NEWSLETTER OF THE EUROPEAN ROTARACT INFORMATION CENTRE
ISSUE 14 - SEPTEMBER 2000 - Table Of Contents
In this issue you will find: • Calendar • A word from the Editor • ERIC Meeting in Dresden, September 15-17, 2000 A memorable weekend in the Florence of the Elbe • ERIC Web Contest Results of the first ERIC Contest for best Rotaract website in Central and Eastern Europe • World Population Growth Conference in Zurich Report and resolutions from the RI/UNFPA-sponsored conferen • Primary School Project in the Disaster Area European Rotaract participation supports a primary school project • A Home of their own Rotaract France works with Calcutta Rotarians to obtain a matching grant for low-cost shelters • Vojvodina Summer Camp A Report on the Summer Camp organised in Novi Sad from August 19-28, 2000
go to top of page
Calendar October 2000 6.
- 8.
Charter weekend of RTC Cracow-Wawel Extraordinary charter ceremony in Cracow - an extraordinary European City of Culture 2000 contact: Daria Misiak dariam@kr.home.pl
13. 13.
- 15. 31st Rotaract France Convention in Cannes - 15. South Spanish District Conference in Valencia For more information, contact Juan Alcazar at spain@rotaract-eric.org
27.
- 29. 15 years anniversaryparty, Århus Royal Rotaract Club + Århus Nordre Rotaract Club contact denmark@rotaract-eric.org
27.
- 30. 2nd Rotaract Romania Anual Conference
November 2000 1.
- 4.
District Conference, District 1960 Southern Portugal District Conference in Santarém
3.
- 5.
4th Conference of the Turkish Rotaract MDIO TURK Conference to be held at the Bel Conti Resort Hotel in Antalya, D-2430. For further information, please contact Aslihan Yazici at aslihan.yazici@rotaract.org.
16.
- 19. Italo-Turkish Cultural Exchange in Istanbul 3 days to learn more about different cultures in Istanbul. For more information, contact Giulio Stix at coopix@tin.it.
December 2000 16.
- 17. National Grand Gala Being the traditional national Cristmas Grand Gala for the Dutch, this night will bring excitement, with members, many past-members and foreign guests. The party will take place in a motel where the live music will play till early in the morning. A morning buffet and rooms can be booked ... Deffinately a place to be ... ! More information will follow soon ... !
March 2001 30.
- 1. 4.
Nordact - the Nordic Rotaract Conference Scandinavian Rotaractors will meet up in Oslo for the 2001 edition of Nordact
April 2001 6. 14.
- 8. German National Rotaract Conferenz - 16. RGBI Conference Get spaced out at the 2001 Space Odyssey! Rotaract Great Britain & Ireland welcomes you to its 2001 Conference at Loughborough, England.
18.
- 22. European Convention in Antalya, Turkey Additional information will be provided in upcoming issues of the ERIC Newsletter, and on the ERIC mailing list
27.
- 29. Italian National Conference, Garda Lake For more information, contact Nicola Usai at italy@rotaract-eric.org
May 2001 11.
- 13. Rotary International Presidential Conference 4th Presidential Conference of President Frank Devlyn's year in Vienna
June 2001 22. 24.
- 23. Rotaract Pre-Convention Meeting in San Antonio - 27. Rotary International Convention in San Antonio, Texas
June 2002 4.
- 7.
International RI Convention in Barcelona, Spain Date not finalised yet.
A word from the Editor by Magali F端ss
Greetings Noble Reader, Several events have taken place since our late-summer issue was sent out at the end of August, including the Olympic Games, the ERIC Meeting in Dresden in mid-September, and the ERIC website contest for clubs in Central and Eastern Europe, which ended with the announcement of the medal-winners... no sorry, of the results, during the ERIC
meeting. We will leave coverage of the Olympics to those infinitely more qualified than ourselves, and modestly stick to what we have hands-on knowledge of, namely some examples of Rotaract activity in Europe. The ERIC Meeting and Web contest are both featured in this September issue, along with other reports on summer activities - to name but a few, the Population Growth Conference in Zurich at the end of July and the Rotaract Summer Camp in Yugoslavia during the last ten days of August. We also focus on how Multi-District organisations can help Rotaractors stand together to make a difference, with examples of projects from Turkey and from France. Be sure to take a look at the event calendar – there are several events coming up soon, and some might just be near enough for you to attend. The not-to-be-missed Rotaract event, though, will be the European Convention to be held in Antalya, Turkey, in April 2001. As from October, the ERIC newsletter will provide information on various aspects of the convention, logistics, programme, and also basic tourist information on the southern coastline of Turkey where the convention will be held. I´m told there´s a wonderful beach near Antalya, so will look forward to that… Yours in ERICland (and in true Olympic spirit), Magali Füss Information and Communication Manager 99/01 Contributors to this issue: Cyril Noirtin – Mehmet Onarcan – Esra Serdar Aydinoglu – Maciek Szwedowski ERIC Webmaster : Bogdan Balaj Next issue: October 22, 2000
ERIC Meeting in Dresden, September 15-17, 2000 by Magali Füss
A memorable weekend in the Florence of the Elbe
ERIC Representatives hard at work in Dresden, with a lot of orange juice to help them along...
Oddly enough, I started out with mixed feelings about the first ERIC Meeting of the year. Of course, I was looking forward to seeing all the lovely ERIC representatives again, getting to meet new friends and, after a productive committee meeting, discovering a city praised by tourist guides the world over. On the other hand, I was nagged by a stupidly childish concern about leaving the Atlantic seaboard after an exceptional first fortnight of September, with 30°C temperatures in southern France. Somehow the prospect of travelling northwards, to what I assumed would be "the Great Cold", seemed daunting. It was about that time that my fears were dispelled by the weekend weather report from Dresden, according to which we were going to have bright sunshine and warm temperatures. I joyfully packed my little suitcase with light summer clothes, which, as it turned out, were woefully inadequate to face the rain, sleet and cold we had to contend with - OK, so I´m exaggerating as usual, why not snow, while I´m at it? But no matter. As I was about to learn, the warm welcome of our German hosts by far outweighed the outdoor conditions. The other thing I was amazed at is how long it took me to get from Bordeaux to Dresden. I mean, OK, it wasn´t a "border-hopping" trip like, say, Strasbourg-Karlsruhe, but still, I was hoping to avoid spending 12 hours to reach my destination which was, after all, in our neighbouring country just across the Rhine. Departure from Bordeaux supposedly at 12:20, but of course the flight was delayed, so arrival in Brussels too late to catch the connecting flight to Berlin, followed by walking aimlessly around Brussels airport calculating how to make the best use of the drinks voucher graciously offered by the defaulting airline. Finally I got piled onto a 17:35 flight to Berlin. Upon arrival, the time it took to recover my luggage (which, miraculously, had arrived) and to get a taxi to the Ostbahnhof precluded catching the 19:45 Berlin-Dresden express (part of the KielDresden or Hamburg-Prague route, if you must know). Luckily there was still another train to Dresden that night, and although it was rather a ghostlike experience – there must have been only a half-a-dozen or so people in the whole train – I finally arrived at my destination
around midnight. By this time, I was tired, fed up and in one of my "please feel sorry for me" moods. All my woes were immediately forgotten, however, at the sight of the all-smiles welcoming committee at the station, headed by Matthias Börner. Our blond Herr Börner also rates a mention. This young man is currently on a training course in Argentina, and he flew back to Germany for just 3 days to attend the ERIC meeting! Now that´s what I call Rotaract dedication… Luckily for me, the welcome party was still going and there was still some beer left. Everyone stayed reasonable, however, especially the ERIC Committee members who knew they had to get up bright and early to do some serious work!!!
Norway's Silje Gjeitrem and Turkey's Esra Serdar enjoy the boat trip on the Elbe
Thanks to the good organisation of the host committee and to the power of persuasion of our beloved President Lukasz, the meeting started on time and continued all day, except a short lunch break during which we enjoyed pizza and home-baked cakes in the meeting room. The Meeting focused on the work of each of the six ERIC Divisions, made suggestions for improvements and discussed promoting ERIC throughout Europe and beyond. Among the sources of satisfaction: the ERIC website contest, the ERIC Donations and Volunteers Databank which is now online and has received its first requests, and a suggestion for another ERIC volunteer project. The Representatives also discussed the programme of the European Convention to be held in Turkey in April 2001, both from the logistics and from the meeting programme viewpoints. The Meeting ended with a thoughtprovoking presentation on Population Development, which had been the topic of the Rotary/UNFPA Conference held in Zurich at the end of July (a report on the Zurich Conference is included in this issue). The sun came out at the end of the afternoon, just in time for the planned boat trip on the Elbe. The whole scene was very peaceful, with vineyards at the water´s edge, chateaux and a lovely view of the historical centre. As our Polish Representative Maciek put it
"Dresden is a beautiful city, and anyone who disagrees with that will be challenged to a duel". He didn´t say whether he would be doing the duelling himself, but in any case, I wouldn´t advise anyone to challenge Maciek, especially when he´s fighting for something he really believes in. After a typical German meal in a Dresden restaurant, with as much potato soup and beer as one might expect on such an occasion, we set off for the party in the park of a beautiful castle overlooking the river. With torches lighting the way and a bonfire to warm our bones, there was something of going back in time which was very pleasant. A group of party animals followed this by an expedition to a nearby disco, to end the night. I don´t like to talk about the Sunday part of an ERIC meeting. After all the laughter and valuable exchange of views on such a weekend, I always feel like I´m losing my best friends and usually have a tough time eating any of the traditional Sunday beforedeparture brunch. This is the magic of ERIC, I guess. I love every part of it, even when we sometimes disagree on what direction to take or when our different cultures lead us to interpret things in different ways. After all, taking our differences and making a successful common project out of them is, to me, what Rotaract is all about. Thank you Dresden Rotaractors for making the weekend so special, and looking forward to seeing everyone, warmly dressed, at the January meeting. MF
ERIC Web Contest by Maciek Szwedowski
Results of the first ERIC Contest for best Rotaract website in Central and Eastern Europe How it happened The development of Rotaract in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, having begun around 1991, also brought a recent increase in the Internet presence of Rotaract Clubs. Unfortunately, many of these websites have been neglected and contain information which is often out of date. Because of this, they no longer serve the primary function of any Rotaract website – that of providing information regarding the structure and activities of the Clubs. It must be remembered, that in Central Europe Rotaract is still sparsely-distributed, the clubs are relatively few and far between, and direct communication between clubs is at times rather difficult even within countries. Under such adverse circumstances, Internet becomes a key tool of communication, which should be used as best as possible to help inform the public about what Rotaract is and does. The Contest for Best Rotaract Website is primarily regarded as a C.I.T. project. C.I.T. stands for one of the bodies, which make up the European Rotaract Information Centre –
the “Countries in Transition” Task Force. This “department” of E.R.I.C. is in charge of promoting the activities of Rotaract in Central Europe as well as encouraging contacts between Rotaract in these countries and the rest of Europe. During its meeting in Copenhagen in April 2000 (during EUCO 2000), the Committee approved the idea of holding a contest involving only Rotaract websites from the wide geographical area of Central and Eastern Europe. Soon afterwards, this Contest was formally announced and a deadline for registering was set for all prospective participants. It was decided that the criteria for the participating websites should be as relaxed as possible, in order to allow as many clubs as possible to take part. Meanwhile, a Jury was formed, consisting of Rotaractors from several Western European countries – Denmark (Torben Lund), France (Magali Füss), Germany (Tobias SchulzHess), Switzerland (Andrea Schuerer) and the UK (Peter Quantrell). Tobias Schulz-Hess, ex-IT Manager of E.R.I.C. and current DAS Chairman, took it upon himself to chair the Jury and to announce the results after the votes were cast. The idea was to have a Jury composed entirely of “Westerners” in order to ensure impartiality of the vote. In the end, 12 websites participated in the Contest. We had 3 participants from Bulgaria and 2 from Poland, as well as individual websites from Czech Republic, Latvia, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Ukraine and Yugoslavia. Jury members (and all other interested Rotaractors) were able to view the websites for a full week before the votes were cast. The participating websites were very different from one another, both in terms of the contents and as regards their quality. In some cases, a given site could look interesting and have attractive features, but at the same time be ridiculously out-of-date. Other websites contained current information but their overall appearance was not particularly appealing. The Jury, therefore, was forced to take into consideration both factors – the form and the content, and weigh the decision carefully. In the end, the website of Rotaract Club of Sofia, Bulgaria (www.rotaract.org/sofia) was voted Best Rotaract Website in Central & Eastern Europe. Second and Third Places went to Rotaract Club of Novi Sad in Yugoslavia (www.rotaract.org/novisad) and Rotaract Club of Cluj-Napoca in Romania (www.rotaract.ro/cluj), respectively. The following conclusions may be drawn from the recent Contest: - There are still too few Rotaract Clubs in Central & Eastern Europe with presentable and functional websites, particularly in comparison with their Western European counterparts, although the number is increasing; - Most clubs with their own websites expect them to be accessed by foreign visitors, rather than visitors from their own country – a majority of the participants only had an Englishlanguage version, rather than both versions (along with one in their national language); - Events such as this one help Clubs interact with one another. Whatever interest might be generated in other clubs` activities through healthy competition, may well one day turn into lasting contacts in real life; - Finally, the Contest served its purpose of promoting the role of E.R.I.C. in the field of Information and Communication for the benefit of Clubs from all across Europe.
szwed.
World Population Growth Conference in Zurich by Cyril Noirtin
Report and resolutions from the RI/UNFPA-sponsored conference held at the end of July
The Rotary International Population and Development Task Force teamed up with representatives from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to organize a Conference on World Population Growth and Sustainable Development. The Conference took place from 28 to 30 July in Zurich, Switzerland. It was attended by more than 600 members, including over 200 Rotaractors some of whom participated in the organization as IT-experts, Sergeant-at-Arms, volunteers in different jobs and panelists. The conference addressed issues of Child spacing, AIDS education and reproductive health programs in developing countries. According to Rotary International President Frank Devlyn, “When population growth exceeds the capacity of the economy to absorb and integrate the population, the result is a downward spiral of increasing poverty, insufficient resources, urban violence and environmental degradation”. During the Conference, a series of workshops and speakers showed how Rotary and Rotaract clubs can identify and create awareness of the problem our communities are facing and take action by utilizing international grants, programs and scholarships to assist families throughout the world. Past RI Director William Cadwallader, Chairman of the RI Population and Development Task Force, encouraged Rotarians to work closely with Rotaractors and to encourage them to participate in the Rotary Volunteers program. “If you want a difficult job done well, call on a well educated, determined, young person. If you want a challenging job done with creative genius, tell that same determined, well-educated
young person what your challenge is and it will be done, if that is the youngster’s goal for service. Rotaractors provide Rotarians a large cadre of well educated, well intentioned, idealistic, highly creative minds that are determined to make this world a better place to live for the new generations.� said Cadwallader. UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Nafis Sadik and Immediate Past Rotary Foundation Trustee Chairman Bill Huntley were among key speakers at the conference. In speeches, panel presentations, and discussion groups, participants underscored the importance of educating and empowering women in order to break the vicious cycle of poverty, ignorance, and unsustainable population growth. They identified micro-credit programs as a great way to help women improve their conditions of living and to send their children to school. A projects fair at the conference displayed 80 population and development projects from 30 countries. Participating Rotaractors met during a workshop and formulated a resolution which reads as follows: I. We (Rotaract International) are convinced that population growth prevents a sustainable development of our world. II. We gratefully welcome Rotary International accepting Rotaract International as a partner in fighting causes of over-population and over-consumption. III. We realize that we are hardly aware of the consequences of overpopulation such as environmental degradation, poverty, and migration, and of natural and medical familyplanning methods and want to join Rotary International in addressing population growth. IV. We believe in the basic human right for voluntary child spacing and want to promote natural and traditional methods of child spacing to every couple of the world. V. We declare abortion not to be an adequate way of modern child spacing. VI. Since we see personal exchange as one of the most appropriate methods to fight world population growth we ask Rotary International to implement a special population and development based youth exchange program. This should focus on exchange between developed and developing countries and be open to Rotaract. It could be performed on a two to three month basis. Thanks to its international resources, structure and membership, Rotary International has the credibility to generate public support and implement solutions to slow down population growth.
Primary School Project in the Disaster Area by TURK/ERIC
European Rotaract participation supports a primary school project in Yalova, Turkey Following the Marmara earthquake on August 17, 1999, the Rotaractors of Europe supported the Turkish Multidistrict Organisation TURK in its collection of donations and materials.
As early as August 20, 1999, the European Rotaract Information Centre (ERIC) created a special "Help the Victims of the Earthquake" section on its website, and messages from 1999/2000 TURK Chairman Mehmet Onarcan were conveyed via the ERIC and world mailing lists. Many ERIC member districts decided to take action. The result is an amount of some DM 46,000 (approx. US$ 22,000), collected thanks to the contribution of Rotaractors in Germany, France, Belgium, Great Britain and Ireland, Luxembourg and Spain. Several districts in other countries donated materials from the lists of requirements posted on the ERIC website, and some even brought those materials with them during the ERIC meeting held in Istanbul in September 1999. The meeting also provided an opportunity for ERIC representatives to visit the Rotary tent camps in which disaster victims were housed. After a nationwide consultation, TURK decided in May 2000 to use the European money for a major project – a Primary School in Yalova, in the heart of the disaster area – project proposed by the Rotary Club of Fatih, supported by its Rotaract Club. The DM 46,000 contribution will be used for the Computer Lab in the school, for which land has been assigned to Rotary by the Turkish Government. The quick reaction time all over Europe is largely due to the coordination work of TURK, ERIC and other national MDIOs, thereby evidencing the role Multidistrict Information Organisations can play to enhance friendship, service and international understanding. TURK/ERIC, September 2000
A Home of their own by Magali Füss
Rotaract France works with Calcutta Rotarians to obtain a matching grant for low-cost shelters in Wes Each year, the Rotaract France Multi-District Organization organizes a large-scale project to which all French Rotaract clubs are invited to contribute. For the 1998/99 year, the Rotaract France Project was "A Roof for Humanity", a project aimed at increasing awareness of the Low-Cost Shelter Program, and raising funds to sponsor such housing within the framework of Rotary Foundation matching grants for LowCost Shelters. Throughout the year, clubs all over France gave conferences at sponsor club meetings, and organized gift-wrapping, tombolas, and other public fundraising events to support the project. By October 1999, some 80,000 FRF (approximately US$ 11,500) had been raised. Rotaractors from the Rotaract Clubs of Mérignac-Couronne and La Baule, coordinating the project at national level, then contacted the Rotary International Hunger and Poverty Alleviation Task Force, and discovered that the Rotary Club of Calcutta South-East, district 3290, India, was looking for an international sponsor for 20 shelters for the poor of West Bengal. Thanks to the assistance of Past RI Director Kalyan Banerjee, contact was immediately
made with Calcutta Rotarians. Throughout the months from November 1999 to June 2000, many messages were exchanged to obtain all the required information on where the houses were to be built, the village of Yuba Sangh, and the shelter construction plan. The forms for The Rotary Foundation matching grant application were duly completed and signed. Rotaract France obtained the support of Rotary District 1690 (South-West France) to sign as international sponsor, in order to comply with matching grants policy requiring a Rotary entity as the sponsor. We received the good news at the beginning of July: The Rotary Foundation Trustees had approved our Matching Grant Application on June 22nd. The Agreement Forms are currently in the process of being signed by both co-sponsors, and the project supported by a Rotary Foundation matching grant is scheduled to commence on November 15, 2000. Building should take 6 to 7 months. Thanks to international understanding and cooperation between the Rotaract France MDIO and Rotarians in India, 20 families will receive their new homes in June 2001. Magali Füss Rotaract France Low-Cost Housing Project Leader
Vojvodina Summer Camp by Maciek Szwedowski
A Report on the Summer Camp organised in Novi Sad from August 19-28, 2000
Just over one month ago I had the opportunity of participating in the Summer Camp “Vojvodina”, organised by the Rotaract Club of Novi Sad, in co-operation with several Yugoslav Rotary Clubs (RC Novi Sad, RC Subotica, RC Zrenjanin). The following is a short summary of what went on there. I realise that this very brief article cannot in any way convey the numerous impressions gathered by me during that time, nonetheless, I would like to share a few of my observations with the readers of the Newsletter. First of all, I think it would be appropriate to provide you with a brief description of the geographical area of Northern Yugoslavia, most notably – of the ancient province of Vojvodina. It cannot be denied that to many of us Yugoslavia seems to be this unreal, “virtual” country, whose borders are different every time we turn on the TV. Some of us might wander what on Earth could make a person want to go there on holiday. Fair enough, I must admit to having had some reservations at first, reservations, which I laugh about now. And that`s exactly why the country is definitely worth seeing. Novi Sad is the second-largest city in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It is a vibrant
cultural and industrial urban centre, with a population of 350,000. The city is beautifully situated along the banks of the majestic Danube, in the middle of the Panonian Plain, which stretches across the North of Yugoslavia and on to Hungary. Novi Sad is the capital of the province of Vojvodina, which is inhabited by several nationalities, the most numerous being the Serbs and the Hungarians. In many areas the Hungarian language and culture dominate, most notably in and around the border town of Subotica. When travelling across Vojvodina one is reminded in a way of the writings of Stephen King – corn fields stretching as far as the eye can see add to the feeling of the unreal, especially to those of us who, like me, grew up in the urban jungle. Just like Ayers Rock in the middle of the Australian bush, the mountain range of Fruska Gora (set between the rivers Sava and Danube) dominates the horizon. Scattered about in the marvellous natural setting of valleys and forests of Fruska Gora are several preserved medieval monasteries, many of which were built in the early XVI century. The most important of these - Staro Hopovo, Krusedol and Grgeteg and about a dozen others, are still home to religious communities of monks and lay people. Thanks to the continuity and endurance of the monastic life, the monasteries of Fruska Gora have been a cradle of the Serb spiritual and political life during centuries of foreign rule. Unfortunately (or perhaps “fortunately”) this enclave of spirituality attracts relatively few visitors, unlike its Greek counterparts – Mount Athos. Only 40 km away lies the charming Novi Sad with its historical heritage, sandy Danube beaches and bustling nightlife. In a country struggling to make ends meet, Novi Sad still manages to maintain the image of an energetic town, undefeated by economic hardships. And Novi Sad has had a fair share of those. Industry, agriculture and business were all hit hard by the embargo, now going into its eight year. During the three-week air campaign in April 1999 there were only four nights without air raids. The city´s three bridges (and several other locations) were considered to be strategic targets by NATO; during last year´s bombings all bridges were destroyed; their charred and twisted remains offer an eerie tourist attraction to a visitor from abroad, unprepared for such sights. High above the city lies the Petrovaradin – an Austro-Hungarian fortress, which for centuries protected the Empire´s Southern frontier against invasion. From the plateau one can admire the breathtaking view of Novi Sad, the Danube and Fruska Gora in the distance. Now the fortress houses the studios of several prominent Novi Sad artists (composers, painters and sculptors) and is the location of the Clock-tower – another Novi Sad landmark. Turning back to the summer camp itself, I found it to have been organised exceptionally well and at very reasonable costs. Accommodation had been arranged in double-bed bungalows literally a stone´s throw from the Danube. Guests were transported to and from Novi Sad in rented vans. The programme was elastically set, which meant that we did not have to be rushed from one place to another, and at the same time you never felt bored. Local Rotaractors were always there to help. It was obvious that the success of the summer camp, which, by the way, was the second international event organised by the Rotaract Club of Novi Sad (following the South-Eastern European Conference in November 1999), was in no small measure due to the excellent contacts with the Rotary Club of Novi Sad.
All in all, the participation of foreign Rotaractors could have been better, however, considering the problems with entering Yugoslavia (visas, currency regulations), perhaps this was to be expected. To Novi Sad came Rotaractors from Timisoara (Romania), Banska Bystrica (Slovakia), Trieste (Italy), Warsaw and two members of the newlyfounded club in Banja Luka (Bosnia Herzegovina). One can only regret that several other Rotaractors, who had been interested in coming, ran into problems with obtaining Yugoslav entry visas. Something that has struck me in the Rotaract Club of Novi Sad was that most of them seem to be very close also outside the Club. I do not want to repeat truisms about the importance of friendship in Rotaract – but it is simply very true. And we all know that friendship is not something that can be “planted” in people. It was reassuring to see in the Novi Sad club that these people feel well together. Also, the warmth with which we were welcomed – you don´t see much of that these days, as I´m sure most of us would agree. I will not list the places we visited – to the readers of this article most of them would just be strange-sounding names. Suffice it to say that the aim of the summer camp was to familiarise the visitors with the past and the present of Vojvodina, a part of the Balkans described in the books of Milos Crnjanski (which I heartily recommend). A report on the summer camp itself, together with photographs, is available at the website of the Rotaract Club of Novi Sad ( www.rotaract.org/novisad ), which incidentally, recently got the second place in the E.R.I.C. Contest for Best Rotaract Website in Central & Eastern Europe. Also, the website contains amazingly extensive information about the city of Novi Sad, Vojvodina and today´s Yugoslavia – a country which could use some advertising not related to the political situation. Now that Politics have been mentioned (as it just had to be mentioned), I would like to say that this is a period of great uncertainty for Yugoslavia, a period of hope (mine also) that for the sake of people like the ones who make up the Rotaract Club of Novi Sad their country will change soon. szwed.
This service was brought to you by E.R.I.C., the European Rotaract Information Center. Please visit our website at http://www.rotaract-eric.org and especially the webpage about our sponsors at http://www.rotaract-eric.org/sponsors. Â