through this website, AAFSW receives a small percentage to help fund out activities and services. AAFSW is also affiliated with 
AAFSW in the 21st century
In December, 1999, then AAFSW President Mette Beecroft gave a speech to the 200 attendees of AAFSW's "Century of Women in the Foreign Service" event in the Benjamin Franklin Room at Main State. In it, Mette detailed the beginnings of AAFSW-as well as the FLO, the FSYF, the OBC, and other family-focused programs and institutions-and chronicled the role women played in the Foreign Service during the 20th century. This interesting account ends at 1999, but since then, AAFSW has been quite busy. To continue our history, here is a brief summary of our activities from 2000 onward.
SELF-EVALUATION AND EVOLUTION OF AAFSW
Years ago, the role of the "wife" in the Foreign Service was very clear. She cared for the children, ran a household, engaged in useful volunteer work, and supported her husband and the Foreign Service. Today the situation is different and much more complex. Spouses-both male and female-often work and have less time to volunteer for an organization such as AAFSW. We at AAFSW have had to accept the need to hire employees who receive, if not a salary, an honorarium. Our membership has become much more heterogeneous in that values and expectations range from the traditional ones of older members to the very contemporary. Such differences obviously have implications on the unity of AAFSW, our programming, and projects we might undertake. Costs continue to rise even as our income falls.
At the turn of the 21st century, AAFSW reevaluated its purpose and goals and made significant changes while maintaining the values that had been part of its creation. To show that our interests and scope go well beyond those of Foreign Service women, we changed our name from the Association of American Foreign Service Women to the Associates of the American Foreign Service Worldwide. In a series of open meeting called the "Millennium Project," members met to discuss our mission and came to realize that we could no longer coast on past accomplishments.
Another series of discussions, "Money Matters," illustrated our determination to become fiscally responsible and to investigate ways of obtaining funding in addition to BOOKFAIR. Part of this effort has been to work much more closely with the auditor. We also reviewed the bylaws and started a review of the policy guidelines that outline the functions of various officers and committees. This is an ongoing effort. Click here to review our current Bylaws. (Available to AAFSW members only.)
Reviewing our membership benefits and dues structure and creating a membership database that can be updated and maintained with relative ease were enormously time-consuming projects. Today, however, AAFSW offers two additional member categories: Associate Membership for those non-Foreign Service friends who wish to attend our program series or participate in our special interest groups in the D.C. area, and Conditional Membership for those who are in the process of being hired by one of the U.S. foreign affairs agencies. It is now possible to join AAFSW online.
ADVOCACY ACTIVITIES
AAFSW continued to be involved in contemporary concerns of Foreign Service families. In November 1998, the AAFSW FORUM hosted the Inter-Agency Round Table on Elder Care. This event and the ensuing AAFSW report to the Director General focused the Department on elder care needs. What followed would make a textbook study of how a volunteer organization can effect change. The Department launched a policy review, in which AAFSW was included, that ultimately led to new regulations in 2001 that allow both the employee and spouse to make two round trips each to help an aging parent.
AAFSW members, along with AFSA and some State employees on annual leave, actively lobbied on the Hill to secure the possibility for some 300 spouses to buy back retirement benefits. These spouses worked overseas in PIT positions during the 10-year period 1989 through the first half of 1998. If legislation were to pass, some spouses would be able to add almost 10 years of credit to their retirement benefits. Unfortunately, as of December 2004, the provision calling for implementation of earlier legislation on PIT retirement credit buyback has not been enacted. Read more about the PIT buyback issue here.
Since 2000, AAFSW has spoken up for Foreign Service families in a variety of ways. We met with the Under Secretary for Management, the Director General, and the Assistant Secretary for Administration to discuss issues as diverse as the high cost of shipping pets and the descending per diem for trainees at FSI.
Other organizations also expressed concern and Management listened. Fees to ship pets may now be reimbursed up to certain limits. As of 2005, the situation with descending per diem has improved with FSI trainees now receiving 60 days at the full per diem rate (as opposed to the original 30 days). Unfortunately, per diem drops to 50% of the original amount after 60 days, whereas the drop used to be only to 75%. After 90 days, per diem drops to 25%.
COMMUNICATIONS AND CONNECTIONS
AAFSW entered the digital age in 1998 when it adopted Foreign Service Lifelines, a website for Foreign Service families created by Foreign Service spouse, Melissa Hess. With input from a creative team of other spouses, the website featured articles written by members of the Foreign Service community, resource information for newcomers to the Foreign Service, reviews of books by Foreign Service authors, and an interactive email group called Livelines. This was the first website developed specifically for the Foreign Service community, and AAFSW recognized that it could provide a valuable service to Foreign Service families around the world. For this reason, the AAFSW Board of Directors voted to adopt the site by providing the funds required to ensure its future.
By January 2000, with AAFSW member Kelly Midura as Webmaster, the site was customized, redesigned, and emerged as www.aafsw.org. Our site continues to evolve and grow as we add more helpful articles, insightful advice columns, book and housing reviews, and links to resources at home and abroad. We have taken advantage of technology to offer online membership forms and payment options, as well as the ability to renew memberships and make donations online. Features like the Classified Ads and the Members Only section provide members additional information and functionality.
Livelines, AAFSW's free email discussion group powered by Yahoo! Groups, has proven to be an extremely valuable and powerful community-building tool for Foreign Service families scattered worldwide. A modest group of 15 participants in 1998 has grown to over 1,200 at the end of 2004. Every day on Livelines, participants ask questions, share experiences, offer advice, and discuss all things Foreign Service. The success of Livelines has led AAFSW to co-sponsor email discussion groups for other organizations, including the Office of Casualty Assistance and the FLO.
AAFSW has also been able to provide support and encouragement to a number of member authors, including Melissa Hess, Patricia Linderman, Margaret Bender, Jewell Fenzi, and Patricia Hughes. Click here to read reviews of their books and others on AAFSW's Foreign Service Reading List.
Since 1960, AAFSW has published a printed newsletter, now called the Global Link, to keep members abreast of news, upcoming events, and reports on topics of interest. We continue to publish and distribute this newsletter to members worldwide, and also post current and back issues in PDF format on the Members Only section of our website.
COOPERATION AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH
AAFSW's continuous efforts to reach out to the entire Foreign Service community include providing presenters to many of FSI's Transition Center courses aimed at educating both employees and family members, volunteering speakers for AFSA's Elderhostel programs, participating in "Post Toasts" for A-100 class members and their families following Flag Day, and sitting on the Board of the Foreign Service Youth Foundation (FSYF), and sharing the administration of the children's group, Diplokids, with them. Click here for more information on all these outreach programs.
Our relationships with the Family Liaison Office (FLO), FSI's Transition Center, FSYF, the American Foreign Service Association (AFSA), and other organizations are close and cooperative. In fact, when it moved locations in 2000, FLO dedicated its conference room in honor of AAFSW to acknowledge both our role in founding the FLO and our continuing support. The plaque outside the conference room reads: "In recognition and appreciation to the AAFSW for its role in creating the Family Liaison Office. March, 1978."
Beginning in 2001, the plight of new A-100 spouses brought AAFSW, FLO and FSI's Transition Center together. Because of the size of the new training classes, there was simply not room for spouses to attend. Knowing that something had to be done for the spouses, we joined forces to formulate a plan of action.
From these meetings evolved the "Post Toast," a social occasion scheduled after Flag Day when A-100 class members discover where they will be posted. Since 2002, AAFSW has partnered with FLO, FSI's Transition Center, and FSYF during the "Post Toast" to welcome new Foreign Service members and their families and explain what kind of information and services they provide. Often members of the AAFSW Playgroup help entertain children during orientation events so spouses can learn more about the logistics of being in the Foreign Service. AAFSW provides financial and logistical support to the Post Toast and is pleased to have another opportunity to reach out to the new Foreign Service families in addition to the frequent presentations AAFSW gives at FSI to orientation classes.
AAFSW's continued involvement with FSYF includes the annual AAFSW/FSYF Fourth of July Barbeque Potluck. Every year this well-attended event gives Foreign Service families an opportunity to meet and socialize. AAFSW provides funding for this event, as well as support for FSYF's "Welcome Back" picnic each fall. When concerned parents identified the need to create a group for Elementary school-aged kids who had outgrown AAFSW's Playgroup but were not yet old enough for FSYF's Globetrotters, AAFSW and FSYF came together in 2003 to co-sponsor Diplokids, an after-school activity group for Foreign Service children ages 5 to 8.
AAFSW has worked with AFSA on various occasions. AAFSW members have always sat on the panels that select winners of scholarships for Foreign Service high school graduates. AAFSW also donates significant funds to the AFSA Scholarship Program ($9,647 in 2004) to continue our long-held tradition of providing financial aid to college-bound young people from the Foreign Service community. We also are involved in selecting the winner of the Avis Bohlen Award, which recognizes the accomplishments of a family member overseas. We have been able to participate in AFSA's Elderhostel programs by providing participants with information about life in the Foreign Service from the point of view of spouses and children.
Since 1990, AAFSW has been the administrator of the Secretary of State's Award for Volunteerism Abroad (SOSA), both working with the State Department regional bureaus and participating in the presentation of the awards to worthy winners. SOSA winners are featured in our Global Link newsletter and on our website.
AAFSW is also represented on the Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) and at the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training (ADST). At meetings of these organizations, we are able to publicize our activities, accomplishments, and concerns. We also enjoy a cordial relationship with the Diplomatic and Consular Officers Retired (DACOR), which regularly cooperates to publicize our BOOKFAIR to their membership community.
FUNDRAISING
Since 1960, AAFSW's major fundraiser has been BOOKFAIR. This annual two-week book sale at Main State is a major undertaking of vital importance as it provides the funding for our scholarships and other Foreign Service community support. Every year, BOOKFAIR volunteers welcome thousands of customers to shop countless rows of books, stamps, art, crafts, and other collectibles from around the world.
As successful as BOOKFAIR and our permanent used book store at Main State, Bookplace, continue to be, it is our goal to generate much-needed revenue from other sources. As our Internet presence has grown, we have begun to build relationships with advertisers and develop affiliations with other websites, most notably www.amazon.com.
Since their book Realities of Foreign Service Life was published in 2002, authors Melissa Hess and Patricia Linderman have donated all the proceeds to AAFSW. This generous gesture has raised thousands of dollars and continues to generate income for AAFSW. Due to its popularity, work on a sequel to Realities of Foreign Service Life has already begun in 2005.
To help raise funds for the Secretary of State's Awards for Outstanding Volunteerism (SOSA) AAFSW sponsored a raffle in 2005.
COMMUNITY SERVICE AND SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS
AAFSW's community service programs continue to thrive. These include the Medical Evacuee Support Network, Housing Office, Senior Living, and Women in Transition.
The Housing Office still maintains its location in room 1252 on the "two/blue" corridor of Main State as part of the Employee Services Center, but increased its effectiveness by posting its annual lists of short-term housing in Washington, D.C., Virginia, and Maryland in the Members Only section of the AAFSW website.
In addition, AAFSW's special interest groups continue to provide vital services to AAFSW members. They help build community through common interests and experiences and offer support, networking opportunities, and just plain fun. Click here for more on AAFSW's Playgroup, Foreign Born Spouses Group, and French Conversation Group and how to join.
AAFSW's long association with the Diplomatic Reception Rooms on the eighth floor of the State Department began in 1961 when AAFSW gave a tea in honor of Mrs.Virginia Rusk, wife of then Secretary of State Dean Rusk, and, along with her husband, an early supporter of AAFSW. The tradition of gathering throughout the year for coffee and an interesting program continues into the 21st century.
Since 2000, members have come together to listen to the remarks of Alma Powell, AAFSW's Honorary President from 2001 to early 2005; the late Katherine Graham, owner of the Washington Post; Janet Langhart Cohen, wife of former Secretary of Defense William Cohen; and other influential women leaders. Other programs have featured fascinating panel discussions on topics such as art and culture in Cuba or modern-day Islam, as well as delightful performances by local musical groups, including Vienna-Falls chorus of Sweet Adelines International.
AAFSW is alive and thriving and looks forward to serving the Foreign Service community for years to come.
This history was compiled in early 2005. Please send comments to editor@aafsw.org.