THE JET SET

travel to dubai

REFUGEES IN GERMANY

how edriss ahmadi helped his family to begin a new life

GO RIDE A BIKEcycle-friendly biergartens

an amer ican woman’s l i fe in düsse ldor f summer 2017

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BE R AD!are you interested in writing, editing, or graphic design?

If so, please come to our Radschläger Writer’s Circle meetings. We would love to hear your ideas and input on our magazine. If you have a story to tell, please come and see us — we would love to meet you!

QUESTIONS? Contact us at radschlaeger@awcduesseldorf.org.

Don’t forget — all content for the Fall issue must be submitted by AUGUST 5.

A NOTE FROM THE EDITORThe theme of this Radschläger is “getting to know you”, and with that I would like to introduce myself as one of the new editors of our club’s magazine. I am excited to take the reigns from the capable hands of Cynthia Madrid and embark on a new adventure with our new graphic designer, Jessica Nicholson, and my fellow editor Sarah Feldmann. In this issue you will find upcoming activities to help you enjoy the beautiful Düsseldorf summer, glimpses into club life, and an article or two that may broaden your horizons, so to speak. We hope that this issue helps to connect us all and to allow us to continue getting to know one another. To all our members, we are happy to have you here with us.

I want to wish all our AWCD members and their families safe summer travels, and cheers to our wonderful club and the members who make it so great! Be sure to soak up these warm summer rays and long, beautiful days.

MEGAN MORRISeditor

SOME REALLY R AD STUFFP o s t f a c h 3 1 0 3 3 5 | 4 0 4 8 1 D ü s s e l d o r f w w w . a w c d u e s s e l d o r f . o r g i n f o @ a w c d u e s s e l d o r f . o r g

Ü b e r w e i s u n g I n f o r m a t i o n : C o m m e r z b a n k I B A N : D E 2 9 3 0 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 8 0 4 7 8 0 0 0 B I C : C O B A D E F F X X X

A D V E R T I S E M E N T: T h e d e a d l i n e f o r p a i d a d v e r t i s i n g i s t h e f i f t h ( 5 t h ) o f t h e m o n t h p r e c e d i n g p u b l i c a t i o n ( M a r , J u n , S e p t . , D e c . ) . C o n t a c t a d v e r t i s i n g @ a w c d u e s s e l d o r f . o r g f o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n .

C L A S S I F I E D A D S U B M I S S I O N S & A N N O U N C E M E N T S : ( i . e . i t e m s f o r s a l e , b a b y - s i t t i n g , s e r v i c e s , e v e n t s ) s h o u l d b e u p l o a d e d t o t h e f o r u m s e c t i o n o f t h e A W C D w e b s i t e . F o r m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n o n t h e f o r u m , c o n t a c t w e b m a s t e r @ a w c d u e s s e l d o r f . o r g .

C H A N G E O F A D D R E S S , M I S S I N G I S S U E S /S U B S C R I P T I O N S : C o n t a c t t h e M e m b e r s h i p T e a m a t m e m b e r s h i p @ a w c d u e s s e l d o r f . o r g .

T h e R a d s c h l ä g e r i s p u b l i s h e d a p p r o x i m a t e l y f o u r t i m e s p e r y e a r . N o r e p r i n t s w i t h o u t w r i t t e n c o n s e n t o f t h e e d i t o r s . T h e o p i n i o n s e x p r e s s e d i n T h e R a d s c h l ä g e r a r e n o t n e c e s s a r i l y e n d o r s e d b y t h e A W C D. T h e e d i t o r s a s s u m e n o l i a b i l i t y f o r t h e a c c u r a c y o f t h e i n f o r m a t i o n i n T h e R a d s c h l ä g e r . T h e R a d s c h l ä g e r i s f o r p r i v a t e u s e o f t h e m e m b e r s o f t h e A W C D ; i t s u s e f o r c o m m e r c i a l p u r p o s e s i s n o t p e r m i t t e d . C o p y r i g h t : a l l r i g h t s r e s e r v e d .

The Radschläger is the newsletter of the American Women’s Club of Düsseldorf, e.V. (AWCD), a non-profit organization and member of the Federation of Women’s Clubs Overseas (FAWCO).

Co-Editor MEGAN MORRIS

Co-Editor SARAH FELDMANN

Graphic Designer JESSICA NICHOLSON

Advertising Manager AMANDA KREUDER-CARRINGTON

WHAT’S INSIDE2 a note from the editor

4 president’s message

5 board news

6 club contacts

8 fawco

10 feature: humans of düsseldorf

15 ramadan

16 membership

18 charity

20 events

24 calendar

26 feature: six biergartens

30 groups + classes

33 non-club events

35 feature: dubai

38 ask a german

Our official Facebook page is a closed group with more information, updates, and answers to your questions. All members are welcome!

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FAWCO NEWSJENNIFER TODD — Exciting things have been happening with FAWCO this past spring!

• Go to FAWCO.org and sign in to see information about what occurred in Mumbai at the 2017 Annual Conference. You can see information on new board members, initiatives, our newest Target Project and more! The AWCD proudly announces the new FAWCO Treasurer Alisa Cook-Röhs and the new FAWCO Foundation Vice-President of Fundraising Barbara Bühling!

• The 2017-2019 FAWCO Target Project will be “Hope Beyond Displacement”, an initiative of the Collateral Repair Project, which focuses on educating and empowering refugee women and girls in Jordan. Information can be found on the Target Project Page at www.fawco.org.

• There is a new FAWCO magazine that has been launched called “Inspiring Women.” Our own Ve Mellinghaus is featured! Check out this article online at: www.fawco.org/images/stories/inspiring_women/Inspiring_Women_vol1_iss1.pdf

• Latest tax information from FAWCO: FBARs may now be filed as late as October! FinCEN tells us: "Section 2006(b)(11) of the Act changes the FBAR due date to April 15 to coincide with the Federal income tax filing season. The Act also mandates a maximum six-month extension of the filing deadline. To implement the statute with minimal burden to the public and FinCEN, FinCEN will grant filers failing to meet the FBAR annual due date of April 15 an automatic extension to October 15 each year. Accordingly, specific requests for this extension are not required."

Dear Patients,We would like to introduce our dental office to you. We offer you and your family a high standard of dental care and treatment including:

You are welcome to look at our home page for further information: dres-meyer-engemann.de

• Check ups and prophylaxis for children and adults

• Periodontics• Endodontics, Implantology,

Dental Surgery• Aesthetic Restorations• Temperomandibular

Joint Diagnosis and Therapy

Tonhallenstraße 1140211 Düsseldorf

Fon: +49 211 35 18 23 Fax: +49 211 35 18 14

praxis@ dres-meyer-engemann.de

Praxis für ZahnheilkundeDr. Reinhold S. Meyer

Dr. Antje Engemann-Meyer

FAWCO BIENNIAL CONFERENCEmumbai, india march 30 to april 2, 2017

The four-day conference included official FAWCO business including reports on all activities in 2016 as well as a look at upcoming events and plans for 2017. AWCD’s Barbara Bühling, FAWCO Youth Co-Chair, reported on the 2016 Cultural Volunteers Program in Dublin, Ireland. On the final day of the Conference, elections for the new Boards were held. AWCD was well-represented as Alisa Cook-Röhs was elected Treasurer of FAWCO and Barbara Bühling was elected Vice President Fundraising of the FAWCO Foundation!

Between the official meetings, there were numerous lectures and breakout sessions to learn about various topics of interest. The keynote speaker Roopa Purushothaman spoke about “Opportunities for India’s Women and Girls” and there was a panel discussion about helping Indian women to determine their own paths in life. The various FAWCO-related topics included “Women in Leadership”, “Reversing the Culture Shock”, and “Target Fundraising: Get an Education!”. In addition, there were other sessions such as “When Displacement Becomes Personal”, during which Dianne Reed spoke about her survival of a terrorist attack and Paula Lucas related her personal experiences about being a domestic abuse survivor abroad and her achievement creating the American Overseas Domestic Violence Crisis Center.

Highlights of the week included the launching of the new FAWCO online magazine, “Inspiring Women”, in which our own Ve Mellinghaus is featured as well as the announcement and launching of the new Target Project “Hope Beyond Displacement”, supporting Syrian and Iraqi refugees living in Amman, Jordan. The goal of the new Target Project is to raise $125,000 over the next two years to create opportunities for women and girls to attend school and receive educational training to help their futures.

In addition there were numerous tours – pre-conference, post-conference, and during the conference so that all could get a chance to see some of the fascinating country of India. It was an amazing experience with a fantastic and motivating group of women. We would love to see more of our members join us at future conferences! Stay tuned…

Image courtesy of Adam Reeder www.flickr.com/photos/adamreeder/8245577573