I'm trying hard with my French - on some levels. OK I don't attend Conversation Classes and I don' t have a teacher, but I really do try to embark on some form of conversation when I am in a position to do so. As I have mentioned before, my physio team have been wonderful and make every effort to follow my convoluted explanations regarding gardening, children in Australia, holiday plans and pains in my shoulders, and my husband is endlessly patient, forever rescuing me from bits of chatter that threaten to disappear up dark alleyways with no apparent way out.
But today I was absolutely spoiled rotten and didn' t have to spend a moment battling with my tenses, deciding whether something was masculine or feminine or trying to keep some sort of conversational order. Having recently become a member of the American Women's Group of the Languedoc Roussillon (AWGLR) I joined them for a very pleasant couple of hours this afternoon, during which time there was a report on the recent visit to the annual conference of the umbrella organisation of the Federation of American Women's Clubs Overseas FAWCO. Recently returned from Vilnius, the representatives who had attended the conference filled us in on all sorts of interesting developments.
Something that really stuck with me was the story about a club member in Italy who had major problems visiting her sick child in hospital. Without someone being with the child, it would be left to its own devices to eat, and since the child was too ill to make any effort to feed itself, the situation could have deteriorated quickly. It was the support system of the local branch of FAWCO that ensured that there was always someone with the child and this safety net must have been a godsend to the worried parent.
I quickly realised that this pattern of support and caring was being replicated in many countries where women found themselves in strange lands, struggling with a new shops and schools, coping with new customs and longing to hear their own language.
There is something remarkably strong about a gathering of women. Growing up with two brothers and spending most of my adult years in Africa in a largely male orientated society, I have often shunned the company of large groups of women, but listening to these intelligent, warm, hardworking women who have travelled widely and managed families in foreign countries while husbands accepted postings in strange corners of the globe, it made me realise what a force we are to be reckoned with.
As I write this, the English Women's cricket team are on TV celebrating their recent win of the World Series. It just shows that there are no boundaries, no limitations, and no end to the strength, warmth and support that can be found amongst a group of women, given the chance to get the kids off to school, the menfolk out to work and the menus for the next week decided upon.
