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Associated Country Women of the By Maribeth F itts Last month over one thousand women repre-- sentin g forty--one different countries came to Ontario to attend the 23rd Trien-- nial Associated Country Women of the World (ACWW) Conference. The conference was held at the Hamilton Conven- tion Centre from June 11 to 18,2001. In keeping with the In- ternational Year of the Volunteer, the theme of the conference was Volun-- teers make Visions a Re- ality. Many of the guest speakers on the program reflected that theme says Mary Janes, Public Relations Director for the conference. In addition to for-- mal presentations, the program also included a number of discussion ses- sions and gave plenty of opportunity for delegates to speak. Marion Egerter of the Niagara mi . . . ",4 District Women's Institute attended the conference along with women from all across North America, Eu- /" .7 777777 7 7 7777777 777*," W . fi/ _ , 1,5?» ° .7 .2, f,» r ,. ,7". /l at 2/, " a? 7'? .i '15, K 4/ / L r , ,/ {/l t/ .l'l' 2 x 14:] 17; 1/1,» 4. if z i; j 2 7 v i. ' y '7' n, / '7 {at . j/ ,: / I; x Z / r l / V 1/ If", 6/ ,./' ~15 . V ' r ,I 7, De/egates of the A CWW conference srgn /'n at the Unco/n _ Sen/or's Gen/re /'n BeamswV/e as pan oflne/r 'mysfe/y four" of Megara. Tne group was [reared to a /uncne0n L/nco/n 0/19/an Women 's /nst/'fute. rope, Asia and Africa. "It was won- derful to meet people from all over the world, to be able to talk elbow to elbow." She said that she was sur- prised how closely tied the group was to the United Nations and found out that they were involved with the special United Nations initiative on AIDS. Janes also commented on the friendships that were developed, the ideas shared and the empowerment hosted by the countries: World of the women who at-- tended. On Saturday, June 16, conference delegates left the Hamilton Convention Centre for a day of "mys-- tery" tours. The groups spread out to attractions in Paris, Stratford, Cambridge and Guelph where they also were treated to hospitality of local Women's Institute members. Three busloads of delegates toured Niagara on the mystery tour with lunches hosted by both the Lincoln and Niagara Dis- trict Women's Institutes. Later in the day, all eighteen of the mystery tour buses converged on the Coun-- *try Heritage Park (formerly the ag- riculture museum) in Milton for a barbecue, tree planting ceremony by ACWW President Hilda Stewart, and entertainment. Janes says that the barbecue provided a. good op- portunity for delegates to meet with Ontario Women's Institute mem- bers. Finally, at the end of the pro-- gram in Milton, a quilt auction and raffle were held. The Thunder Bay District Women's Institute had taken over 300 quilt blocks sent in my members from around the world and pieced them together into the twelve quilts and nine pillows which were raffled or auctioned to elp cover the costs of the conferenc . In addition to the re ular ses-- sions, a special pre--c nference ' workshop was organized for a se- lect group of nineteen delegates. Janes explained that the workshop was designed for women from de- Veloping countries (their fees are paid by various groups) to learn from each other and to learn skills 7 that can be applied in their home countries. The workshop touched on such diverse topics as starting a , small business, recycling, conflict management, self-esteem and even ' yarn corking. "This group were re- ally the centre of the whole confer-- ence," says J anes. She noted that the delegates were quite impressed with the Canadian concept of husbands and wives as equal partners, some- thing not often seen in their home