The 5W Newsletter,
Where Members Live
and
What the Members Say...

The newsletter is published three times a year. Features include:


In what countries do 5W members live and how many are there in each? Here is the world distribution in September 2007 - 2628 members in 83 countries:

Algeria 1, Argentina 27, Australia 431, Austria 23, Belarus 1, Belgium 57, Brasil 1, Bulgaria 4, Canada 113, Chile 4, China PR 3, Colombia 1, Costa Rica 1, Croatia 3, Cuba 3, Czech Republic 8, Denmark 11, Djibouti 1, Estonia 2, Ethiopia 5, Finland 24, France 38, Georgia 2, Germany 322, Ghana 30, Greece 3, Greenland 1, Guatemala 1, Hong Kong 1, Hungary 15, India 3, Ireland 12, Israel 3, Italy 10, Japan 105, Kazakhstan 1, Kenya 46, Latvia 3, Lithuania 5, Luxembourg 1, Macedonia 1, Malaysia 2, Mali 1, Mexico 2, Morocco 3, Mozambique 1, Nepal 1, Netherlands 17, New Zealand 32, Nicaragua 1, Norway 4, Palestine 2, Peru 1, Philippines 4, Poland 6, Portugal 1, Puerto Rico 1, Romania 23, Russia 33, Saudi Arabia 1, Senegal 1, Serbia 1, Singapore 1, Slovakia 2, Slovenia 7, South Africa 8, South Korea 1, Spain 20, Sri Lanka 7, Suriname 2, Sweden 70, Switzerland 101, Tanzania 16, Thailand 2, Turkey 2, UAE 1, Uganda 6, UK 559, Ukraine 16, Uruguay 1, USA 289, Zambia 5, West Africa 1, Zambia 5, Zimbabwe 46

Here are some snippets from 5W Newsletters and extracts from letters sent to the 5W office:

My ironing isn't done, the garden isn't watered and the tea isn't cooked. So what have I been doing with the afternoon? Reading the 5W newsletter! This happens every time it arrives. I read about who is travelling where and the experiences of both hosts and visitors. Then I daydream about my 1994 visit to Norway and the unique cultures and people in the world and I dream of 5W friendships and world peace - so much more interesting than ironing. CW, Australia.

In June B.L. and I visited L.D. in Kazakhstan. I met her the previous year in Kiev. We saw the great mountains and lakes; visited churches and museums; went to a circus; experienced a banya - a Turkish bath; saw several yortas - the tents used by nomads, and spoke to young Kazakhs who want to leave their great country. Many lovely people made us so welcome. I hope I can reciprocate their hospitality. SB, England

On 7th April last, Friday morning, K.T. came standing on our doorstep to visit me. It was her first time to travel alone and my first time to host a foreigner. I did my best to see she'd be comfortable. Kate gave her best to fit in with our way of living. She really won our hearts. Saying goodbye was hard. I was just able to hold back my tears. She was like a sister to us and we will miss her. I will never forget the time we had together, particularly the evenings, having meals, sitting and talking together, just Ate, Kuya, me and the children. Maraming, maraming salamat - thank you very very much. JA, Philipines.

I came to Milano on business. I visited a new member J.A., living near Lake Como. After one and a half hours in English, I discovered she was Belgian-Flemish too! We laughed a lot about that! LD, Belgium

S.B. from Belgium visited me recently. I was proud to hear her admit she had never dreamed Africa to be what she saw. We have rich cultures and traditions. BK, Kenya.

I think that Women Welcome Women makes the world become a small village in which to build peace and tolerance in a very easy and simple way: just by knowing each other, by writing to members, meeting in small gatherings and trips. This is possible - peace passes through us. MC-L, Italy.

I'm home after a fabulous 13 week trip through USA and Europe. I was fairly apprehensive about meeting and staying with total strangers. I need not have worried. In New York, I walked all over Central Park and explored Manhattan with A.M. In London, G.McC. showed me her "home town" and in Cambridge, the high tea provided by G.J. was an experience - oh the calories! They all made my trip so much more pleasant. AB, Sydney, Australia.

G.D. and I were warmly welcomed to Zimbabwe by M.D. and M.Z. and their families. They went to great lengths to help us meet many people socially and in their work situations. We saw many aspects of their beautiful country which we could not have done without them. We have made some permanent friends. How important WWW is for forging new links between us. ML, England.

We have never before eaten for breakfast: sticky rice in seaweed (Tokyo); dough cakes with a bean filling (Beijing); pelmeni (Siberian dumplings, Moscow); stuffed peppers (Donetsk). We saw the Statue of Liberty, the Golden Gate bridge, the Kremlin, the Forbidden City; we had tea at the British Embassy in Japan and lunch at the Delegates' Dining Room in the United Nations; and we hugged hostesses around the world, for it is, above all, the privilege of entering these women's homes and sharing their lives that we will remember. Frances Alexander (Founder of 5W) of a journey she made with her daughter, Louise.

Dans la liste - 3000 noms! 3000vies! Et derrière chaque nom, une porte ouverte, une invitation à la découverte! Quelle richesse! Et quel fabuleux voyage en perspective! FD, Canada

It only takes a second and suddenly, after a lifetime together, I am a widow. No longer half of a couple, but on my own....bereft.
How my life has changed since those dark days 10 years ago.
I received some advice which changed my life. After all, at 57, I could have another 30 years, so I should start planning my new life! Things only happen if vou make them happen.
l got lucky. In an old magazine in my doctor's surgery, I read an article about Women Welcome Women and joined up. After I received my membership list, I wrote to a Sydney member and arranged to stay with her and her husband, a pleasant 2 nights. Then I wrote to members overseas and arranged to stay with them for short periods. No more the loneliness of a hotel room, but the excitement of living with a local, seeing the country with a local, and experiencing all the similarities and differences of life in another country.
My most vivid experience was at a Gathering of members in Kiev, Ukraine. Do I live in the lucky country!
My own horizons have broadened due to the experiences I have had in overseas countries and in Australia.
Now I can travel safely, alone or at a Gathering, enjoying my new found friends. There are no strangers here, just friends who I have not yet met. JH, Australia.

La amistad es el mejor pasaporte - friendship is the best passport. SS, Argentina

For me, 5W is a model within our world of people who reach out and join compassionate hands in authentic friendship. It is a gentle touch with astonishing healing properties. We have more than 3000 pairs of hands among us. How powerful we must be as a healing force on this planet. JF, Australia