look for the next Angel tree event which will be announced in November 2026! |
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AWCB Member in FAWCO's magazine Inspiring Women
Our club and board member Aglaia Ponomareva was featured in the January 2026 issue of FAWCO’s magazine Inspiring Women: Behind the Scenes. Click here to read about Aglaia and to subscribe to this free online magazine! |
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AWCB Member Benefits via FAWCO
Did you know that, as an AWCB member, you are automatically a member of FAWCO? This global organisation has a number of initiatives and projects ongoing at any point of time and organises regular conferences – their 2027 conference is in Heidelberg! As a FAWCO member you can also access all the benefits of FAWCO. Did you know as a FAWCO member you can get an American bank account for you and any non-US partner? Or apply for Education grants, as three of our members have done in the last couple of years?
We strongly urge you to sign up on the FAWCO website as a member and to look at the huge range of information available there. Joining the AWCB does not just make you friends here; you become a member of FAWCO so you can have friends and fellow members throughout the world. www.fawco.org
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Recipe Corner - What's cooking today?
French Potato Salad
- 2lb / 900g waxy potatoes
- 4 tbsp white wine
- 2 tbsp chicken broth
- 3 tbsp chopped parslay
Dressing
- 2tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- ¼ tsp salt
- Freshly ground pepper
- 6 tbsp oliver oil
- 2 tbsp minced shallots or onions
Boil the potatoes in salted water until just tender, about 15 minutes, then drain and allow to cool. When cool, peel and cut into very thin slices, then place into a bowl. Add the wine and the broth over the warm potatoes and toss very gentlz. Set aside for a few minutes until the potatoes absorb the liquids.
For the dressing, whisk together the vinegar, mustard, salt and pepper until the salt dissolves. Then whilst in the oil by small droplets, finally stir in the shallots (onions).
Pour the dressing over the potatoes and toss gently to blend. Serve warm or chilled, sprinkled with parslay. Perfect with a slice of fish or chicken breast and a cold crisp white wine.
All recipes from the AWCBs very own cookbook ‘Applepie to Waterzooi’. |
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Thank you to our AWCB Sponsors! 🙏 |
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Your Logo Here?
Click here to learn more: https://www.awcb.org/Become-a-Sponsor
Our club needs a strong cash flow to support all of the social and philanthropical initiatives that we do. If you know of a business that might want to become a sponsor of the AWCB, then let us know at board@awcb.org and we will contact them. We are offering generous benefits for an annual rate of 300 Euros for non-members and 250 Euros for members. Thank you for referring sponsors and supporting your club! |
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AWCB Member Communications |
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Choose to enrich the club's philanthropic or social activities on offer, either one would be gratefully appreciated, and make new friends at the same time! It's your club, help us make it the most meaningful experience possible for you and other members! We always need help with communications, especially help in writing our newsletter, website updates, events planning and organization, and many other simple administrative and operational tasks - every little bit helps. Please contact us if you are interested. Thank you in advance and we look forward to hearing from you! |
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AWCB Member Directory
Have you met someone at a club and want to get in touch? Just log into our AWCB website and AWCB Community and then Member Directory and you can find the contact details of all members who have opted in to share their information. You must login to see information and you can change your own information and visibility by updating your profile. Please make sure your birthday is included in your profile so we can invite to our club birthday party events!
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AWCB Bulletin Board
While you are on the website, make sure you visit our Club Bulletin Board where you can announce something special, announce something for sale or to give away for free, mention an event you will go to, or ask for help or advice. Click here to see the AWCB Club Bulletin Board
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Get the App for our club calendar And view events on your phone! |
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