The American Women's Organization of Moscow - Newsletter for November 2019 (redacted copy)

THE AMERICAN WOMEN’S ORGANIZATION OF MOSCOW

Newsletter NOVEMBER 2019

Letter from the President With thanksgiving still lingering in the air from the Canadian Thanksgiving just a few weeks ago and now looking forward to the American Thanksgiving, it’s always a good time to reflect on things we are thankful for.

Our organization, which is a 1/4 century old, has seen and experienced many changes over the years particularly affecting our membership numbers. However, today even though we are a smaller club, the impact that we have made on many lives has been and will continue to be amazing. We are thankful for our members, for those who chose us as they believe in what we are doing and what we represent. Without members we would not have an organization. We are thankful for the opportunity to help others socially, mentally and physically. We are thankful for our sponsors for believing in our organization and being a part of our journey in helping others.

There is so much to be thankful for! Let’s continue to be thankful for each other, the communities that support us and friendships we have developed on our journeys through life.

Always Thankful!

Michele

18 Invitation to Charity Soirée 4

Save the Date

5

Events of the Month

7

The Annual Christmas Bazaar

« Jersey for Life »

19 Intermark Club Events Calendar 20 Special Offers for AWO Members

11 Green News

27 News from FAWCO

12 Spread Sunshine Updates

28 Vacancy Announcement

15 Sock Drive

29 AWO 2019-2020 Board Members

16 Invitation to Quiz Night

30 Thank You to our Sponsors & Donors

17 Invitation to Date Night

31 Credits

3 November 2019

Save the Date for: The Annual Christmas Bazaar December 3, 10:00-13:00.

British Ambassador’s Residence.

the

Upcoming Interest Group Events: Photography: November 6, 11:00am, location TBD

date

Wine Night: November 8, 7:30pm Date Night : November 16, 7:30pm

Our Coffee Mornings take place at:

O2 Lounge The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Tverskaya Ulitsa 3. from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm

mo r ni 4 November 2019

s g n

on November 13 and 27 December 11

Events of the Month:

National Unity Day - November 4, 2019 It is an official holiday and a day off. Different events are planned to be held throughout the city. Russian March, a traditional annual rally, will be carried out in the center of the city.

Remember, that 4 of November is an official day-off. On this day most of the public offices are closed and some public transport routes may be changed due to street events.

Venue: Various Locations publicholidays.ru/national-unity-day/

Night of the Arts: November 3-4, 2019 On the night of November 3–4, Moscow will host the 7th annual city cultural and educational event “Night of the Arts”.

More than 250 free events will be held in all Moscow districts.

The action will cover museums and theaters, libraries and cinemas, cultural centers and parks, as well as such unusual sites as Kazan and Kiev stations, and Sheremetyevo airport.

From evening to morning, concerts, performances, shows, and excursions will be held in Moscow. More than 500 artists will perform at 14 city venues.

Venue: Various Locations www.russiaeguide.com/moscow-events.html www.mos.ru/news/item/64580073/

Free Museum Week: November 4,11 - 17, 2019 Every third week of the month many museums in Moscow offer free admission to their visitors. No pre-registration or any documents are required for the free visits. You will need to get your free ticket at the box offices. Museums and exhibition halls will be open as usual. But each museum is open for free on a specific day. To see the list of museums and the schedule please visit:

www.russiaeguide.com/how-to-explore-moscow-museumsfor-free

5 November 2019

Exhibitions: Medieval Embroidery - until 23 February 2020 Kolomenskoye Museum Reserve, Alexei Mikhailovich's Palace's basement, hosts an exhibition 'History of Russian Embroidery of the 16th— early 20th century'. The exhibition has brought together church, folk and secular works by Russian embroiderers.

Venue: Kolomenskoye Museum Reserve https://www.mos.ru/en/news/item/64316073/

Exhibition: VegLife Expo - November 15 17, 2019 Vegetarian and Healthy Lifestyle Exhibition “VEG-LIFEEXPO 2019” at the Danilovsky Event Hall Venue: Danilovsky Event Hall mos-holidays.ru/vegetarianskaya-i-zozh-vystavka-veg-lifeexpo-2019-v-event-hall-danilovskij/

Exhibition: Time of Fun and Games until March 2020 State Historical Museum presents an exhibition telling about holidays, entertainments and mass celebrations in Russia in the 17th – in the beginning of 20th centuries.

The exposition, which is based on folk and city costumes, posters and placards, the collection of carnival sleighs and objects of applied and decorative arts, allows to form a view of various Russian amusements and games on the ground of objects which have never been exhibited before.

Venue: State Historical Museum en.shm.ru/shows/22130/

Exhibition: Impressionism and Spanish Art - until March 2020 There will be an exhibit of Spanish art from the 19th-20th centuries for the first time of this scale in Russia. The exhibit will show works by 18 Spanish artists who worked side by side with French impressionists, and took part in the first exhibits showing the new trends of European art in the 1880s.

Venue: Museum of Russian Impressionism www.rusimp.su/en

6 November 2019

CHRISTMAS BAZAAR Tuesday, December 3rd, 2019 10:00 - 13:00 British Ambassador’s Residence It’s that time again for our Annual Christmas Bazaar !

Enjoy the festive atmosphere while shopping for goodies and presents. Relax with mulled wine and minced pies, photos with Father Christmas. There will be a youth choir singing carols and lots of wonderful items from local vendors.

We will have a raffle offering luxurious prizes. You don’t want to miss it!

Our Wishlist: We will be collecting donations of “hard-to-finditems” for our produce stall, as well as bottles of liquor, wine or bubbly for the “Tombola” table, and small gift items for the “Lucky Dip.” Volunteers Needed: Also please keep in mind that we will need volunteers for baking, setting up on December 2nd, and working at the Bazaar on December 3rd. Your support is truly appreciated!

More details to come with our Monday Updates.

7 November 2019

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9 November 2019

10 November 2019

Green News:

by Masha Megrelis Recycling in Moscow Many expats, when they move to Moscow, stop recycling because they think it doesn’t exist here.

There may not be curbside recycling in Moscow, but you can recycle!

One very convenient option is Sobirator : a company that picks up your recycling at your home or office: rsbor-msk.ru/product/ecotaxi/.

Within the MKAD the service costs 1000 rbls. If you have friends who live nearby and would like their recycling picked up the same day, the pick up is less expensive.

Among items they accept: • hard plastic #1,2,4,5,6 • plastic bags and certain soft plastic packaging • glass • tetrapak • paper • non-styrofoam egg cartons.

• unneeded mobile phone chargers If you would like to use this service, take a minute to read their instructions (with the help of an automatic translator if you need help with Russian) on what they accept and how they would like the wastes sorted:

https://собиратор.рф/

Another option for recycling is to drop it off yourself at Sfera Ekologii, located on the territory of ArtPlay (metro Kurskaya). You can drive into the parking lot (20 minutes of parking is free - usually enough time to drop off the recycling).

It’s a little tricky to find the recycling point the first time (it is located behind buildings 3 and 7).

Once you get there everything is self explanatory.

11 November 2019

You drop the items in appropriate windows (sometimes the bins are full, in which case you can usually find an employee in the work area around the corner).

Sfera Ekologii accepts: • hard plastic #1,2,4 • paper • glass • metal • tetrapack DOES NOT accept: • plastic #3, 5, 6, 7 • egg cartons • soft plastic Check out their website se.su/people#contacts to see a full list of accepted items and instructions.

In Moscow there is NO one stream recycling which you may be used to in your home country.

Everything needs to be rinsed, sorted and please follow the list of accepted items.

The great thing about recycling in Moscow is that it is recycled domestically - unfortunately in many North American countries, Australia and the UK recycling is sent abroad to developing countries.

These countries do not have the infrastructure in place for their own garbage, much less our garbage! As a result, much of what is sent abroad is either recycled in ways that are harmful to the local environment or ends up in landfill or even in the ocean. Recycling is still not practiced on a large scale in Russia, however, what you give for recycling is sure to be recycled!

Spread Sunshine Updates Good News! There is strength in numbers.

You have made a GREAT impact this last month at MPC! We have supplied the short fall of 15,000 rubles for monthly groceries in September and have volunteered twice serving tea and cookies to the pensioners. More importantly, we connected individually with each person.

Together we have raised 54,800 rubles in October for the MPC pensioner’s bi-monthly groceries. We also received an anonymous donation of 15,000 for October and an additional promised amount of 15,000 per month for November and December bringing us to a running total of 147,000 rubles!!!

With this amount we will be able to supply the MPC Food And Pensioners program with groceries for another 11 months for 120 senior citizens..

We also have the 58,000 rubles from the Welcome Back Social to use, in addition to the two scheduled “Dinner for a Cause” events. When combiled, these will be enough to support MPC to buy groceries until September 2020.

We have an opportunity to fill donated canvas bags with special treats for these senior citizens as a New Year gift. We are looking for your HELP in doing that! First, we need to reach out into our own communities to see what company connections we might have to receive donations for the bags.

Shampoo, soap, chocolates, and regular items like tea and coffee would be ideal to make the holiday season a special time. Many of these people are with no family, so our effort will NOT go unnoticed.

AWO has a new member, Katie, who will help coordinate the effort to continue the AWO connection twice a month at MPC. It is very simple: serve cookies and tea. No Russian is needed, just a smile and an act of kindness. Please sign up for the event on our private FB page as you are able. You will not be disappointed by giving this hour to others.

12 November 2019

October Impact: AWO Coffee Morning Raffles have raised 54,800 rubles in support of pensioners.

Recipient: MPC Pensioners Food and Fellowship Program

http://mpcrussia.org/pensioners/ Contact: Daniel Ekat at pc@mpcss.org

Ongoing Invitation: To volunteer twice a month and visit with the seniors. AWO members interested in talking, a card game, and bringing fresh cookies to enjoy with seniors, please contact Danielle Kuznetsov at

kuznetsov.danielle@gmail.com

whatsapp: +7-985-613-6195 to coordinate our efforts.

October Visit to MPC: A special thanks to AWO

member, Deborah Hoehner for capturing these wonderful moments and a huge thank you to Black Star Burger for donating the incredible bags that we’ve shared with the pensioners.

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Upcoming Food and Fellowship

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Dates

25 26 27 2 24 8

9 10 11 7 8 12

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17 18 19 20 16 21 15

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▷November 6th and 20th ▷December 4th and 18th ▷ January 15th and 29th ▷ February 5th and 19th ▷ March 4th and 18th

Specific Needs: If you are also interested in sponsoring the program financially or donating food, please see below a list of some specific needs: ▷Fellowship ▷Cookies, pastries, or other small treats ▷Tea ▷Sugar ▷Cups ▷Small plates ▷Napkins ▷Nonperishable food

Groceries provided to the pensioners:

▷ Sugar (900gr) ▷ Buckwheat ( 900gr) ▷ Rice (900gr) ▷ Flour (900gr) ▷ Oil (lt) ▷ Milk concentrate (350gr) ▷Canned meat (400gr) ▷ Canned fish (400gr) ▷ Macaroni (450gr) ▷ Corn (400gr) ▷ Peas (350gr) ▷ Canned beans (300gr) ▷ Mayonnaise (350gr) ▷ Tea (25 bags) ▷ Biscuits ▷ Yoghurt (270gr) ▷ Butter (200gr)

13 November 2019

AWO is plowing ahead to spread sunshine and create more impact in the local community. The November and December months offer us more opportunity to give to those in need. We will be supporting SamuSocialMoskva, an organization that supports homeless elderly.

SamuSocialMoskva is a Russian Non-profit Organization. It was founded in 2003 by Dr. Xavier Emmanuelli. The organization considers socially excluded people as 'victims', on whom people and social institutions have all turned their backs.

It is a mobile outreach service, providing emergency medical, social, and psychological care to homeless people.

Take a look at the great work they are doing: http://www.samu.ru/en/ Eva Bertrand will be attending our coffee meeting on November 13, to give you a bigger picture of the needs and how the fantastic women at AWO can partner with SamuSocialMoskva to create immediate results in the lives of those around us.

14 November 2019

SOCK DRIVE HELP WARM A HOMELESS HEART

You have the power to bring warmth to a homeless heart by donating 5 pairs of socks!

AWO is looking to collect 1,500 pairs of new, large, warm men’s socks to donate to samusocialMoskva. samusocialMoskva is a non-profit organization founded in 2003. The foundation's main goal is to provide assistance to homeless people on our city streets who have been socially excluded and left to flight for their own survival.

You can help by donating 5 pairs of new socks (or as many as you want to give) and asking 5 of your friends (non-AWO members) to donate 5 pairs of socks too.

With your and your friends’ help we can reach our goal.

November 13th - December 11th AWO is requesting new sock donations for the homeless.

Please pick up 5 pairs of socks to donate and ask 5 friends to do the same.

Help spread the warmth to the homeless before the cold winter arrives!

Donations can be dropped off at Pokrovsky Hills, Rosinka or in the city center. For further details, please contact: Maggie Ghidirim: mgferreiro@yahoo.com +7-916-391-3007 or Danielle Kuznetsov: kuznetsov.danielle@gmail.com +7-985-613-6195

15 November 2019

You are invited to join the

QUIZ NIGHT at ISM ROSINKA Saturday, November 2, 2019.

It will be a fun evening (adults only) with a super quiz, great company, a DJ, great prizes and lots of laughter.

RUB1000 per person and when signing up you also have the option of ordering a finger food plate for RUB500 per person.

(Finger Food Plate includes: Assorted Italian cheese, CanapĂŠ with melon and parma ham, CanapĂŠ with tomato mozzarella, mini jar with salmon and stracciatella, Bruschetta with tomatoes, Bruschetta with Roastbeef) You can sign up individually or make a team with other friends.

One team is 6-8 people.

It will be a great evening!

YOUR HOME IN RUSSIA

16 November 2019

+

AWO Date Night Saturday, November 16th From 7:00pm Screening of Footloose Dinner Buffet and movie snacks 2,500 rubles / person Tomato mozzarella shots, basil Mini prime beef burger, bacon, cheese, tomatoes Currywurst Fish and chips, green peas, lemon Mini pizza with different toppings Club sandwich, coleslaw Popcorn, spicy cashew nuts, chips salty crackers marshmallows, chocolate rochers, cut fruits

For tickets email: ksjackson519@hotmail.com

17 November 2019

Drinks package that includes wine & beer 1,500 rubles per person for 2 hours (on personal tab)

Charity Soirée « Jersey for Life » Ladies and Gentlemen, We are happy to invite you to The Charity Soirée « Jersey for Life » which will take place on November 20, at Mamaison Hotel (40, bld.2 Pokrovka str., Moscow), 7:00 PM. Presenter : Pavel Zanozin – Channel One sports commentator

18 November 2019

Intermark Club is a life-hack for foreigners in Moscow!

Join us and enjoy your benefits: Get discounts and privileges from our partners Learn about living in Russia Find the most exciting events in Moscow Connect with other Club members and share your knowledge and experience with each other!

Intermarkclub.ru

19 November 2019

Dear clients!

We are thrilled to invite you to The Expat Salon, the only salon in Moscow that was created especially to serve you! We’ve opened our doors for business in 2004 and have been serving clients from all over the world since then. Our experienced team offers a wide variety of salon services and our goal is to make each and every client feel at home. We understand the stress of being an expat in Moscow and have created an atmosphere that will make our clients forget they ever left home! www.expatsalon.ru www.facebook.com/Expatsalon www.instagram.com/expatsalon

20 November 2019

21 November 2019

22 November 2019

23 November 2019

For AWO members and their families Why choose US Dental care?

• American-trained, English speaking doctors; • Family oriented — children friendly!

• 50% of our patients are expats; • Well established — first American clinic in Moscow; • Wide range of treatment offered — including cosmetic dentistry; • High quality, hi-tech modern equipment.

24 November 2019

only:

15% discount for initial visit and 5% for following visits.

25 November 2019

26 November 2019

News from FAWCO

by Danielle Kuznetsov

As many of you know, Michele and I had the privilege of representing AWO Moscow at the region 5 FAWCO conference in Amsterdam this past month.

We went to check out if AWO Moscow is in a position to host our region 2 conference here in Moscow at some point. We were delighted to walk away with the hope that we, too, can offer a conference like this to the FAWCO community as well as our own members.

More on that later!

The FAWCO Foundation Education Awards Program was created by and for FAWCO and FAUSA members. Since 1972, FAWCO members and their families have benefited from the awards that are designed to foster peace, international cooperation, and goodwill. There are nine educational awards.

Take a look here:

As the FAWCO representative, my job is to continually let our wonderful women in on what other superpower women are doing in other cities around the globe. The goal is to inspire us to action and connection: to weave a web of diversely talented, intelligent, service-oriented women in collaboration to support and change the lives of disadvantaged women and girls around the globe.

I have nominated an organization called the Friendship Bench Zimbabwe for the FAWCO Target project. Take a look and see what a great organization it is and how it is changing the lives of women and girls in Zimbabwe:

I am sharing two opportunities for you to benefit from as a member of FAWCO. The FAWCO Foundation each year offers educational and development grants to its members to support you to grow and serve. As a member of AWO, you are automatically a member of FAWCO. Registering on their site gets you the latest news in your inbox and opens the door to resources for your own personal use and that of your club. Go and look and you will see how easy it is to participate.

The FAWCO Foundation Development Grants financially assist projects which are passionately supported by FAWCO Member Clubs and FAUSA. The purpose of the program is to fund projects that can make an immediate impact and lead to success for the people they support. The assistance offered should be direct, with a goal of sustainability. The 2020 grants focus on education, health, human rights and the environment, and global issues. There are 8 $5,000 grants available. Take a look here:

www.fawcofoundation.org/programs/develop ment-grants

27 November 2019

www.fawcofoundation.org/programs/educati on-awards

www.friendshipbenchzimbabwe.org/.

AWO Moscow has passed the first hurdle in that our application was received as complete by the committee. Over the next few months there will be a thorough review and we should know if we make the next cut. I will keep you updated as we get news.

Take advantage, ladies, of these great opportunities.

If you need any assistance, please reach out to me at

kuznetsov.danielle@gmail.com.

Open Position on AWO Board: Interest Group Coordinator

We are currently looking for an Interest Group Coordinator -please drop us a line at: awomoscow@gmail.com if you are interested! This person will be the main contact for the interest group leaders and will coordinate the following: Collect information about weekly interest groups via WhatsApp to share in the Monday updates Liaison between the AWO board and interest group leaders regarding any issues or changes Coordinator for Face-to-Face interest groups sign-up, held twice per year at our coffee morning meetings.

28 November 2019

AWO 2019 - 2020 Board Members:

Michele Kuhlen President

Kelley Jackson Special Events

Danielle Kuznetsov Salma Nurmohamed Vice President Secretary FAWCO Representative, Spread Sunshine Coordinator

Irem Sunar Newsletter

Alla Anastos Membership

29 November 2019

Meg Aw Treasurer

Cindy Knight Social Media Website

Eugenie Kim Membership Chair

Beth Osowski Monday Updates

A Big Thank You to our sponsors and donors for raffle prizes given in October to raise funds for our charity, The MPC Pensioners Food and Fellowship Program at our meetings held on October 2, 16 and 30 at The Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Neyla Miller

Naturale

Alternativa

Photo Credits: Pages 1-2: Cindy Knight cindyknight.com

Page 3: Freepik.com Pages 5-6: mos.ru Page 12: Deborah Hoehner deborahhoehner.com

Layout Design: Irem Sunar Editor: Irem Sunar iremsunar.com

Proofreaders: Michele Kuhlen, Beth Osowski