ERIC Newsletter - February 2003
1. Calendario
2. A word from the editor
3. ERIC meeting in Salerno
4. The Salerno ERIC Meeting
5. Web graphic designers, come to me!
6. Sarajevo Charter Party
7. The International Medical Conference of the Rotaract Clubs in Bucharest
8. Rotaract France National Convention.
9. From District 2241
10. An unforgettable week end
11. Crociera Giovani 2003
Calendario
February 21 - 23, Dumfries, Scotland: Rotaract Scottish Conference. Contact person: Vicki Jackson Scotconf2003@yahoo.co.uk; web site:http://www.rotaract.org/dl230. 22, Venice, Italy: Carnival Ball by Rotaract Club Venezia in Palazzo Pesaro Papafava. Booking deadline: 14th February 2003 or until sold out. To check the current number of available seats, surf
http://www.rotaract.org/venezia/carnevale2003.htm. For further information please contact Lorenzo Tomasin +39 3478557922,
tomasin@sns.it, Stefano Tomasin +39 3407602019, stefano.tomasin@tin.it, Diego Vianello +39 3387814041, dievia@libero.it, Isabella Penzo +39 3474855486. 21, 22, 23th february 2003, Poitiers, National Formation Week-end for new Rotaractors D-1720 www.rotaract.org/sfr Contact :leomaltier@yahoo.fr
28 – 2/3, Roskilde, Denmark: National Danish Conference. For more information contact multievent2003@webspeed.dk.
March 7 – 8, Vienna, Austria: Multidistrict & Multinational Conference of Rotaract districts 1910 & 1920, Austria, Bosnia Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia. Contact DRR Gerit-Holger Schernthaner at gerit-holger.schernthaner@akh-
wien.ac.at or Ulf Mueller at austria@rotaract-eric.org. 13th march 2003 in Toulouse, D-1700 Gala Diner for the 35th birthday of Rotaract International
http://www.rotaract.org/35ans Contact :bertrand.salifou@rotaract.org 12 – 16: Kult und ski program in Graz, Austria, 2003 European Culture Capital and in Zell am See by Rotaract Club Graz. For more information surf
http://www.graz.at or mail to rtc_graz@hotmail.com. 14 – 16: 3rd National Week end in Lyon by Rotaract Club Lyon International. For information visit
http://www.rotaract.asso.fr.
28 - 30 : Rotaractian Medical Science Conference in Bucharest by Rotaract Club Bucharest University. For information visit http://www.rotaract-
university.ro/
April 11 - 13 : DEUKO 2003 in Mainz (D 1860), German National Convention. For information visit http://www.deuko2003.de/. 18 - 21: British National Convention in Birmingham. For more information surf
http://www.rgbi2003.comor write to Julie Farrell at juliefrazz@hotmail.com. 23 - 27, Amsterdam, The Netherlands: EUCO 2003. Info:
http://www.rotaract.nl/euco, contact: euco2003@rotaract.nl.
May 23 - 25: W.I.P. Week end International de Paris. For information visit
http://www.rotaract.org/paris. 30 - 4/6: Brisbane, Australia: Rotaract Pre-convention and Rotary Convention. Info:http://www.rotary.org .
June 6 – 8: Fashion Gala in Como, Italy. For information visit http://2040.rotaract.it. 27 – 29: 4th National Week end in Metz, France. For information visit
http://www.rotaract.asso.fr.
A word from the editor
Dear Rotaract Friends,
let me introduce myself: my name is Massimo Accornero, I am the DRR of District 2030Italy and I will be your ERIC Information & Communication for the next months (with many thanks to Giulio Garbini – Rtc Novara, my “technology adviser”). As the I&C Manager I will have the responsibility of the ERIC Newsletter, probably the most important instrument of communication for the European Rotaractors. The newsletter actually is the best way to know everything about the Rotaract activities in Europe, to find new ideas, to share experiences, to present your actions… However to have a good and useful Newsletter we will need your help so send your articles and your pictures, make us know your activities and the appointments of your Club or your District. For any further information please do not hesitate and contact me at
masso@rotaract.org See you soon somewhere in Europe! Yours in Rotaract Massimo
ERIC meeting in Salerno
News from the Salerno ERIC Meeting Dear rotaractors all over ERICland, as you will be able to learn from the following article, the Salerno ERIC Meeting was very funny and enjoyable and not less fruitful and interesting for the participants. We have taken several important decisions about the future activities and projects, which I shortly list: 1. Most important of all, we have the venue and the dates of EUCO 2004: Budapest, Hungary, April 28 – May 2. Congratulations to Rotaract club Budapest and to all the district which will support the organisation: we are already looking forward to coming! 2. The September ERIC Meeting will take place in Warsaw, Poland, dates to be defined. 3. We have a new Information & Communication Manager: Massimo Accornero, Italy. You can write to him at the usual address iandc@rotaract-eric.org. 4. The vote for the Best Service Project Award has been postponed due to organising reasons and the winner will be announced before the end of February. 5. A new web contest will be launched in March. 6. ERIC will try to establish constant contacts and links with other areas’ MDIO first of all by exchanging information and the newsletters. 7. We have decided the topics of the workshops of EUCO, but you will learn about this in the official program in EUCO website. I look forward to meeting you all in Amsterdam. Yours in ERIC Valentina Dell’Acqua ERIC Marketing Manager – marketing@rotaract-eric.org
The Salerno ERIC Meeting
Murphy’s principle
Can you imagine one of those mornings when everything which can go wrong inexorably does? Well, last January 24 seemed the day to confirm one of the most famous Murphy’s principles: rain, cloudy sky, tens of phone calls which didn’t allow me to leave my firm, flight delays, missed trains, exhausted ink cartridge, delay at the car rental for collecting the minivan …. my mobile seemed like going crazy, like me!
I could relax a bit just when arriving at Naples Rail station when I picked up Ulf Mueller and Nicola Usai (I won’t mention about them not seeing me in the square for ten minutes and at least three phone calls each …). What relieved me was picking up the “big” group at the airport: what a sight Matthias, Georges, Aysegul, Edgar and Arnaud all together waving at us arriving in our white minivan! I must admit that they all seemed quite perplex realising that I was going to drive the minivan, and for the very first kilometres they were so silent and attentive that it seemed like if they were all concentrated on (my) driving! Anyway, they are such experienced rotaractors that they perfectly knew how an ERIC Meeting is first of all a unique experience in your life, and it is in many different ways …. ;)
After a short rest at the hotel in Salerno we went for a walking tour of the historical centre lead by the president and a member of the Gruppo Archeologico Salernitano who showed us the palatine chapel of the Longobard prince Arechi II, the church of S. Maria De Lama with medieval frescoes and the four-sided portico of the Norman cathedral. “How interesting” you may think. Well, I hope it was for everybody, but not for me who received from 3 to 6 messages from the answering machine of my mobile any time I was out of reach for five minutes!
“Nomen omen” or when your destiny is in your name
After trying mozzarella, Parma ham, the Neapolitan pizza and the pastiera (the typical Easter cake of Campania) the guests thought that the day could be over, but they had forgot the program or had been hoping for my mercy seeing them tired from the travel, but NO! There was the medieval Treasure Hunt to be played, so we drew the names for the teams and started. To be honest they started, because I seized the opportunity to go
home and to take a 15 minutes nap to recover while they played ;) Strangely the names of the teams reflected their behaviour and attitudes: the Longobards seemed more relaxed and distracted, less aggressive and straight to the point, confident in their abilities but they undervalued the route and the tasks, in fact they were the last getting to the end; the Normans were more aggressive, aware of their skills, organised and goal oriented, but their excessive self confidence induced them in several avoidable mistakes; the Swebians, instead, seemed to start a bit slowly, they took their time to wander around, to admire the hidden corners of the ancient centre and to listen to the stories and explanations Fabrizio could give, answered the questions with attention and accuracy and at last, even after the tricky bonus questions, they won! Actually they didn’t win anything, but we honoured them and toasted with limoncello, the local lemon liqueur. For the bravest a drink in a pub till 3 a.m. was enough to finish the evening.
Hard life to be an ERIC rep.
Saturday greeted us with a shy sun, but it was enough for a beautiful trip to Amalfi and Ravello’s historical villas and a stop in Minori for an excellent dessert. This was the program for the guests, of course: we ERIC representatives were engaged with our meeting all day long, but we had a nice break at my place were we had what was called “gala lunch”: you know how tiring is such a meeting, so we restored with two kinds of pasta, roasted buffalo with fresh pepper, vegetables, fruit salad, Aglianico red wine, lemon & mandarin & herb liqueurs and all the chocolates and specialities brought by my colleagues. Tough, isn’t it? But I can assure you this was the only way we could finish the meeting at 7,15 p.m. with a smile on our faces ;) The evening started at Mario’s place, RTC Salerno sergeant at arms, where the members of the club prepared typical dishes from our regional cuisine tradition and then continued at the disco “Vittoria” where the ERIC group was joined by 40 more members from several Rotaract clubs of Campania.
Our “relaxed” Sunday
Some participants had to leave early on Sunday, while the others had the chance to see a bit more of the surroundings. We took the minivan, left to Pompeii excavations where we dropped Georges, Ulf, Robert and Yves and went for a short sightseeing of Naples: Piazza Plebiscito, S. Carlo Theatre and Castel Dell’Ovo, plus the “compulsory” stop at the historical Caffè Gambrinus for a hot chocolate.
Then Matthias, Aysegul and Arnaud took their plane and Katarzyna, Nicola, Edgar, Ulf and I went back to Pompeii to pick the others and go visiting the amazing Poppea’s villa in Oplontis, probably the best preserved roman villa. Then we rushed to the airport again, said good bye to Georges and Robert and went back to Naples where we visited a Rotaract friend, Salvatore, and had the chance to have a drink at his place watching the marvellous skyline of the Vesuvius and of the gulf of Naples (needless to say that we started drinking coffee and tea and quickly switched to spumante wine ….). Shortly after I left the ones who stayed in Naples at the hostel and drove fast to the Rail station where Ulf had to catch his train. It was a long long day, but we able to do so much together that it seemed like two days in one! How great it was hosting the ERIC representatives and the guests in my hometown: everybody seemed to have enjoyed the stay and were more enthusiastic about ERIC. What about me: I had an unforgettable experience, a great pleasure and, moreover, I lost 1,7 kilos in three days! All the members of Rotaract Club Salerno and I wish to thank all the participants (especially the ones who trusted me driving the minivan after just one hour previous experience;)) and look forward to meeting you again in Amsterdam during EUCO and hopefully in Salerno again!
Valentina Dell’Acqua Italy’s Rep. at ERIC – italy@rotaract-eric.org
Web graphic designers, come to me!
I’ve not driven mad, I just wanted to catch your attention and spur you to collaborate in an activity in which you are probably very good and in which I am not for sure ;) The ERIC Committee approved to launch a web contest in March and for this we need a logo which will be shown on the ERIC home page and the home page of all the participants’ web sites. The only requirements for the logo to be created are as follows: the logo must include the ERIC logo or at least the word “ERIC” and the words “web contest”. Please send your proposals to marketing@rotaract-eric.org before March, 10
2003. I’m eager to see them, don’t make me wait long! Valentina Dell’Acqua ERIC Marketing Manager – marketing@rotaract-eric.org
Sarajevo Charter Party I'm proud and happy to announce that Rotaract World just got bigger - since last Saturday we have a brand new Rotaract country. What to say about Bosnia and Herzegovina? It is a very special country with many problems, and I was really excited when I realised that Rotaract club of Sarajevo will give me the opportunity to go and visit this country for the first time. It was not easy to reach Bosnian capital: the most convinient and cheepest way was to take the train from Zagreb, so that's what Rotaractors from all over the District 1910 decided to do. Everything was going well to a certain point: on the border we realised that our Hungarian friends needed visas, so our happy group had to split-Croatian, Slovenian and Austrian Rotaractors continued their train ride to Sarajevo, and I stayed on the border with the Hungarians. Thanks to Bosnian Rotarians, we managed to get visas on the border after seven hours of waiting, hoping and making a thousands of phonecalls! We even managed to get ourselves deported back to Croatia, but in the end everything worked out just fine. In true Rotaract spirit, we extended our trip to 22 hours instead of expected 8, just because we didn't want to give up and miss the Charter party. When we finally reached the Bosnian capital, on a lovely Saturday morning, some of us went to bed to get some rest. I decided not to miss anything else about Sarajevo, and joined the group that was going to the mountain Bjelasnica, the Olympic center. We had a chance to ski, sleigh, take lovely walks and have snowball fights - and we did it all!
We were expected at lunch in one of the most famous places in the city - in cevabdzinica Zeljo (the very place where even President Clinton had his cevapcici), where we had the opportunity to try various Bosnian specialties. After lunch, we went for a sightseeing tour of the Old town. War wounds are still visible, but it seems like the city is trying to recover its old shape. Thanks to our wonderfull hosts, Sarajevo Rotaractors, we had a lovely strall and visited some of the famous sights:
the city's most famous mosque-Begova Dzamija, the getto, the very spot where Gavrilo Princip (the assasin of Austrian heir to the throne Franz Ferdinand) stood when he shot the bullet that started the World War I. As we returned to our hotel, we got ready for the Charter ceremony.
We listened to the speeches of Sponsoring club officials, Youth Exchange Chairman for our District and our District Rotaract Representative. All the clubs' representatives presented the new Rotaract Sarajevo with their presents and best wishes. Off course, lovely gala dinner and party till down followed, according to the Rotaract tradition. And in the morning it was time to get on the train again. During the 8 hour long ride to Zagreb we made plans for our next meetings: Multidistrict Conference 1910/1920 in Vienna on 7th of March, and the Charter party of the next Bosnian club - Rotaract club of Banja Luka (15th of March) Ivana Bedenikovic
The International Medical Conference of the Rotaract Clubs in Bucharest
Dear Rotaractors, As you were announced we had in mind to organize The Rotaract Medical Sciences Conference, a typical very scientific Conference, where participants come to present their own works in the researching or practical fields. But, our main idea was to bring together rotaractors from all around the world, rotaractors which have to do with the medical field- to establish contacts and friendships. To organize such a Conference or Congress one should start preparations, send invitations many months before. This is not our situation. Therefore we transformed a little bit the face of our Conference. Now it has a well defined aim: “The Rotaract Fight against Smoking and Drug addiction�. Specialists will tell us what happens when we smoke or take drugs, how we can abandon this vices and how we can help others prevent or get ridded of such problems. Every club is invited to present its own projects connected to smoking or drugs addiction. Not only those involved directly in the medical field are expected to participate in our
Conference, but all those who want to get rid of these two vices and win an extra slice of liberty, or help others do so, cause we consider that any kind of addictions, especially those mentioned above, restrict our liberty. Or maybe you just want to meet other rotaractors from different nations and cultures and spend some wonderful days with them, in a town which once was known as The small Paris or The Paris of the Balkans. Anyway, you are very welcomed to register till February 28th on our website. You can take also a fine one day trip into the Carpathians Mountains for only 15 euros, in which are included: transportation with minibuses(~400Km), visiting fees for 2 castles and one Gothic Church, short sightseeing tour of the medieval town of Brasov and lunch in an exquisite native restaurant in Poiana Brasov mountain resort. Don’t forget ! Details will be always available on our webpage. Come and find out! Your friends from Romania, The Rotaract Club of Bucharest-University http://www.rotaract-university.ro E-mail: bucharest-university@rotaract.org Florian Burcea- President florian@rotaract.ro George Ghiga- Secretary georgeghiga@rotaract.ro
Rotaract France National Convention.
The 33rd Rotaract France National Convention took place in Montpellier during the 19th-20th October 2002 weekend. 150 highly motivated Rotaractors attended the plenary sessions. They put forward Rotaract, their actions, the shop, the directory, the national coordination, the outgoing board and the new board to which they extended their wish of “pro-activeness for success”. Bertrand SALIFOU from Toulouse Rotaract Club presided over the Convention, highlighted by the presence of Jacques PAILLERET, the representative of International Rotary President, Bhichai RATTAKUL. In his informative and marked with humour keynote address, Jacques PAILLERET outlined President Bhichai RATTAKUL’s theme, « SOW THE SEEDS OF LOVE » and did underscore the importance of coming close to the finishing line in the fight against polio. Cyril NOIRTIN took stock of the current situation and did encourage the Clubs to carry out actions so that we can keep our promise to eradicate poliomyelitis. Saturday morning plenary session included a keynote address delivered by FrançoisBernard MICHEL, member of the French Académie Française. He explained why young
people had to get involved in humanitarian actions in their own community and abroad. Working sessions were then held, namely : “the National Coordination and the National Action”, “A performing club” and “Rotary Programs for the generations to come”. Before the major event of the Convention, the gala evening, Rotaractors explored the Languedoc Roussillon region. They paid a visit to Francis LACOSTE Muscat cellars, the Perrier plant and the city of Montpellier. For the 14th time, the Gala evening was highlighted by the Hermes Communication awards ceremony. The internal communication Hermes was awarded to Prince Albert 1er Club, the external communication Hermes to Nantes-Cité des Ducs Club, the National Action Hermes to Montpellier and the most original communication Hermes award went to Toulouse Club. Two PHF were also presented : one to Aude NOIRTIN for the work she did perform at Rotaract France Magazine two years in a row, and the other to Bertrand SALIFOU for his commitment in the “Violets for Toulouse” action in favour of the AZF catastrophe victims. The transfer of powers of the National Coordination took place on Sunday morning. After reporting on his action year, Marie-Clémentine DERVAUX handed over to Hervé PIGLOWSKI, who, in turn presented his teams and his programme. The 2002-2003 National Service Project is called “ A plastic cap, a smile” and will support the non-profit organisation of Jean-Marie BIGARD, a French humorist. The action aims to collect plastic bottle caps, which are then recycled and sold, in order to finance the purchase of wheelchairs and found orphanages in Africa. The main objective of this partnership is, above all, to raise the profile of Rotaract. The Rotaract Club Lyons International then presented next year’s Convention which they will host. Guy CHAUMONT, District 1700 Rotary Governor, emphasized the positive outcome of his participation in the Montpellier Convention and did encourage Rotaractors and Rotarians to take part in our Lyons’ friends Convention.
We want to thank Pierre THEROND (Host Committee President); Jean-Eudes LEDUC (Rotaract Montpellier President) and the members of the club for the success of this Convention and the quality of the organization. Aude NOIRTIN Rotaract France Communication & Information Manager
http://www.rotaract.org/convention-france
From District 2241
New values and attitudes needed among the Rotaract clubs
You can achieve anything you set your mind on The almost 500 Rotaract members of 25 clubs in Romania and Republic of Moldavia, with their perseverance and commitment to the rotaractian way of thinking and acting, managed to create during this rotarian year, for the first time in our Rotaract history a strong organization at the district level.
Attitude is everything We learned in our clubs that we have to work together as a real team. A successful team means dedication, enthusiasm and the willingness of each Rotaractor to go that extra mile A new challenge - Virtual teaming/teamwork inside our District Communication technology (email, emailing-lists and forums at district level) have made virtual teaming and collaboration a reality that enables the districtual committee and the club’s presidents, composed of dispersed people, to think, create and act as one. The distance between two members of the committee can be 900km, with no highway to bring them together. Virtual teaming and collaboration change the way members interact and work. The need of connecting and complexity taken together result in the clubs’ pursuing new ways of working. Communicating at a virtual level has become a challenge for the district committee. Virtual contact does not replace face-to-face interaction. Instead, face-to-face meetings become even more important. Therefore we organize monthly regional club and district committee meetings, to which every president is welcomed. Strong relationships and new values based on trust
Relationships between Rotaractors are considered to be valuable assets, therefore they need to be maintained and treasured like any other asset. Relationships are part of our identity. A milestone for trust is respect for members’ individuality. Broadening our thinking and learning opportunities: ‘L e a d e r s’ - The Districtual Project February-June 2003 Productive conversations where everyone learns something new will be held during 6 leadership-training weekends, which will take place every month. Specialized trainers will talk to the Rotaractors about teambuilding, motivation, communication and debate, project management. Each training organized together with the local Rotary clubs has as target about 4 to 5 Rotaract clubs. During our General Assembly on the 5th of April Rotaractors and DRRs from other Districts are welcomed as our special guests to the leadership-trainings. Take the chance to experience new values and attitudes! Yours in Rotaract, Aura Cadis Rotaract District Representative 2241 Email: drr@rotaract.ro, Tel. + 40 722510938
An unforgettable week end
Rotaract Club Terni and Rotaract Wien Hofburg celebrated their twinning during S. Valentine’s International Week end
Wow, we just arrived on time at the Vienna airport. The last ones as usual! Happily we entered the plane with our trolleys and bags with presents for our new friends in Terni and immediately were stopped by the stewardess. The plane was completely full and we had to give the trolleys to the luggage room. And here started the troubles… immediately the pilot announced a delay due to a broken seat of the co-pilot, so we started with 45 minutes delay. But our good mood was still there: we were so looking forward to
spending a week-end in “bella Italia”, finally!!!! Second surprise at the arrival in Rome, we had to wait for the trolleys at the baggage claim. We called Edoardo to advise that we finally arrived and just needed few more minutes. We spoke too early… It took us 45 more minutes at the baggage claim while Fanciullo was organising himself as red carpet. Finally after two hours delay we showed up – just fresh and relaxed as if nothing had happened. We had a “quick” transfer with Italian and international music and dance and shortly before midnight joined the dinner. (In Austria it’s already bedtime.) Nice to see the Italian hospitality of 60 people waiting for us – we just missed the starters. The hero of the evening was Francesco, Terni’s president, who joined the evening for the “twinning” despite a high fever. After speeches and pictures we exchanged the typical presents from both countries: Sacher Torte from Vienna and excellent wines from Italy. The evening went on and the fun was increasing, till later than expected. We met so many nice people which was a good beginning for a great week-end! The morning after, we won our fight against the blanket: the curiosity to see Terni and its marvellous surroundings was higher than the desire to sleep few more hours! Sunshine and blue sky confirmed that our decision was the right one. The great surprise after the nice city walk and visit of St. Valentine’s church was having lunch on a sunny terrace by a small lake, and just because the heating of the restaurant was broken, what a pity J J J Fun, good food, wine and nice people from all over Italy made the lunch just perfect. We regretted to leave that nice place, but the next stop, the Marmore water falls, was also exciting. However we started to realise that we had woken up really too early. So we even skipped shopping (who knows us understands the difficulty of the decision!!!) for 2 hours sleep. At 7 pm we fought the 2nd battle of the day (we got up again) and dressed up for the party. At the restaurant where we made lot of new friends but also met old friends from other clubs. The spirit of the evening was just great from the beginning. After the excellent dinner (but what else should we have expected from our new friends from Terni?!?) we started dancing no-stop till 5 in the morning, except for the one or other Cuba Libre. The night was too short … but again we realised the day after that it was long enough, especially when at 9 am we heard our room-neighbours singing (a special thanks to Luca for his performance!). Just having started the week-end was already over again: we saw the regret in the faces of everybody during the brunch. The friends from Terni showed their efficiency again with CD Roms for everybody with photos from the party just few hours after the end: compliments, you’re great!!!! We couldn’t have wished anything better than the pleasant transfer of Riccio, the
sergeant at arms, including a final farewell dinner at the airport!!! Well, we have passed an unforgettable week end and we hope Terni rotaractors will have the same when they’ll visit us in Vienna, hopefully in March, 7-9. Rita Jakusch – Rosalba Drumbl Rotaract Wien Hofburg
Crociera Giovani 2003
From the 4th of April 2003 till the 13th the Rotaract District 2030-Italy will host the “Crociera Giovani 2003”. The Crociera Giovani is a tradition of our District and represents an exceptional opportunity of international exchange, which allows ten Rotaractors from all the World to come and visit our District composed by Valle D’Aosta, Piemonte and Liguria for a short period. The Rotaractors that want to participate to the Crociera Giovani are selected according to their curricula from a special committee. The journey will touch the most significant areas of our District and the participants will be lodge directly by members of Rotaract Clubs. Every Club of Valle D’Aosta, Piemonte and Liguria will organize visits, tours, typical Italian dinners, wine sampling and parties to make our guests discover our country and our culture. This year the participants of the Crociera Giovani 2003 will come from: Canada, U.S.A., Costa Rica, Ecuador, Norway, Turkey, Portugal, South Africa, and Australia. We believe that the variety of different countries and cultures will improve the international comprehension and will support the friendship between Rotaractors from all over the world. Thomas Perazzi International Committee District 2030-Italia