$26 a Night in Cuba Included Breakfast, Dinner, and a Bottle of Rum — I Didn’t Get the Rum for Some Reason 😅 – Scott H.

So my name is Scott and I am an alcoholic and thank you for the invitation to be here
with you this weekend. I appreciate it. I serve in Alcoholics Anonymous as something
called a trustee at large Canada, which doesn't make me anyone special in Alcoholics Anonymous.
I had some experience with being special in Alcoholics Anonymous and that was usually
right before I got drunk, so I never want to be special in Alcoholics Anonymous. And
Ken can tell you that there's nothing special about being a trustee, it just means that
you've served in alcoholics.
You've sunk as low as you can go in Alcoholics Anonymous in terms of service.
So I'm glad there was no tornado. There was no tornado mentioned on the invitation to
come here. I come from British Columbia, which is a mountainous part of Canada. There are
no tornadoes there. We deal with forest fires and floods and things like that, but no tornadoes.
So I think what I've been asked to do today is to talk about the importance of the
work that we all do as a fellowship through our general service board to reach out the
hand of Alcoholics Anonymous to the still suffering alcoholic outside of the U.S. and
Canada. And so that's what I'm going to talk about.
And I hope that what you hear as I share the stories that I have about the experiences that I've had in doing that
kind of work is that it's the same as the relationship that we all have in Alcoholics Anonymous.
What we give to each other seems quite often to be so much less than what we get from each other.
And this is about 12-step work. We give and we get.
And that's one of the... So as a trustee at Large Canada,
I serve as a trustee on the general service board. I participate in trustees' committees
and do all the kinds of things that other trustees do. And if you've ever
been around or talked to trustees, you'll realize that there are some slight
differences amongst our titles. And they all come with some
slightly different sort of special responsibilities. And one of the
special responsibilities in my role is to serve as one of the people
who attends when we get an invitation from another structure for someone to come to observe
their general service conference or to participate in a celebration of Alcoholics Anonymous
in their structure. And so what I'm going to do this morning for the next
50 minutes or so is just to share some experiences with that.
I've got some pictures to help bring it alive. You will find as I go through that much like my drinking life,
the pictures don't always match up the words.
You will see that some of the pictures are just pictures that I like
because I'm a quirky alcoholic.
If you have questions after, I don't know if time allows
here to take them, but if it does, we'll do that. And if not,
please catch up to me at some point in the weekend and ask.
I'm more than happy to talk about those things.
So two of the ways that our structure participates in...
I'll just reach when I need to change the picture because I don't need to do that for a minute.
Two of the ways that our structure participates in Alcoholics Anonymous
outside of our structure are through the World Service Meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous
and through a zonal meeting called the Redella, which is the meeting of the Americans.
And those are the first two things that I'm going to talk about.
And then I'm just going to talk about some of the places I've been and some of the people
that I've met. So when Bill first started
going to other countries in the late 40s
and the early 50s, he talked about establishing
beachheads of Alcoholics Anonymous all around the world.
And we find that that's the case today.
Alcoholics Anonymous is present.
In over 170 countries.
And he talked about having a meeting where all of those countries
could come together to share their experiences with helping
the still-suffering alcoholic in their countries.
And today that shows up as the World Service Meeting.
And you can see from the slide that the most recent
World Service Meeting was the 24th World Service Meeting.
And it was held in upstate California.
New York. And there were delegates from
there were 61 delegates from 41 countries
that attended. There are around the world
63 general service structures. So those are
countries that have an organized structure and a general service office
just like we have here. And those of course vary in size
and in numbers
that roughly relate to the population of the country.
And there's a lot of regulations of alcoholics in those countries.
And so the 24th World Service Meeting had members from 41 countries
from around the world come together just to share about what's being done
in Alcoholics Anonymous in their country.
And there isn't any policy set and we don't make rules or anything like that.
We don't tell anybody how they ought to do it or what they ought to do.
But there are places where we come to share experience.
And countries give highlights very much like for those who have been to the General Service Conference.
Delegates give highlights about their areas.
What's going on in Alcoholics Anonymous in their area?
And at the World Service Meeting it's what's going on in Alcoholics Anonymous in your country?
And it's just wonderful to sit and hear the experiences of Alcoholics Anonymous.
You know I heard the delegates say,
the delegates from Romania talk about their magazine, they publish it bimonthly.
And you know it's like our grapevine.
And he was so proud to talk about how they're up to a circulation of 200.
And he was just excited about the growth of Alcoholics Anonymous in their country.
And the delegate from Poland related a story and she gave a little bit of the history
of Alcoholics Anonymous in Poland.
And she talked about how AA came
to Poland in about 1974 when Poland was still behind the Iron Curtain.
And the message was really smuggled in by some visitors from Germany who risked a great
deal bringing in some AA literature to Poland.
And how that was sort of the starting point for AA and how they printed their first literature
on paper that was smuggled in from AA members.
And it was paid for by some money that was donated to them by Finland.
You know and the help they'd received to see AA begin in Poland.
And I had an occasion to go to the General Service Conference in Poland a couple years
ago.
And Poland is now really a major force in Alcoholics Anonymous in that, what I'm going
to call Eastern European part of the world.
And they invited a lot of people.
They invited a lot of people.
They invited observers from 13 other countries to come and observe their General Service
Conference and say, come and see what we're doing.
See if any of that can help you in your country see Alcoholics Anonymous become a little stronger.
And she related a story about how 25 people had gotten on a bus to go to Moldova.
AA had been in Moldova for about 25 years and they'd made some trips to Moldova because
even after 25 years Moldova only had a couple of meetings and they'd made a trip over you
know some of them to sort of help with some ideas about sponsorship and meeting formats
and things like that.
But on this particular occasion and the result of that was that there were more meetings
in Moldova and they were now to a point where they were ready to maybe to try to take some
meetings into their correctional facilities and so they wanted a little bit more help.
And so Poland said, yeah we'll come help.
And 25 years later.
Yeah.
So 25 people got on a bus and they rode 20 hours each way to go and put on a workshop
you know for the for the Alcoholics Anonymous members in Moldova about how to carry the message
into correctional facilities.
And there were some people from Romania that jumped on the bus and some people from Slovenia
and Ukraine that jumped on the bus.
And she related this story and I thought you know what a profound effort to help the still-suffering
alcoholic.
And I'd heard the highlights from Ukraine and Slovenia you know when they related their
country highlights and I'd heard them telling about what their annual budgets were for their
structures.
And the delegate from Ukraine had said that the annual budget for the whole of their structure
was like $3,500.
You know and in Slovenia the annual budget for their whole of their structure was $3,000.
And I thought wow.
I mean.
The budget for my home group is more than that right.
You know we set out a budget you know this is how much we're going to contribute to these
various levels of service.
This is how much our rent costs.
This is how much literature we give away.
You know we look around the room at each other and we go okay well this is how much money
we need from from our members in my group.
And my group's annual budget you know it's not a big group but it's more than that.
And I and I got talking to the delegate from Ukraine and Slovenia and I said you know with
such limited resources.
Doesn't the fellowship in in in your country really demand that that that money that you
spend you spend on doing things in Alcoholics Anonymous in your own country.
And and he looked at me and he said no.
He said it's just like our own lives.
He said you know Alcoholics Anonymous in our structure is strengthened when we reach out
our hand to help someone else.
You know and it's just a profound lesson that that the same things that.
You know.
That that are true for us in our personal recovery lives are are true for countries
in in terms of the efforts they make.
And so so those were a couple of of the the highlights from from the World Service meeting
and I and I just have a few pictures to share with you.
You know that's obviously just the banner and a and a picture of of some of the literature
and.
You know.
It caught my caught my eye because it's a it's a green big book and it was just different
and so it caught my attention but that's the Australian big book and and and just the the
rows of literature you know countries are are bringing examples of their literature
because they're just so proud of of what they can do.
And it and it puts me in mind always of of how important a role literature plays in in
our recovery.
The big book now.
Is available in seventy one languages including the original English.
And we have literature available in ninety two languages.
You know and and we hear that and we go okay well that's that's kind of nice but.
But I don't know what your experiences are in in being in in other places where they
speak languages other than than English.
You know I'm going to talk a little bit more about this later I I think.
And.
You know.
I've had some experiences in in some central and South American countries where you know
Spanish is is the language that spoken and I'm.
I'm the only English speaker in the room and and were it not for an interpreter or a or
a translator you know depending on whether it's spoken or or written.
I'd have no ability to communicate with the people in the room and I.
And I look at at what's in front of me whether it's an agenda or a piece of literature.
And I don't understand it.
You know.
And I and I think back to when I was first.
Sober you know and and reading through that big book in English which is my only language
you know and I'm a guy with a couple of university degrees and and my sponsor saying to me you
know you know for for a guy who thinks he's so smart you sure don't understand what's
written in there and that's in my own language imagine trying to imagine trying to do it
in a language.
And I.
Not my own.
You know and and that that message is is brought forward you know time after time for me and
in in some of these experiences you know I.
I showed up in in Germany for their general service conference and the fellow came and
picked me up from my hotel because I got in late and speaking me out to take me out to
the conference site and.
You know and he says during your presentation and thinking presentation what presentation.
I.
Am.
And so I asked what presentation and he said well it was on the agenda and I said well
sure but the agenda was in German.
You know just just how important you know translation and interpretation services are.
You know in our in our fellowship.
You know one of the things that that you know we find out as a trustee at large and as a
trustee and as a delegate is as people involved in service must be flexible.
You know.
I.
And you know I had an experience in in Cuba where we didn't get the agenda in advance
and.
And they started their conference they invited.
Greg our general manager and I who who had been invited to attend up to the front and
so we're sitting up on the front.
For the whole of the general service conference they invited us to sit up there and the.
Interpreters listening to what they're saying and he says.
He says I'm just looking at the agenda and it looks like you're supposed to make a presentation
about something.
And he says wait.
Just wait.
a minute. And we say, well, when is it? And he says, it's on the agenda for this afternoon.
And we both go, okay, great. He goes, oh, no, wait, wait. No, they want you to do it
now. You know, how long do they want you to talk? Well, they want you to talk for half
an hour each. You know, as you'll hear now and later, for some of us, that's no real
trouble. You know, it's the fact that it's only a 79-minute, you know, 58-second CD that
gets us to sit down sometimes. But it was just a wonderful reminder. This is just a
picture of myself and a guy from a part of India called Canada. I had to get my picture
taken with the other guy from Canada.
Yeah. I show this picture all the time because one of the things that doesn't always occur
to us is just how similar alcoholics are. I mean, you know, Erica and Estelle and Ken
and anybody else who's ever been a delegate will understand what I mean because you go
to the conference and you find out that, you know, the delegate from British Columbia is
the same as the delegate from Puerto Rico is the same as the delegate from the United
States. The delegate from Colorado is the same as the delegate from Nebraska or South
Dakota. And it's true all around the world. I was watching these guys. They were trying
to get organized for taking a picture. And this is about 10 minutes in. And this is about
five minutes later. So, like, I mean, they're 15 minutes getting organized to take a picture.
And so they are just perfectly alcoholic.
You know, they complain about the coffee, right? They complain that the print – it
doesn't matter where – well, except for Costa Rica. They never complained about the
coffee in Costa Rica. I guess that's because they had Costa Rican coffee there. You know,
but it didn't matter where I went. They complained about the coffee. They complained that the
print and the financial statements was too small. You know, all of these things. Erica
will probably show a picture of something like this later.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
It's just at Stepping Stones. We took the delegates from around the world to Stepping
Stones because they're just – they're so interested in the history of Alcoholics
Anonymous. And that's myself and the then-trustee-at-large U.S. sitting at the coffee table, you know,
where Bill and Ebby sat. And this is a picture of the delegate from Trinidad and Tobago sitting
at Bill's desk at Witt's End and just how excited they were for – you know, they
were so excited. And the perspective on the history of Alcoholics Anonymous that they
were afforded. And a bunch of the delegates on the Brooklyn Bridge. It was in upstate
New York and I sort of took it upon myself to take a group of people into the city because
they'd never been into New York City. And so we went to the Brooklyn Bridge and went
for a ride on the subway. And I took them for a walk through Central Park because, you
know, what they know about Central Park is from TV and anybody who goes into Central
Park at night gets killed.
And so I took them into Central Park at night, which was probably safer than being in Times
Square because, I mean, they're alcoholics and they saw something shiny and away they
went. And some of their English isn't great. And I've got, I don't know, I think I had
11 of them with me. And I'm the only one who knows how to get back. And they're wandering
off different places. You know, just like alcoholics.
Yeah. I'm going to talk about the zonal meeting in a few minutes. I just first want to talk
a little bit about Cuba. I've had occasion to be invited to attend events in Cuba twice.
One was the General Service Conference and I'll talk a little bit about that in a moment.
And another was the celebration of 25 years of Alcoholics Anonymous in Cuba. And these
are just some sort of typical pictures of Cuba.
This is the view from where I was staying, so that you know AA's money is well spent.
The bar where Ernest Hemingway drank daiquiris, just in case you needed to know.
A map of Cuba and their areas and their service structure and just their general service office.
I'm just going to stop and talk for a little.
A minute about Cuba. The first time we went, we were invited to attend their General Service
Conference, which is something that we're invited to do with some regularity. And we've
been making some efforts to get some literature into Cuba because they don't have licenses
or facilities really to print literature. And they struggle with obtaining literature.
Any literature that they do get typically comes from us or Mexico by way of a donation.
And even though we donate this,
this literature, into Cuba, we've had some difficulty actually getting it to AA in Cuba.
And so we found a route through the Catholic Church where we ship it to Alcoholics Anonymous
care of the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church picks it up and calls the members of
Alcoholics Anonymous to come and pick it up. And we went and we met with the Archbishop's
office to thank them for the help that they'd given to us and to Alcoholics Anonymous in
Cuba.
in Cuba because the office for AA in Cuba is in space that belongs to the Catholic Church.
And through the course of this meeting, we discovered that one of the true challenges
and what we didn't realize about AA in Cuba is that AA is not officially recognized by
the government in Cuba. And for us, we think, you know, so what? Who cares if the government
recognizes us? But it has a little bit more meaning in Cuba because everything is owned
by the government in Cuba. And so when you want to get a phone line for Alcoholics Anonymous
in Cuba, your conversation with the department of the government that deals with phones might
go something like this. Hello, I'm calling from Alcoholics Anonymous. We'd like to
get a phone line for AA in Cuba. And you hear this clickety-clack as he or she, you
know, looks at their computer to get this organized. And they say, I'm sorry, AA doesn't
exist. And they hang up. You know, or you go to rent space and you have that same conversation.
We'd like to rent space for an office or a meeting for AA in Cuba. I'm sorry, AA doesn't
exist. You know, and you have an event and you want to get caterers to bring in food.
And the only caterers that are available are part of the government. And you have that
same experience.
And so, you know, we recognized why it was so important that the Catholic Church be involved
in this. And they've been very, very careful to make sure that they're separate. You know,
they're very conscious of our traditions and the need to stay separate. But it's a real
challenge to Alcoholics Anonymous.
Speaker 2.
And so we started to turn our minds to, you know, what can we do to help? What can we do to help?
And we thought, well, you know, being from Canada, Canada has a different relationship with Cuba than
the U.S. does. And maybe we could have some diplomatic influence. And we thought, no, no,
that's not really what we do in Alcoholics Anonymous. And we started to turn our minds
towards putting together some kind of event where we could speak to professionals,
you know, members from there and members from here, and see if we could find a way in for
Alcoholics Anonymous in Cuba. And we got back to Cuba for the next event, which was the 25th
anniversary. And we were speaking to the Archbishop's office again and members of Alcoholics
Anonymous about some of these ideas. And they explained something that hadn't really occurred
to us.
Speaker 3.
And that is that one of the...
Speaker 4.
And that is that one of the...
They gave us an example. They said when the Catholic Church had wanted for Mother Teresa
to come to Cuba, she wasn't able to obtain a visa to come to Cuba for missionary purposes.
She was able to obtain only a tourist visa. Because to issue a visa for missionary purposes
might...
Might be an admission by the government that there are poor people who need assistance
in Cuba, which might be an admission that the government has failed its people, which
is not something that a government would want to do. And so if we think about that in terms
of recognizing Alcoholics Anonymous, Cuba has one of the best medical systems of any
country in the world. More doctors per capita than...
Than just about anywhere. And so to admit a need for Alcoholics Anonymous in Cuba might
be admitting a failure by the government to provide all that its people's need. And
so it gives us an idea about a way to approach this differently, that that's not what Alcoholics
Anonymous is. Alcoholics Anonymous isn't about an admission of a failure to provide all the
need, just the same way that antibiotics after an operation isn't about admitting the
failure of the operation. It's a way to supplement the services that are already provided to
the population. And it just gives us a slightly different approach. And we had hoped before
there was a shift in the government to be able to get a meeting with Mariela Castro,
who was Raul's daughter, because she'd been so...
Influential in having rights for the gay and lesbian community recognized in Cuba.
And we haven't been able to have that happen. And of course, there are some changes that
are happening in Cuba. But it was just sort of the power of cooperation with other entities
that are able to assist alcoholics.
Yeah.
Alcoholics Anonymous. And that we're able to assist. That was just a picture of myself
with their World Service Meeting delegate. This was at their 25th anniversary event.
And it was an interesting event. That's mostly their General Service Board and some delegates.
They're all coming on stage with candles to represent the light that Alcoholics Anonymous
brings to the dark world of alcoholism.
Yeah.
And so it's just a way, it's a very interesting thing.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
the things that I thought was kind of funny is that as they're bringing all the trustees of the
board onto the stage, they're playing Pink Floyd's Shine On You Crazy Diamond. You know, anyone who's
met a trustee would recognize that as probably being pretty fair. This is just one of those
quirky pictures I liked. It shows a truck and a motorcycle taxi and a horse taxi, which is just
so quintessentially Cuba. Sometimes I just think I'm a photographer. This is a picture of the
delegates at their general service conference. And Greg and Hernan, our interpreter, and myself
and Delvis, their delegate, and a picture outside of the location of the second meeting of
Alcoholics Anonymous in Cuba. I have pictures from two different zonal meetings.
That's the Redella. That's the meeting of the Americas. And it's a meeting that's, I guess,
if you look at the World Service meeting and you look at the Redella, the Redella is a lot more
like a regional meeting. And that region happens to be all of the countries in the Americas,
including the Caribbean. And the first one I went to was in Mexico City. And I took
that picture, me with a Diet Dr. Pepper, just proof from my home area that it was me and I was
there. You'll notice that I have one of those often. And zonal meetings are a little bit
different than the World Service meeting. You know, attendance at the World Service meeting,
for attendance at the World Service meeting, usually you have to have your own structure or
at least an intergroup structure in your country. Zonal meetings,
there's no such requirement. They're a little bit more accessible. And again, they're a forum
for the sharing of experience to help emerging structures. And one story I heard out of a zonal
meeting in mostly the sub-Saharan nations, so mostly African, was a country sharing a story
of a zonal meeting. And I thought, well, that's a great story. And I thought, well, that's a great
story. And I thought, well, that's a great story. And I thought, well, that's a great story. And I
about how they were growing corn to sell to raise money for Alcoholics Anonymous and some of the
other countries sharing their experience, you know, that that's not really what we do in
Alcoholics Anonymous. And about helping countries find their feet and find their way in Alcoholics
Anonymous and sharing our experience with the traditions and some of the challenges
to growth in Alcoholics Anonymous. And lots of the sharing happens, you know, when the delegates
give their country highlights and their
workshops and their presentations. But just like here, lots of what really comes out of an event
comes out of, you know, sitting around a coffee table or a dinner table or standing outside having
a smoke or by the coffee machine. And I just want to relate the importance of that. This is a meeting
place in Mexico. I like to show this picture because sometimes around where I live, you know,
people will put up, you know, that little...
It's like an eight and a half by 11 sign that has a circle triangle on it. That's all it has on it.
And they'll put it outside the meeting place. And someone will come into the meeting and they'll
rage about how someone's breaking their anonymity by having that sign out there.
So the white thing is the door to the meeting place. So they have a slightly different concept
of this in Mexico. So just from a tour of their
general service office, in their general service office, they have a room that is really an audio
studio where they do radio and television interviews to talk about Alcoholics Anonymous,
what it is, what it isn't, what we do, what we don't do. And I put this picture here just
because it's important to acknowledge that, you know, how important this work is everywhere.
But there are a number of countries where there is more than one structure of Alcoholics Anonymous,
you know, where they have more than one general service conference, where they have
groups that belong to different structures. And, you know, in Mexico, there's certainly two.
There's maybe four. You know, in Russia, there's certainly two. And in Finland,
there's certainly two. And I don't say that, you know, to put anyone down. It's just a chance to
challenge that Alcoholics Anonymous faces. And there are groups in Mexico who will, for money,
you know, take you through a fourth and a fifth step process. And it's important for us in
Alcoholics Anonymous to remember that we have a responsibility not only to protect
Alcoholics Anonymous, but to perpetuate Alcoholics Anonymous and to help people understand
the difference between Alcoholics Anonymous and some other things that they might confuse with
Alcoholics Anonymous, whether that's treatment, whether that's some other fellowship. And,
you know, if we look around here, I don't know how many of you have ever Googled something called
AlcoholicsAnonymous.com, but it's an interesting experience, you know. If you have a problem with
drinking, drink less. That's the advice. There's advice on there about when an Alcoholics Anonymous
should get a plant and when an Alcoholics should get a pet. And it all sounds kind of official.
And so, you know, Mexico's not the only place where they have a challenge distinguishing the
message of Alcoholics Anonymous from other messages. You know, we have that here. And
sometimes, sometimes we err a bit on the side of caution rather than on the side of the
perpetuation. I'll tell a story about, they thought Bob and I kind of looked like Bill and Bob.
So we had to do that. Probably would have been better if I hadn't been smiling. It's just some
of the challenges across languages, you know, Bob was always Bob, and they couldn't get Scott,
most of them, for the life of them. And most of them, they couldn't get Scott for the life of them.
Obviously, what I got was Scotch, which is pretty fair, given my history. They like to end these
events with a paranda, which is a party. That's the one in Mexico. That's just the banner from
Costa Rica and the current U.S. trustee at large, Newton, and myself, and a picture of the conference
room.
And more fellowship. They invited us to their general service office, and the fellowship put on
a potluck dinner for all of the delegates from the Redella, and they end it with a party. I have
no idea what those things are and what they were supposed to do, but apparently they're really big
in Costa Rica, and they show up at every party. One of the things that we do as trustees at large
is to share a talk like this at the regional forum. I did a presentation recently in my home
area.
I had to remind them that there was an upcoming regional forum in Regina, Saskatchewan. That's not
Regina, Saskatchewan. That's Hawaii. One of the things that I was forced to do was attend a regional
forum in Hawaii. I know. Yeah, you know those people who say if it wasn't for bad luck, I would
have no luck at all? Yeah, I'm not that guy. More like if it wasn't for good luck. I'm not that guy.
If it wasn't for good luck, I wouldn't have any luck at all. This is just from the general service
conference in Poland, and I talked a little bit about Poland and the leadership that they showed
there, and just some of the things that we're invited to talk about. They had questions while
we were there about our membership survey. How do we do it mechanically? Greg was at the Polish
general service conference with me, and he talked about the mechanics of it. They asked me, well,
what do you do? What do you do? What do you do? What do you do? What do you do? What do you do? What do
you use it for? And I talked about how important it was, you know, in our CPC work and some of the
other work they do, and they decided that they were going to adopt a practice of surveying
their membership. And, you know, again, just to tell you how similar we are, you know, one of the
delegates said to another, how do you think the fellowship's going to react to this? And the other
guy said, well, it's new. They'll hate it. You know, it's just kind of how we are.
This is the general service conference in Germany, and just to talk a little bit about
that, they were, the first time I went, they were talking about maybe adapting or applying for a
license for and translating the pamphlet, Many Paths to Spirituality. And it was interesting to
hear the discussion around that pamphlet, you know, in Germany, because it sounded almost word
for word like, you know, I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this. I'm going to do this.
Like the discussions, you know, we had in our own fellowship when that pamphlet was being
considered, you know, the arguments, you know, that you can't have AA without God, and, you know,
and what about atheists and agnostics, and, you know, religion is the words, and spirituality
is the music, and I'm okay with just the music. And all of those same discussions, you know,
were had, you know, in a different fellowship. And most recently, they were talking about,
about, they'd been invited as a structure to, to join an organization, something like the NIAAA,
which is a National Drug and Alcohol Institute. And, you know, they asked us to come and tell
them whether they should or shouldn't do that. And of course, that's not what we do, right?
You know, we went and we, and we shared our experience. We said, you know, here's what we've
done in similar circumstances, and here's how it turned out, and here's how, how we found a way to
sort of participate in these kinds of things, you know, without necessarily becoming, becoming
members. And, and we were very clear to say that just because we're the oldest structure doesn't
mean that we're right. You know, our experience is just our experience, you know, and, and it's
again a reminder just how we are in Alcoholics Anonymous. You know, we share our experience,
strength, and hope with each other, and just because we've been sober longer than someone
else doesn't make us more right. You know, and they, and they found a way to,
to have participation rights without having to, to be affiliated, you know, and it was just a
wonderful example of the, of the principles in our, in our traditions at, at work.
I was invited to attend, or we were invited and I went, because it's not an invitation to me,
it's an invitation to us, and I go on your behalf.
The Central American Convention in Panama about two years ago, and, and it was, it was a very
different experience for me. I, I got there after, I mean, from where I live, it, it takes a while
to get anywhere. I mean, it took me 13 hours, I think, to get here. So it, it takes a while to
get anywhere, and I, you know, was 15 hours in coach and an hour and a half standing in, in line
for, for customs, and, and I was feeling kind of sorry for myself. I was, I was, I was, I was, I was
feeling kind of sorry for myself, you know, about how long it had taken me to get there, and, and
I got to the, the first event that I was, was scheduled to attend, and it was a luncheon for
the trustees from the, from some of the other general service structures, and, and I, and I got
talking through the interpreter to the, one of the trustees from Honduras, and, and he asked how long
it took him, it took me to get there, and I told him my sad story about, you know, 16 hours in coach
and standing in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the, in the,
and, and I asked him how long it took him to get there, and he said, oh, I was about 48 hours on
the bus. Now, I'd seen the bus, like, this isn't the luxury Greyhound, right? Like, this is,
this is the chicken bus, like, this is the, the old school bus with the sprung seats, and,
and I got to thinking about this, and I, and I kept asking some questions, you know,
and there's about 1,500 people at this event that runs about the same length of time as,
as this one, and,
and some of the people there from Nicaragua, they'd spent seven, seven days one way on the bus
to attend this event, and, and I'm thinking, you know, what a devotion to, to Alcoholics Anonymous,
what a commitment to helping the still-suffering alcoholic, and it, and it was just a, a stark
reminder of, of, you know, what, what we do to help the still-suffering alcoholic, and, and,
and it pointed something out to me.
Alcoholics Anonymous is, has sometimes become quite easy in, in our countries,
and, and sometimes I, I hear people saying things like, I've done my share, it's someone else's turn,
and I never,
heard that here, and I don't think I've heard that anywhere else I've been outside of our
structure. And sometimes when they're talking about Alcoholics Anonymous in their country and
in some of these other places, they say, you know, almost with a sense of embarrassment that
Alcoholics Anonymous here is a little bit like it was in your countries in the 1940s or the 1950s.
And they say that kind of like they're embarrassed, like they're backward or something
like that. And as I've had some of these experiences, you know, more and more I look at
that with some envy, you know, because I see the lengths that people are willing to go to
for their own sobriety and to help the still-suffering alcoholic. I mean, they're going to
the places where you find alcoholics. They're going and dragging them off the streets in meetings.
They're not waiting for the boss from the treatment center to show up at their meetings so that they
can complete their treatment. They're waiting for the boss from the treatment center to show up at
the treatment center to complain about how these people don't know anything about our traditions
and giving them a hack for, you know, being an anda or whatever they're doing, you know,
or not staying on topic. You know, they're doing real work in Alcoholics Anonymous.
And I never hear, I've done my share, it's someone else's turn. What I hear is,
what more can I do? You know, what else can I do? What's next?
And that's something that I get to bring back and share. I mean, there is no way that I would
willingly spend 48 hours on the bus to get to a weekend AA event.
That says something about me, doesn't it? I mean, I am pampered and selfish and concerned with my
own comfort in Alcoholics Anonymous far more than I should be. And, you know, and when I spoke earlier
about the things that I do, I was like, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. I'm not
one of the things that we give and the things that we get. One of the things that we get is a
powerful example of 12-step work, you know, when we go to some of these other countries. And it's
really important. And, you know, it's not like Alcoholics Anonymous doesn't have challenges,
you know. At the first Redella I went to, you know, the delegate from Honduras was talking
about low numbers of women.
In Alcoholics Anonymous in Honduras, you know, about how, you know, at that time there were
about 13,000 members of Alcoholics Anonymous in Honduras and something like 70 of them were women.
You know, and at the most recent Redella, you know, that number is up to 150.
You know, and so one of the things that we talk about is what can we do to help
bring the message to women alcoholics in some of these other countries and structures because
there's lots of women who are dying from alcoholism who aren't getting the message of
Alcoholics Anonymous or who aren't able to stay in Alcoholics Anonymous. And there are some things
that we can do. We have a public service announcement called Tango Esperanza, which
features Spanish-speaking women. You know, AA Grapevine is kind of this close to being able to
have, you know, one of their books that features stories from alcoholics. And I think that's a good
thing, Spanish-speaking women. You know, and we have some resources and we had a workshop and some
sharing session about some things we can do. And there was some recognition that some of these
cultures are a little bit machismo. You know, and in some of these cultures, there is a particular
lowness seen in alcoholic women. And how do we get around that? And what do we do? And those are
things that...
That, you know, we have some experience to bring, but they've got some experience to share as well. And it's
just a powerful example of the value of some of these events. And, of course, you know, they start and finish
with a party. Some of the travel that I do on behalf of Alcoholics Anonymous is really quite fun.
This was one of them. I was invited to an event in Peru and I went a little bit early and had a chance to hike
Machu Picchu with my wife and son and his wife. And it was a wonderful experience. You know, it's not always
like that. You know, often it's show up in time for the event and arrive at the hotel and be in a room like this
for 12 or 14 hours a day that doesn't have windows and leave and go straight back to the airport.
And, you know, I had somebody ask me, you know, what Kansas City was like. And I said, I don't know. It was dark
when I got there. You know, I was in a windowless room in the Hilton Hotel, except when I went across the parking
lot to the gas station to get a Diet Dr. Pepper. And when I left, it was dark. And that was what I saw of Kansas City,
the windowless room in the Hilton and the gas station. And, you know, and I had the hotel in Cuba that, you know,
was $26 a night that included breakfast and dinner and a bottle of rum. I didn't get the bottle of rum for some reason.
But, you know, and if you wonder what you get for $26 a night in Cuba, you get the same thing that you get in your
hometown for $26 a night. Except, of course, that the shower, you could use the shower or the toilet before 930 in the
morning. And after that, you couldn't because there was no water. And that was just sort of a function of the travel.
And, you know, this is about AA and
Peru. Actually, before I leave this, I just want to tell a story because some of it's just fun. I mean, I was in Panama and was
supposed to make a presentation. And I said, what time's my presentation? And they said, nine o'clock. I said, okay, well, what
time is somebody coming to get me from the hotel? 830. So, you know, I'm in the lobby at 20 after eight and someone shows up at
quarter after nine to pick me up for my nine o'clock presentation, which ends up being at 11 o'clock. But it's just sort of how time
works.
Some other places. You know, and I get a ride to another event in Panama. And I get in the taxi and it's driven by this guy who, I mean, he's
absolutely huge. He must be 400 pounds and six foot eight. And I'm in the seat behind him. So it's like super comfy. And I look up, you know, at his
rearview mirror because traffic is crazy in Panama. And it turns out you don't really need a rearview mirror in Panama because you've been
there. But instead of a rearview mirror, he's got a rearview mirror. And he's got a rearview mirror. And he's got a rearview mirror. And he's got a
video screen. And what's playing is My Name is Bill W. Like it's just the coolest thing sometimes, right? In Spanish. But I recognize the
actors. And we went to a board meeting. And the board meeting was scheduled to start at 2.30 and then was postponed to 3 and then started at
3.30. And I looked at the agenda. And I thought, well, we're going to be out of here at 6 o'clock and I'll be able to go to a meeting and it'll be
great.
And at 6 o'clock, we were still talking about the minutes from the previous meeting. You know, and we finished at 5 after 2 in the morning. And we
talked about everything. And, you know, it's taken me a while to adjust to this. But, you know, as much as alcoholics are the same from place to
place, culturally we're sometimes a little bit, you know, different. I was in Germany and I, you know, got up to the light and it said, don't walk
and I, of course, walked. But I was the only one. Nobody else walked, right? And at this board meeting in Panama, you know, got guys standing
and they're standing up and they're really loud and they're like doing this at each other, right? Like I'm from Canada. You do not point your finger at
somebody like that, right? And then they got their arms around each other at the coffee machine. And it's just, it's wonderful the differences too. You know, and it's one of the things I appreciate about
Alcoholics Anonymous is we're all the same and we're all just a little bit, we're all a little bit different. And I appreciate the opportunity to see that. I'm running up against my time.
A group from Costco, Cusco rather. Costco is something different. Cusco is a, well, Costco is a place too. But Cusco is a, I went to a meeting there, a Spanish speaking meeting. And, you know, I
Before I went, I, you know, figured out how to say, you know, I'm just here. I know I won't understand what you're saying, but I'll know what your stories are about. And these guys tracked me down at the event to take a picture.
And one group, you know, put up a picture of Bill and Bob in their Andean hats, which I thought was kind of cool. And that was just with the chair of the board of Venezuela and Ecuador.
Um...
Just before I talk about this picture, because I'm going to tell two stories and then stop.
When I first was elected as a trustee, it was just before the 2015 International Convention. And shortly after I was elected, I got a call from the office, from Eva, who uninvited me.
Uh, for the, the, I'd been asked to speak at a particular meeting, and she uninvited me. Um, and invited me instead to, to, now that I was a trustee, chair a meeting called AA Around the World.
And for those who went to that meeting, you'll know that it was a call-up meeting. Uh, you'll also know that there were two call-up meetings, uh, at the whole of the International Convention.
Both of them were called AA Around the World. And, you know, I start thinking about me, because that's what I do. Um, and I know that I'm supposed to chair this meeting.
I'm called AA Around the World, and nobody's really told me what I'm supposed to do yet, but I understand it's a call-up meeting, and it's called AA Around the World.
So I've put it all together, and what I'm supposed to do is call out people from AA Around the World to come and share their experiences.
Well, I don't know anyone from AA Around the World, so I'm thinking about what a terrible job I'm going to do.
And this very first thing that I'm called upon to do as a trustee, and don't you know, as a trustee, I'm really supposed to at least appear like I know what I'm doing, and I'm just going to be terrible.
And, uh, and just sort of up in my...
up in my head about me, me, me, me, me, me, me, and, and, you know, I do what I've learned to do in service.
I ask, um, you know, the more senior trustee-at-large U.S., and, um, he's helpful as, as, as some long-time service people often are.
He said, I have no idea. Mine's tomorrow. I'm coming to watch yours.
Just like the first time I did a countdown and a roundup, I went and asked this old-timer.
I said, I've never done a countdown before. How do you do a countdown?
He says, it's the same as counting up.
You just count down.
Not really the help I was looking for.
Anyway, I'm, I'm busy thinking about me and, and how bad I'm going to look, which, which was, which is pretty important.
And, and for those of you who are at the International Convention, you'll recall that, that there was these, that there were these two great long escalators going from the main level down to the lower level.
And, and they sort of ran parallel, and I'm on the...
The one escalator, um, thinking about how bad I'm going to look, and, and, uh, I notice on the other escalator that there's this guy, and he's got a map of the convention facility, and he's kind of doing, you know, this with, with the map.
And clearly no idea where he's going, and I've been lost for a while in the convention center, so I kind of knew where everything was.
And, and I said, can I help you find something?
You know, and, and my experience then was, was, as my experience...
...always is in Alcoholics Anonymous, if, if I stop thinking about me for, for just long enough to help somebody else, that gives the power in my life time to intervene.
And, and he says, well, I'm trying to find this meeting in B such and such.
It's called AA Around the World.
And I said, well, I happen to be going there.
I, you can come with me.
I'll, I'll take you there.
I know where that room is.
And I'm about to go back to thinking about me, and he says, I sure hope they ask my friend Marshall from Uganda to share.
Oh.
Wow.
Ha, ha, ha.
And I said, oh, really?
Ha, ha, ha.
Does your friend Marshall speak English?
He says, oh, he speaks great English, and he's, and he's got a great story.
I said, okay, super.
So I get to the meeting and, and start to cheer, and now I'm all, now I'm all set, right?
Would Marshall from Uganda like to come up and cheer?
And he comes up and he starts to tell his story, and he, and he's talking about Alcoholics Anonymous in Uganda.
And Uganda's a country of about 35 million people, similar in size to Canada.
I don't know how big the west central region is, but I don't know that it's got 35 million people in it.
And he says that according to the World Health Organization, Uganda has the greatest per capita consumption of alcohol of any country in the world.
And, and since then I've gone and looked at, looked that up, and that is in fact true.
And he said at that time that there were 50 sober members of Alcoholics Anonymous in Uganda.
And four meetings of Alcoholics Anonymous in Uganda.
And I thought, what if we could help?
You know, and, and that's the work that, that we do as a fellowship through the General Service Board in this international work.
And, and, and that's, I hope, some of, some of what you've, you've heard today.
So I, I'm just going to get you to take a, a look at this room.
Just some of the decorations.
Some of the things around it, because it relates to the next picture.
And if you sort of look at the very end of the room, you can see the exit.
There's a guy standing in it.
There's an open doorway.
That's the exit for the room.
So this sets up this, this next picture.
I'm in Peru.
And you won't be able to, you won't be able to figure out quite what this picture is yet.
But I'm in Peru.
And on the Saturday night after they finish the presentations, they don't have a countdown.
They do something a little bit different.
And, and I wasn't quite sure.
I wasn't quite sure what they were doing because the interpreter and I had apparently
eaten something we ought not have eaten.
And he was away at the moment.
So I'm in this room with about 800 people in it with the one exit door at the end.
And I don't really know what's going on because nobody else is speaking English.
And, you know, there's one guy from Mexico there that speaks English, but I have no idea
where he is.
And they put a candle in my hand.
And I'm a guy who thinks about things and figures things out.
I think, okay, they're handing candles out.
If they're handing candles out, they're probably going to light these.
This room is a fire hazard.
Everything in this room is flammable.
I am the furthest guy in the room from the door.
If there is a fire, there is one person who is sure to die and that is me.
Because that's what I think about, right?
I think about me.
And, you know, to make the story worse, like once you get through the door, they have stone
steps and the stone steps were built at a time when the height of the step was determined
by the size of the stone they found.
And so some are, you know, six inches high and some are 18 inches high.
And it takes about 20 minutes to empty the room at the best of times.
And I'm just, I am convinced I'm going to die.
They find the guy from Mexico and he comes and he explains that what they're going to
do is they're going to find the newest member of Alcoholics Anonymous in the room.
And they're going to bring him to the front with me and as the special guest, someone's
going to light my candle and I am in turn going to light his candle and we are going
to light the candles of all the people in the room.
And I'm thinking, well, that sounds kind of interesting.
But they found the newest guy and he's a guy with 24 hours and so he's pretty steady
with a candle, right?
Thinking, great, they're going to stand this guy beside me and they're going to light
his candle, right?
So there's one thing that's sure to catch on fire.
If there's a fire in the room, it's me now.
So they light my candle and I light his candle and we in turn light the candles of everybody
in the room and they've turned off the lights before they start this.
And what happens is we go from a room that is dark, dark to being lit like this with
the light of Alcoholics Anonymous.
And that's what we do in Alcoholics Anonymous is we light each other's candles.
It took absolutely nothing away from the brightness or the light of my candle.
The light is.
And that's what we do as a fellowship here with each other and that's what we do as
a fellowship around the world.
I just want to thank you very much for the opportunity to come here and talk to you today.
And if you have questions, I'd be happy to take them.