History Of AOSM
Brisbane 2005
AA-AOSM
The Asia Oceanic Service Meeting
A.A.'s Preamble describes Alcoholics Anonymous as "a Fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism." That process, at the heart of how A.A. works, happens between individuals, in groups at A.A. meetings, and indeed whenever and wherever sober alcoholics gather. And, since 1969, it has been happening regularly among countries, as a result of A.A.'s World Service Meeting.
In the Beginning
The WSM has its roots in A.A. co-founder Bill W's 1950 trip to Europe, where he toured A.A. groups in seven countries. He was struck by the fact that these countries were undergoing the same problems encountered in the U.S. and Canada when A.A. was just getting on its feet-the need for A.A. literature in their own languages, obstacles to growth from outside and within A.A. itself, and fear of all kinds of calamities. Up to that time, the New York office had been the chief resource for countries where A.A. was just beginning. Bill believed that if representatives of A.A. internationally could get together and learn from each other, the day would come when the U.S./Canada service office would simply be the "senior service center among a number ... around the globe."
"As a beginning, " Bill wrote, "I propose a World Service Meeting-not a conference, since it would not be fully representative of world A.A., to be held in the fall of 1969 and to run for three days. This meeting could be held in New York so that delegates would . . . have the opportunity of seeing a 30-year-old service office at work. To the meeting would come delegates from countries where the A.A. population was already considerable and where problems of growth were already present."
THE ASIA OCEANIA SERVICE MEETING
A HISTORY
A. “THE WHEELS MOVE SLOWLY”
At the World Service Meeting in Helsinki the idea of an Asia/Pacific Zonal meeting was suggested possibly including South Africa which was represented. The European Service Meeting was just beginning, following the example of the Ibero-American meeting. The idea was discussed between the Australian and South African Delegates and proposed in report-backs to the Australian Board. A meeting of interested Conference and Board members to discuss the possibility was held at the Australian National Convention in Armidale, NSW, during Easter, 1982. It was decided then that the Australian Fellowship was not ready for such a development at that time.
On Thursday July 11 th , 1985 , while in New York on the way home from the 8th World Convention in Montréal, Bob P from New Zealand met with Bob P, the General Manager of GSO New York. In an informal discussion Bob P (N. Y.) asked what were New Zealand and Australia doing for the Pacific Area and Bob P (N. Z.) agreed that possibly what was needed was a Pan Pacific Zonal Meeting.
When the New Zealand General Service Conference met in September of that year Bob raised the matter. It was discussed, approved as a good idea worth following up but then, unfortunately, forgotten or shelved or both.
In 1992, while he was attending the World Service Meeting in New York with Alan N, it became obvious to Bob P that when the Zonal committee meetings were held, those countries not involved were on the ”outer”. They went to a room and held a committee meeting of sorts, unstructured, no agenda, a type of fill-in. Bob discussed this with Alan, bringing up the idea of a Pan Pacific Zonal Meeting. Alan agreed and Bob said he would get in touch with Yukie Y, also a WSM delegate and manager of the JSO in Tokyo .
At the next GSC meeting in April 1993 Bob presented his idea to try to set up the Zonal Meeting and received approval from Conference to go ahead. He found it strange and in a way typical of AA that it was 7 years after he had first brought it before Conference that it was starting to move. Alan commented that the “Wheels” of AA can move slowly but they do move in the right direction. Bob then contacted Yukie with his idea and after some correspondence it was felt that a good time to aim for would be March 1995 when Japan would be holding its 20th Anniversary Convention.
Throughout 1993 Bob and Yukie continued to correspond by mail and fax with the occasional telephone call. In December 1993 Bob contacted Sarah P of New York GSO for information on the structure of the two existing Zonal Meetings. She sent helpful information, best wishes of GSO in New York for the success of the venture and suggested contacting Jim K of the UK GSO as he was secretary of the European Service Meeting. This was done and over the next 12 months Jim and his office staff supplied much help on the way the ESM was run.
At this time too, after talking to an old timer, Harry W, about the slowness of getting it organized by mail, fax, and phone, Bob decided to visit Tokyo and talk face to face with Yukie to speed things up. The second NZ WSM delegate, Trevor G, also agreed to go, as did Alan N and Harry W. After some discussion with Yukie Saturday, May 28 th , 1994 , was set as the proposed date for an informal meeting in Tokyo .
This was a major step forward and proved to be a most successful meeting, speeding up the establishment process. The New Zealand group also took part, while there, in a highly informative workshop. From the meeting it was decided to hold the first official meeting, subject to approval by both Conferences, on Thursday, March 23 rd , 1995 , in Tokyo , this being the day prior to the 20th Anniversary Convention of AA Japan. The meeting also decided to change the name from Pan Pacific Service Meeting to Asian Oceania Service Meeting. (This was changed again to Asia Oceania Service Meeting, the current name, in 1997). The meeting appointed Bob P as the Chairman and Yukie Y as the Secretary of the 1 st AOSM. It was also decided that as well as inviting countries in the region to attend that an invitation should be sent to George D, General Manager of GSO New York, as well
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A PERSONAL STORY: “Before the AOSM had its beginning….”
By Yukie Y, Secretary to the first three AOSM's
I was a WSM Delegate to the 12 th WSM held in New York in 1992, where I met Bob P, the first term Delegate and Alan N, the second-term Delegate from New Zealand , and we talked about the “Pan Pacific Zonal Meeting”. I, however, had been considering this to be just a dream or a goal for our countries in this zone, and not a reality.
The next year in 1993, Bob began to call me at Japan General Service Office (JSO) in Tokyo and encouraged me to start a plan of having the Pan Pacific Zonal Meeting together. I thought he must be kidding. Our membership was still small. Japan AA was very poor. Alcoholics Anonymous itself was (still is) not known to the public at all, but known only to the limited numbers of doctors and paramedic of mental hospitals in Japan . We were still struggling with how to carry the message of AA to still suffering alcoholics other than mental hospitals. Moreover, we always found difficulties to elect WSM Delegates who should be having a working knowledge of English, though we had eager, enthusiastic qualified members except for this point. So how could we, Japan AA, be of help to start such a zonal meeting and be of help to carry the message of AA beyond the borders, cultures, religions, and languages in this zone. In fact we, Japan AA, had been experiencing this language barrier, which made us misunderstand various aspects of the AA program, such as anonymity, Higher Power, Steps, Tradition.... I believed that setting up such a meeting in co-operation with other English speaking countries was beyond our capabilities
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However, Bob kept calling me up, sending faxes and letters, and never gave it up. Finally pushed by an eager old-timer, Harry, he called me and said he would be coming to Japan together with Harry to discuss things further. I brought up his idea at the next Office Standing Committee which was acting like a Board and two of them who were ex-WSM delegates, Hayashi and Suzuki showed interest and said they would do their best to setting up the zonal meeting. Of course the rest of the members were eager to set it up, but they felt they could not do anything because of the language barrier, but promised us that they would support us.
In order to write this report, I referred to all the correspondences between Bob and me. In these letters and faxes, I found I repeatedly wrote to him that “no one here among the Office Standing Committee members including me speaks fluent English, so be very careful to speak clearly and slowly when we have the preliminary meeting in Tokyo ”.
In May 1994, Bob, Harry, Alan and Trevor, a new WSM Delegate, visited Tokyo on their own expenses, for a preliminary meeting and to make necessary arrangements to hold the first AOSM. On the next day, on Sunday, we had a service workshop asking these four people as panelists, inviting AA's and professionals in Tokyo area, and using a professional interpreter, which resulted in big success. The four members from New Zealand were welcomed with big enthusiasm and warm love by Japanese members. We felt we could expect the support by many AA members in our country.
When you read this, you might feel that Japan AA has been self-centered, not to have willingness to do the 12 th Step work to other countries, ignoring the facts that there are a plenty of people in Asian and Oceanic countries, who are still suffering, not knowing this program, but only focusing on our own recovery. This is not true. Each member in Japan just did not know how to carry the message beyond the border.
Therefore, on behalf of all the members in Japan , I want to express our gratitude to the eagerness and enthusiasm of Bob P and others in New Zealand , who made us a part of playing a role of such an important service work.
B. THE FIRST ASIA-OCEANIA SERVICE MEETING
The initial structure was largely based on the already established Zonal meetings and it was realized that there would be changes to suit regional needs. During 1994 Bob and Yukie, working with their local service offices, set up an agenda, and sent out invitations for the proposed 1 st AOSM. The work Yukie did was tremendous and helped to make the first meeting what it was - a great success - when it was finally held on Thursday March 23rd 1995 . It was a meeting of great importance for the future growth of AA in the area, and as Bob said in his welcome “an historic moment for AA in this region of the World”. After the meeting Yukie produced a top quality final report that was circulated to all countries in the region and also to such offices as GSO New York, and GSO United Kingdom.
C. THE 2 ND AOSM CONSOLIDATES
The 2 nd meeting was scheduled for March 1997 and was held in Auckland , New Zealand . It was chaired by Alan N (NZ) with enormous and valuable assistance from Yukie as the Meeting Secretary. The meeting was attended by delegates from New Zealand , Japan , Hong Kong , Thailand , Australia and Korea who were billeted by welcoming members of the New Zealand fellowship. George D, manager of the GSO in New York also attended to share experience of other countries and Zonal meetings in their efforts to spread the AA message.
A provisional Statement of Purpose was developed, as well as a Zone of Responsibility for the AOSM with each represented country undertaking a sponsorship role for their particular neighboring countries. Each country also undertook to help develop a database of contacts throughout the Zone and Australia agreed to be responsible for the maintenance of this database. Much important and useful information and experience were shared in areas such as Literature translation and Copyrights, Public Information and carrying the message into Treatment and Correctional Facilities. Delegates presented reports on “How AA Works in My Country” and several written reports and correspondence were received from countries unable to be in attendance, Malaysia , India , South Africa and Indonesia .
• THE THIRD AOSM ESTABLISHES THE PATH.
The Third AOSM was hosted by Australia with Bob J (Aust) as Chairman and Yukie as Secretary. The physical work of organizing the meeting and corresponding with delegates, GSO's and other offices and contacts in the Zone was carried out efficiently by Yukie with the major financial support given by the Japanese General Service Office (JSO). Bob and Yukie were in constant contact throughout this time and received valuable help in the latter stages from the Australian GSO.
The Meeting was held in Sydney in March, 1999, at a Conference Centre overlooking Sydney Harbor . It was attended by delegates from Australia , New Zealand , Japan , Hong Kong , Taiwan , Korea and Indonesia with Richard B from the International desk at GSO NY and George D, retired GSO Manager. Observers were also welcome as they had been at previous AOSM's and included the Chairman of the GSB of Australia who spoke to the meeting.
The Statement of Purpose was revised and formally adopted, the database in the form of a Meeting/Contact Directory was approved and its distribution to be 3 times per year. Japan was thanked for its enormous and generous provision of Secretarial services, through Yukie, over the first six years of the AOSM and it was decided the time had come for an independent Secretariat, which would be financially supported by the countries of the AOSM. Anne O'C, an observer and current Trustee on the Australian GSB, accepted the task of establishing the Secretariat with its own cheque account. The Secretariat would become responsible for the Directory, the AOSM Newsletter, which had been established by Bob J and Yukie, and the organization of the future A/O Service Meetings and their Reports. GSO New York undertook to assist initially with a financial contribution towards the cost of the Meeting's Final Report.
Bids for the 4 th AOSM were received from Korea and Indonesia and it was decided to hold the meeting in Korea . Simon R, delegate from New Zealand , was elected to be Chairman. The Guidelines for the AOSM were formally adopted and are as follows:
• The AOSM shall meet every two years alternating with the WSM
• Each country shall choose their own representatives
• Finance shall be the responsibility of each participating country
• The Chairperson shall rotate after each meeting
• The Secretariat shall not necessarily be rotated on a regular basis
• Each country shall be eligible to send up to two delegates
• The Meeting shall be two days duration
• Observers shall be welcome, with no voting rights and participation only at the discretion of the Chairperson.
• A NEW MATURITY CHARACTERISES THE FOURTH AOSM
It was a proud moment for the young AA Fellowship in Korea when the 15 delegates representing 10 countries of the Asia-Oceania Zone began arriving in Seoul for the 4 th AOSM. They came from far and near, from Russia across the vast steppes of Siberia, from New Zealand and Australia in the far South Pacific, the near neighbors Hong Kong, the Philippines and Japan , from the local suburbs of Seoul and from the Southeast Asian countries of Malaysia , Cambodia and East Timor . It clearly demonstrated the Theme of the Meeting: “The Growing AA Family”. Also attending were Greg M and Bill A from the GSO in New York , the Secretary, Anne O'C (Aust), Chairman, Simon R ( New Zealand ) and several observers from Japan , USA and Korea .
Following an inspirational Keynote Address by Greg M, the main business of the Meeting began with a report on the new Secretariat. The first two and half years of operation had seen enormous growth in awareness and communication, mainly through email, of the role of the AOSM, the spread of the AOSM newsletter and the Directory which had been established at the 3 rd AOSM. Delegates acknowledged the challenges that had confronted both the Secretariat and the Chairman in the interim period and saw the need to establish an AOSM sub-committee to research the experience of older Zonal meetings. The new Working Committee was charged with the task of researching, and preparing recommendations on various aspects such as sponsorship, prudent reserves, agenda and themes.
A workshop and a Presentation on “International Sponsorship” by John S (Aust), as well as the Country Reports, demonstrated the need for this sponsorship, particularly through visits with accompanying professionals to “sponsee” countries. Australia had sponsored three delegates to this Meeting, from Malaysia , Cambodia and East Timor . The workshop proved to be a most valuable experience in which small and large countries sat together and discussed ways they could be helpful to one another.
A Presentation by Bill A. of the international desk at GSO New York outlined the proper procedures for translating our copyrighted literature to preserve our ownership and safety of our message. He described, too, some of the ways that AAWS and the WSM's International Literature Fund can help new, small countries to develop their literature supplies in their own languages. During a formal Sharing Session each delegate took the opportunity to outline the literature struggles and needs of his/her own country and to ask questions.
One of the World Service Meeting delegates present, Kevin B ( New Zealand ) reported in detail on the WSM in New York in 2000 and responded to questions from delegates with many inspirational anecdotes and ideas shared at that Meeting.
Steve P ( New Zealand ) was chosen to report this AOSM to the next WSM in Spain 2002 and Kevin B ( New Zealand ) was elected to chair the 5 th AOSM to be hosted by Hong Kong in 2003, with John S ( Australia ) as his Alternate. The theme for this next Meeting was chosen to be “The Three Legacies – Recovery, Unity, Service” and the new Working Committee members were appointed to include the Chairman, Secretary and the second-term delegates.
The AOSM Guidelines were altered to include the expression “country/AA regional structure” in the place of the word “country” - this action was taken to avoid any possible political controversy.
• THE AOSM CONTINUES TO EXPAND AT THE FIFTH MEETING.
Hong Kong was the host for the 5 th AOSM as 18 delegates from 10 countries gathered at their hotel on Hong Kong Island . For the first time there were delegates from Mongolia and the Peoples' Republic of China. The theme of this meeting was “The Three Legacies- Recovery, Unity, Service” and it was put to good purpose during the deliberations. Also in attendance were Greg M. and Adrienne B. from GSO New York with observers from Korea , Japan , USA and New Zealand . Hiroyuki N , Japan , delivered a very enlightening Keynote Address after a welcoming dinner, Chinese style, held on Sunday night.
Monday saw the Formal meeting opened with reports of each attending country presented. It was interesting to hear the difficulties faced by new countries such as Mongolia and China . Adrienne B. gave an illuminating presentation on “Setting up and Expanding AA in New and Smaller Countries”. In the afternoon delegates looked at reports from the Chairman, Secretary and the new Working Committee. This committee recommended the establishment of four standing committees, and this was accepted by the meeting. A workshop on “International Sponsorship” followed and this was recognized as one of the most helpful sessions of the meeting.
Allan K, Australia , presented a report on the 17 th World Service Meeting held in Spain in 2002, a report welcomed by the countries who as yet have not got a service structure. Wayne W. from Cambodia gave a detailed story of his country's effort to obtain a Big Book in the Khmer language. Linda , Indonesia , spoke of the difficulties experienced with the Big Book translation. Greg M. outlined the requirements and procedures as set by GSO New York for such translations.
The theme for the 6 th AOSM was chosen to be “Sponsorship-Unity in Ever-Widening Circles” and it was agreed that Masaru I. , Japan , would present a report of this meeting to the next World Service Meeting in New York in 2004.
The meeting elected Lynne H-W., Australia , to chair the 6 th AOSM with Ma Q-K, Peoples' Republic of China, as alternate chairperson. The meeting is to be held in Australia with China , assisted by Hong Kong , as the standby venue.
Bill W. was once asked, "How does A.A. work?" and replied simply, "It works very well." That plain statement, it would seem holds true at every level, from two drunks sharing one-to-one to two or more nations helping one another by the strength of their collective experience.
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