17 October 2023
Dear Members,
53rd Annual General Assembly: The 2023 Interline Celebration
Organised by the Jordan Interline Club,138 interliners participated at the 54th AGA held in Amman, Jordan, from 1–6 October. A big thank you is expressed to the organising team from the Jordan Interline Club for making this AGA such a memorable experience. Special thanks are also expressed to my Associate, Lucie Forget, the North American Regional Coordinator, Linda Lenters, the Ambassador for Vulnerable Children, Anneline Hetland, and past WACA Treasurer, Judith Guevara, for their hard work selling 50/50 tickets and sorting the coins that were donated to the WACA Change for Good initiative as well as all the other general tasks that are required to ensure a successful event.
Pre- and Post-AGA Tours
Forty participants on the pre-AGA tour of Egypt and the Nile Cruise arrived in Amman with stories of their experiences viewing the pyramids, temples and royal burial sites amongst other memorable activities. The post-AGA tours attracted 14 participants on the three-day tour and 10 participants on the five-day tour the highlight for both tours was undoubtedly visiting Wadi Rum.
Election of the President
A quorum was present at the Assembly and, amongst other decisions, the delegates voted to have Maga Ramasamy continue as WACA President for the next two years. Congratulations.
Member-of-Honour
The Assembly delegates also had the pleasure to vote Vancouver Interline Club member, Ann Senko, as WACA's latest Member-of-Honour. Ann has served her Club diligently for over 40 years and attended numerous WACA events where she is know to many members. Congratulations.
WACA Auditor
The position of a second WACA Auditor remains open. Member Clubs are requested to submit a qualified name as a candidate to fulfil the vacancy by 30 November. The candidate should agree to his/her candidacy and meet the requirements of 1.6 of the Constitution.
The Scent of Colour Visit
During the AGA activities, the WACA Council had the pleasure to visit the Scent of Colours "Abaq Laon" project in Amman, which is run by the WACA Ambassador for Blind Children, Suheil Baqaeen. The project enables visually impaired children to paint by identifying colours through smell. Every colour is given a smell to help them identify, such as apples and cherries for red, lemon for yellow, cinnamon for brown, mint for green and so on (see attached). Suheil's initiative was established in 2012 for students from The Jordan Royal Academy of the Blind. A former president of the Jordan Interline Club, Suheil, set up the Scent of Colours in a rented house in 2018, called Darat (house), in an art community called Al-Weibdeh that is regarded as the soul of Amman. In recognition of his work with the blind, he was appointed as the WACA Ambassador for Blind Children at the WACA Cannes Assembly in 2016 and was also decorated by the King of Jordan for his work with the blind.
55th Annual General Assembly: The 2024 Interline Celebration
As the 54th AGA recedes into a memory, arrangements are already being made by the Indian Ocean Islands Interline Club in collaboration with the Africa, Indian Ocean Islands and Middle East Region and the WACA Council, to host the 55th AGA in Mauritius from 18–23 September 2024. Tours to Réunion, Seychelles and Madagascar before or after the Assembly are also being arranged. Details will be available in due course.
Membership Messages
Communicate
“Membership Messages” are sent out on a regular basis to WACA Member Clubs, Members-at-Large and other individuals closely connected to WACA. Recipients in Member Clubs are requested to forward these messages to all members of their respective Club or direct their members to the News and Press Releases section of WACA's website where the messages are posted: www.waca.org/news/Pages/index.aspx.
Contribute
If any WACA member has anything they would like to contribute to the next “Membership Message” please send the information to the attention of the WACA Administration Manager at WACA Headquarters.
Yours in interlining,
Keith Miller
WACA Administration Manager
World Airlines Clubs Association
Telephone: +1 438-258-3243
E-mail: info@waca.org
Website: www.waca.org