AA invites public to its annual convention

All are invited to attend the Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) 2022 National Convention, celebrating 75 years of AA in South Africa.
The event will be held in Cape Town from April 15 to 17.
An AA Convention, unlike an hour-long AA meeting, takes place over a weekend and is marked by celebrations, fellowship, recovery and unity.
A topic is identified with a series of AA members sharing their experiences and exchanging viewpoints in relation to the topic.
The convention will host a diverse programme of meetings in the hall of Wynberg Boys’ High School, with dedicated smaller meetings for Al-Anon and Alateen groups taking place in various locations within the school complex throughout the weekend.
Attendance at the convention will also be available on Zoom, while in-person attendance will adhere and follow Covid safety protocols.

About AA
AA holds open and closed meetings.
Closed meetings are for AA members only or for those with “a desire to stop drinking”. Open meetings, which this convention takes the form of, are for anyone interested in AA’s programme of recovery from alcoholism and nonalcoholics are welcome.
AA was founded to assist alcoholics to recover from the disease of alcoholism and exists to carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic. AA members do this by sharing their experiences, strength, and hope with each other to help find and maintain sobriety.
There are no fees or dues for membership, in fact, the only requirement is a desire to stop drinking.
AA is self-funding and relies on contributions from members on a voluntary basis.
Al-Anon is a mutual support programme for people whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking.
Alateen, a part of the Al-Anon Family Groups, is a fellowship of young people (mostly teenagers) whose lives have been affected by someone else’s drinking whether they are in their lives or not.
Celebrating a remarkable 75 years of existence, AA South Africa has helped countless people recover from the disease of alcoholism to live happy, peaceful and productive lives, free of the compulsion to consume alcohol.
An alcoholic in recovery affects the lives of many
Alcoholism is a family disease – in fact, it affects all in the destructive path of the alcoholic. It is therefore no small feat that over the course of 75 years, many have come to believe ‘there is a way out’ and in so doing brought peace and serenity to their home, their workplace and wherever they may go.
The convention provides an ideal platform to reach out to those in search of a release from this debilitating affliction by providing physical evidence that a life without alcohol is achievable.
Meals are on offer, along with compelling AA-approved literature.
The power of a random 1940 magazine article
In 1946 Reader’s Digest published an article entitled My Return from The Half-world Of Alcoholism.
The article had been extracted from an American Alcoholics Anonymous publication titled The AA Grapevine.
This story was responsible for two separate enquiries from South Africans who had little or no control over their alcohol consumption.
The first occurred in an unrecorded month in 1946.
Solomon M, a black translator at the Johannesburg Law Courts, was hungover and wandering the streets of Alexandra township, when he found a copy of Reader’s Digest, containing the abovementioned article, in an overflowing rubbish bin, which he took home as he had nothing else to read.
That incident was about to change his life forever. His last bender had brought him and his family to the brink of starvation.
Having nothing better to do, he paged through the Reader’s Digest and found this article on an organisation called “Alcoholics Anonymous”.
This was the answer to his prayers.
At last Solomon M had found something that had given him hope.
He hurried back to his one-roomed shack and immediately wrote to the address given in the article. He soon had a reply, which included extracts from the AA Big Book. This information enabled him to acquire and maintain sobriety.
Solomon M became the first member of AA in South Africa; he never started a group but remained sober for many years.
On October 14th, 1946, a group of prominent Johannesburgers helped a man by the name of Arthur S, an alcoholic stockbroker, to start the very first meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. Arthur S was the second person to write to AA and subsequently, finding help and sobriety.
Because Solomon M never started an AA meeting, it is this later date that is recognised as the official beginning of Alcoholics Anonymous in South Africa.
How it works
AA is not a general aid organisation; it is a fellowship of people who have a desire to get sober and stay that way.
People in the fellowship know that putting down the alcohol is only the beginning and that it is only through following the 12 Step recovery programme, which is a distinctly spiritual, not religious experience, that AA members can learn to guide and mentor those willing to apply themselves to attain and maintain their sobriety.
AA works by ‘one alcoholic talking to another’ and passing on what they have so freely received, and in this way, helping each other towards the many fruits of lasting sobriety.
AA’s national helpline number is 0861 HELP AA (435722)
Those interested, as well as those seeking assistance, can visit the website to learn more about alcoholism and AA’s solution: www.aasouthafrica.org.za
Find the latest updates on the 2022 AA Convention at https://aasouthafrica.org.za/nationalconvention/