Karleen has eloquently expressed many of my thoughts on an international organization and the American-ness of the lactation profession. The fact that conferences have been held almost exclusively in the US has of course grown the profession in that area! It would be great to see our fledgling profession develop - to degree/masters level - but this would have to be a global issue - otherwise IBCLCs living outside the US would lose out. My ILCA membership fee is a large percentage of my income in comparison to IBCLCs working in a similar field in the US - for this fee I receive a good journal. The exchange rate for my currency puts most of the ILCA publications, DVDs etc far out of my reach. The few text books I do purchase each year come at great cost (including customs duty). Any possibility of attending a conference in the US is laughable. Feeling more and more "left out" on the tip of Africa. Jean Ridler RN RM IBCLC South Africa [log in to unmask] *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome