David M., my grandpa sponsor, just passed away after struggling with cancer for some years. You would never guess he had cancer because he never complained. For me, he was the embodiment of Tradition Two, “Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.”
I am Colombian but currently living in Germany. I registered for the Ukrainian convention the very first day I saw the flyer. I remember that day as I felt sad about not being able to attend the convention in my home country, Colombia, which coincidentally was scheduled for the same weekend. So, without hesitation, I filled out the form and attended my first SA convention!
Many fellows from all over the world were deeply saddened by the news that oldtimer Dave T. had passed away. He had recently been diagnosed with lung cancer but it didn’t seem anything was imminent at the time.
In Hungary, SA was founded in September 2019. We currently have three weekly meetings, two online and one hybrid, but there is real interest in Monday's hybrid meeting in Budapest. Participation activity varies—members come and go—but we have about six to eight returning members. The meeting types are varied and include free sharing, SA White Book reading, AA Big Book reading, and speaker meetings.
This is a postcard I sent from the Cracow Convention, where I asked fellow attendees to write something or at least their names for my home group in Italy. It was a meaningful experience for me to engage with both familiar faces and newly met fellows, offering a small way to "carry the message" to those who couldn't be present. Additionally, it could serve as a bridge from our group to the larger SA fellowship. There were many names written, reflecting various languages and alphabets. My only regrets? Not buying a larger postcard to collect even more messages, and not using colored pens.
We were very honored to host the July 2023 “In God We Trust” IC as well as the very first in-person General Delegate Assembly outside North America. The beginning was difficult. We had first planned to organize the convention in our capital Warsaw, but found out that we couldn’t afford a venue suitable for this kind of event there.
In order to best share my experience at the Poland International SA/S-Anon Convention I thought it best to describe my personal road traveled.
The Israel SA fellowship has seen tremendous growth in numbers and quality of recovery since it began in 1996. At our annual national SA conferences, with S-Anon’s participation, we often have between 400 and 500 attendees.
The SA Israel fellowship, with our local S-Anon’s participation, is super-excited to be hosting the International Convention for the second time. In 2017, just at the beginning stage of becoming our own SA Region, we hosted the International Convention the first time it was held outside of the U.S.
In July 1990, our oldtimer Yoshi attended AA's 55th Anniversary World Convention in Seattle, WA, USA. He was in Seattle for a week, but as the convention was for three days, he thought about how to use the remaining days. Since he was a social worker working at a children's center at the time, he wanted to visit a local children's home.
