How WACA was Created
In Cannes, France, in April 1966, the Riviera Airlines Club hosted a conference with various airline club representatives to discuss the formation of a world body which would unite and promote the activities of interline clubs throughout the world. The objective of such an organisation: to promote and encourage friendship, good fellowship and mutual understanding among people of the world, no matter what social standing, race or religion.
WACA places an equal status on its membership regardless of an individual's social standing, race, religion or politics.
Many member clubs have an international event. The club organises a travel package that is listed in the WACA Events Calendar. Interliners from all continents participate and learn first-hand the country, its culture, and taste a variety of food and drink of that country.
Service to the Community
WACA has always had many programmes and each Club in turn has a list of the Charities they support.
For many years we supported UNICEF by collecting coins, sorted into country dominations and sold back to the countries attending our events and then send the money to UNICEF.
For many years we also supported the Special Olympics. When the games took place, we organised members to liaise with their branch and assisted in airport check in for the Olympians' as they departed from their cities and welcomed them home after the games concluded. There were sponsorships from Member Clubs with contributions towards expenses or the airfare. It's amazing to see people with disabilities arriving home with medals. Several years one girl won ten medals and had no legs and got around on a skateboard ... that's courage!
Charity Programmes
At each Annual General Assembly (AGA) we identify a project to be supported at that location. Our members are asked for toys for tots, educational material or bed linen to be donated to orphanages or other institutions in that city. Several years ago in Lisbon we gave goods to a home with abused children and we organised computers to be sent to them. In 2002 in Budapest we literally had a room full of boxes of toys, books, pens, rulers, etc. In 2003 the goods were taken to an orphanage in Belize and in 2004 to an orphanage in Cha-Am, Thailand. In 2005 all our support was given to an orphanage from the organisation of Mother Teresa in Agra, India.
After the devastating Tsunami at the end of 2004, WACA created its “WACA Relief Fund” to concentrate all efforts in specific projects. For two years these funds were dedicated to the library of the Duwa Junior School in Negombo, Sri Lanka, which was affected by the Tsunami's tidal waves. The library was rebuild, refurnished and provided with more than 600 books.
From 2007–2014 WACA was contributing with its Relief Fund to the efforts by supporting FIKELELA, a non-profit organisation in Cape Town that provides an active response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic in South Africa.
The WACA Change For Help programme was launched in 2015 raising monies for the WACA Relief Fund from cash donations and donations of unwanted foreign coins which were then sorted, resold and converted into United States dollars. From the monies in the WACA Relief Fund, the WACA Council decided to sponsor three teenage children who were selected by the Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation and, as far as possible, WACA will support and sustain the children in their education until they reach the age to join university.
International Institute for Peace through Tourism
The International Institute For Peace Through Tourism (www.iipt.org) is a not for profit organisation dedicated to fostering and facilitating tourism initiatives which contribute to international understanding and cooperation, an improved quality of environment, the preservation of heritage, and through these initiatives, helping to bring about a peaceful and sustainable world.
It is based on a vision of the world's largest industry, travel and tourism: becoming the world's first global peace industry and the belief that every traveler is potentially an "Ambassador for Peace". WACA is one of the 40 Coalition Partners of the Institute.
© Copyright 2011 World Airlines Clubs Association