April 26, 2006
Newsletter Bringing people together! Issue #3
Best European Service Project 2005 Twenty-five Rotaract service projects entered the competition for the Best European Service Project Award of 2005. All of the projects displayed very impressive voluntary work with regards to innovation, the effort required and the outcome. The five best projects were selected by a committee of RE members and finally the winner was found through a vote involving all country representatives. The choice was not easy. The winning project “Responsible Parenthood, Skill Development and Micro-Loans in Slum Areas of Alexandria, Egypt” was carried out by the combined efforts of Rotaract District 1860 (Germany) and the Rotaract Club Alexandria Cosmopolitan (D2450, Egypt). In cooperation they planned and funded the project based on an improved version of a pilot project. The implementation was carried out with help from PLAN International, UNFPA, Rotarian Action Group for Population & Development (RFPD) and The Rotary Foundation.
Till this day the project has influenced the life of more than 1400 people. A recently approved matching grant from The Rotary Foundation will secure further projects using same model. Indeed an impressive project showing dedication, good project management and international cooperation! A joint second place was given to the projects “Sensitive Heart” by the Rotaract Club of Simferopol, Ukraine and “RotAidS” by District 2420 and Ataköy Rotaract Club in Turkey. The project “Sensitive Heart” was dedicated to making activities for mentally and physically handicapped orphans and youth. Two hundred fifty children and youth were affected by this very well planned and sustainable service project.
“Sensitive Heart” by Rotaract Club Simferopol, District 2230, Ukraine
“RotAidS” by Rotaract Club Ataköy, District 2420, Turkey The “RotAIDS” project, with focus on AIDS awareness, reached a huge number of people. A large wall with appropriate decorations was placed outside an entertainment centre with close to one million visitors per day. Almost 42.000 leaflets were handed out and the press coverage gave this project good exposure. This project, which was planned as a follow up from an AIDS awareness project aimed at the Rotaractors of the district conducted in 2004, proves that sustainability in Rotaract projects is indeed feasible. The project “Independent Polish Film Show” / “Independent Croatian Film Show” by the Rotaract clubs of Wroclaw Panorama, Poland, District 2230 and Osijek, Croatia, District 1910, came fourth. Two separate film festivals introducing Polish films in Croatia and Croatian films in Poland with great cooperation between the Rotaract clubs, Rotarians, the local cultural and tourism boards and finally the actors and directors of the independent film productions. This was a great concept for cultural and artistic exchange. The final project on this year’s top
five is the project “The Street Emergency” by District 2040, Italy. They identified aspects of dangerous behaviour of young drivers in their area including drunk driving. Rotaractors took an active role outside discos with an alcohol-meter and written information. In cooperation with local authorities this was followed up by TV advertisement, newsreadings etc. This was also a very interesting and well planned project with potentially a very large impact.
We hope this brief description will encourage and inspire even more Rotaractors around Europe to take action in the coming year. Lets double the number of contestants next year. Remember – there are hundreds of ways to display service above self. Kristine Binzer, R.E. Service Projects Officer
Newsletter
April 26, 2006
#1 BESP 2005 What Rotaract can do to change the life of
more than 1400 people Responsible Parenthood, Skill Development and Micro-Loans in Slum Areas of Alexandria, Egypt Let’s face it: the world is exploding! Children are being born on and on. The majority of these children, however, will never be able to live a life of the quality we are enjoying in Europe, today. That being one of the issues our generation will have to deal with in the future, we better start today to do something about it. The development project of the Rotaract District 1860 (Germany) and the Rotaract Club Alexandria Cosmopolitan (D 2450, Egypt) is one way to face the population explosion, the poverty and the lack of (health) education in countries like Egypt, Nigeria, China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. Starting in 2001, nobody could anticipate the huge success it has
become in the past years. Until today up to 1400 people were able to greatly improve their living situation. The goal of this project is to support the poorest women living in the slums of Alexandria (Egypt) by providing financial and educational support. The women are not only provided with micro-loans in order to establish a business of their own, but they are also given the chance to attend different kinds of lessons. These lessons are:
1) Literacy classes: The women learn the basics of reading and writing or deepen already existing skills in these fields. 2) Vocational assessment: The women are trained in the general and special skills they need for their future jobs. 3) Population and development classes: These lessons combine public health education, community health, information about sexually transmitted diseases and responsible parenthood as well as information about adequate nutrition. After having acquired these skills, the women can use the micro credits to establish their own businesses and thus be able to feed their families. There is a variety of businesses to choose from: vegetables and fruit selling, carpentry, sewing, grocery, home appliances, and electrical work, only to name a few. One micro-credit loan supports one case being the woman plus five or six relatives (e.g. children, parents, and parents-in-law). The women are approximately between 20 and 40 years old. The members of the Rotaract Club Alexandria Cosmopolitan
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take care of the project’s process on the spot. Their job is to select and to support the women. They have to organize the lessons together with the NGO PLAN International. The Rotaractors in Alexandria are supervising the repayments as well as documenting the money flows. The members of the Rotaract District 1860 participated in the development of the project that included the financing aspect. The first part of the project was funded by a New Opportunity Grant of District 1860 ($ 5000) and a fund of the RFPD German Section ($ 5000). For the second part of the project, the Rotaractors of District 1860 raised $ 5000 which were generously doubled by the RFPD German Section and brought up to a sum of $ 20 000 by a Matching Grant ($ 10 000). So altogether the incredible amount of $ 30 000 is available for this project. Meanwhile, the main job of the German Rotaractors is to mediate between the different project partners, to monitor the project and to foster Public Relations. This project is not only based on the cooperation of two Rotaract Districts from two different countries but it also provides the cooperation of the following organizations: Rotaract, NGO PLAN International, UNFPA, Rotarian Action Group for Population & Development (RFPD) and The Rotary Foundation. Until this point about 1400
persons were able to improve their living situation by being supported by the project. About 24 families were even able to extend their business. Needless to say, the beneficiaries are very grateful. - More astonishing - the project is also widely accepted among all inhabitants of the slums. This shows that the selection of the poorest amongst them was carefully done by the local Rotaractors. German Rotaractors together with German Rotarians visited the project area several times and convinced themselves about the results. The project committee expects to have 600 cases closed by the end of the project (approximately 2007/ 08) thus having secured the future for more than 4000 people in Alexandria. While this project can only be one little step in the process of reducing the imbalance between North and South our most important goal is to create awareness for population & development issues among you. Rotaractors are young, smart and visionaries – these are the ressources you need to establish and support such a project. We are looking forward to similar projects being created in the future. If you are interested in running a similar project, feel free to contact us: alexandria1860@web.de. Nici Elshorst, Katrin Jorke & Kerstin Theilmann (District 1860, Germany)
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Newsletter
Issue #3
#2 BESP 2005
“Sensitive Heart”
Sensitive Heart project is aimed at the harmonious integration of the orphans and children with special needs in the rapidly- changing, highly-demanding, multicultural society. It started in September 2005 at two institutions: Simferopol School- Orphanage for Mentally Retarded Children, the SchoolRehabilitation Centre “Hope” for Mentally and Physically Retarded Children, all in all about 250 children.
In our project we concentrate on children’s cultural rights, helping them to cultivate the feeling of self-acceptance, instill confidence, realize their full potential, fostering their personal growth. For the neglected children tolerance is a very relevant trait to develop, in order to say “no” to violence, choosing peaceful ways of conflict resolution, so that they could realize the personal responsibility for their future. The orphans have their society limited to their unlucky and neglected peers. We decided to show them that the world is a big and variable place, bringing not only the Ukrainian and Russians in our project, but also the Crimea Tatars, Chinese, Indians, Malays,
Americans, etc. That is how a community project became an international one. Now more about what we are doing: All trends of the project are based on psychological trainings and trainings of communication. 1. ART Project includes unique workshops, such as Indian art of rice-painting, glass beads braiding, soft toys sewing, water-colors painting, Latin-American dancing, Indian dancing, etc.
The workshops are unique not only in their content but also in their individual orientation so they could meet the deepest needs of each child. 2. “Language Plus” project - creative approach to language-acquisition, fostering personal development together with learning a foreign language. For example: language + paper ship-building, fairy tales, role-games, marketing, football matches, handicraft and many more exciting life-essential activities. 3. Sport Project includes indoor and outdoor activities with the representatives of different cultures. It is
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aimed at building bonds of camaraderie, learning how to be united, express support and altruism. 4. New trends of work. Therapy-based approach. 1. Game-therapy 2. Art-therapy – Drama-therapy – Musical therapy 3. Bibliotherapy 4. Logotherapy 5. Cultural evenings – presentation of one’s own talents and broadening the knowledge of the children about different cultures. It’s just a short summary, which can never reflect the abundance of emotions, feelings and personal achievements of the children! The work at the School-Rehabilitation Centre “Hope” for Mentally and Physically Retarded Children started a bit earlier than that at the orphanage. The Rotaract Club of Simferopol organized the visit of 40 children to the important city institutions as a part of their professional orientation plan. There was also a performance of the Puppet Theatre organized for over 120 children. The donation drive took place some time after. The toys, books, sport equipment: bikes, balls, skipping ropes and mats were given to the children with special needs. Our project had different
EVERY BABY NEEDS A MAMA, NEEDS A PAPA CLOSE AT HAND. EVERY BABY NEEDS A MAMA, NEEDS PAPA TO HOLD THEIR HAND. I LOOK IN THE EYES OF A BEAUTIFUL CHILD, THEY TELL ME MORE THAN WORDS. HE REACHES HIS HAND AND CRIES FOR SOMETHING, OH! I’LL GIVE HIM ALL I HAVE. I‘M HOLDING HIS HAND AND GIVING MY LOVE THROUGH HAPPINESS AND SORROW. AND IN NO TIME HE’LL BE A BIG BOY. OH! WHAT A WONDER OF LOVE! OH LITTLE BABY, YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
These are the words of the hymn of the “Sensitive Heart” times… We heard such remarks from teachers as “What are you trying to change?” we had people who didn’t believe that the project could succeed, thus leaving the ideas and the children. We faced the problem of people being indifferent and pessimistic. But regardless all that, we succeeded - the children did, and any one of you can witness it!
We would like to thank all those people who believed in what we were doing, who gave their time and energy to the children, who made the orphanage their home, those whose hearts can truly be called a SENSITIVE! The second BEST AWARD in the European Rotaract Competition of the most outstanding service projects is dedicated to you!
Anna Pavlova, Rotaract Club Simferopol, Ukraine
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Newsletter
April 26, 2006
June is getting closer…
ROTARACT EUROPE Twin Club Program Awards
Two more months to go before my term as president is ending, as well as my Rotaract membership. Two years of being president have gone very quickly., I can still remember my election in Budapest as if it were yesterday. Since that time a lot has happened in Europe, as Budapest was also the city where we voted for our new name: Rotaract Europe. This name has caused me both great joy as heavy disappointment. Big joy because of the success the name has in Europe and heavy disappointment because our Rotary friends keep on blocking the name. The joy is still more important than the disappointment. The number of people attending Rotaract Europe events keeps on growing. When I started in ERIC, September and January meetings were joined by 20-30 Rotaractors, mainly from the host country. The last meeting in Milan was attended by 300 Rotaractors!! These numbers are tremendous. Same goes for EUCO, since Amsterdam 2003 we see 400-500 people joining this great event. The name Rotaract Europe is a lot clearer than ERIC and changing the name has given a great boost in publicity. This publicity even leads to the fact that more countries actively participate in Rotaract Europe, like Greece that has appointed a representative for the first time. This all sounds great, but on the other end of Atlantic Ocean they think very different about this situation. In June 2005 I found out in Chicago that the board had refused the name and after many activities from my side (letters, presentations, discussions) it does not look as if RI is changing its opinion. Not only that, they keep on not understanding our goals. We do not want to stop our relationship with RI, we do not want to start up a separate organisation. We keep everything as it was, but only in a new package. Disappointment changes to frustration when I receive letters in which we are forced to change the name
back to ERIC by using several threats like blocking the website. Rotary stands for service and the name change is not only good for the events, but also for international service. More and more clubs are joining forces to do international projects and to increase service to the world. I always thought that that was the main goal for both Rotaract and Rotary, but maybe I was wrong. Rotary in my eyes stands for bureaucracy, rules and laws and misses completely on common sense. Maybe I am going too far now, but I hope some of this ends up in RI headquarters in Evanston, USA. But still, the positive strength is still a lot more important and I am proud of all clubs that are actively involved in the international avenue and that are doing all the international projects together with others. I am proud to see which great projects have been registered for our yearly Best European Service Project awards. A great winner has been chosen, but that will become clear in Antwerp. In Antwerp we go back to the roots of ERIC and Rotaract Europe. In Belgium Jan Huygens came up with the idea to have a European Rotaract institute. In 1988 ERIC was founded and now, 18 years later, we see a grown-up child with roots all over Europe. This is something to be really proud of and all of that did not happen without the great idea of Jan Huygens. Hopefully there is a chance to meet him in Antwerp and to know more of that early period. In the next edition of our newsletter I will tell you more about my three-year period as vice-president and president. Yours in Rotaract, Edgar Visscher President Rotaract Europe 2005/06
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One of the most essential and meaningful aspects of Rotaract is the pursuance of international understanding and tolerance. In order to recognize and award the successful establishments of European Rotaract Clubs, Rotaract Europe Board and Representatives have launched anew the “Twin Club Program Awards”. Rotaract Clubs in RE have long been known to communicate closely with each other as well as to carry out common projects. In order to facilitate a wider contribution of Twin Club projects, Rotaract Europe wanted to encourage its member clubs to get even more involved in international cultural and projects exchange opportunities. The Twin Club Program Awards gives the Rotaract Clubs in various RE districts another chance to be recognized besides the Best Project Awards (BESP). The goal of this program will be to attract a good deal of attention from European clubs and districts and continue more strongly in the following years to come. The clubs were provided with basic guidelines of what Twin Clubs are, how to become Twin Clubs, where to find a Twin Club and other such relevant information provided by RE. The Board and Country Representatives helped spread the news of this brand new line of award in their own districts and countries. In its first year, the Twin Club Program Awards received eight applications from the following countries: Turkey, Bulgaria, Italy, Croatia, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria and Greece. It may be a slow start, but still it bestows great hope to project what good international rapport clubs will build amongst each other and great deeds that friendship founded through Rotaract will accomplish. The winners of the TCP Awards will be announced during EUCO 2006 in Antwerp, Belgium. What are Twin Clubs Twin clubs are two clubs from different districts and countries that have established strong ties and have agreed to team up to complete a special program, may it be an international service project, friendship exchange or cultural exchange. Clubs are invited to register as a part of this activity and are encouraged to undertake a joint program or project in developing the international understanding. Goals • To emphasize the international av-
enue of Rotaract service and friendship • To establish a long-term relationship with another club that will lead to ongoing and effective projects • To enhance the understanding of another culture and each other’s differences • To further international understanding and foster goodwill Program Attendance Criteria • Clubs must be from two different RE districts and countries • Program must involve personal participation of Rotaractors - at least 1/3 of the member base must be responsible with initially building and further maintenance of the program • Clubs must complete and sign the Twin Clubs Agreement Certificate provided by RE • Clubs must report their Twin club relationship by completing the RE Rotaract Twin Club Program Awards Form provided by RE Establishing a Relationship Careful planning and clear communication is essential to establishing a strong relationship. Like any other worthwhile project, Twin Club takes time and effort. Ensuring that each club has a clear understanding of its role and responsibilities in the partnership is the key. To formalize the Twin Club relationship, clubs should sign a letter of agreement, which outlines the goals and length of the partnership. Some ideas for developing a strong relationship include, but are not limited to, the following: • Undertake an international service project • Participate in a friendship or cultural exchange • Plan and hold an international projects fair • Exchange project ideas or club program ideas • Hold a video conference club meeting • Exchange handicrafts and local products • Organize an international event • Hosting an exchange Rotaract You may always use your imagination and creativity to come up with innovative ideas for building your twin club relationship. Sebnem Demirel TCP Awards Coordinator, R.E. Rep for Turkey (D2420-2440)
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Newsletter
Issue #3
My Rotaract Country – Belgium Welcome to the country that astronauts call BB (“Bright Belgium”), because of the numerous street lights. The country of beer, Belgian waffles, chocolate and comic strips. The country of famous painters like Rubens, van Eyck, Pieter Bruegel, James Ensor, Paul Delvaux and Rene Margritte. Belgium is a constitutional monarchy situated in northwestern Europe. With a total surface of only 30,519 sq km Belgium is only a small player in Europe. Nevertheless Belgium has always been a key player in uniting the European countries. Together with the Netherlands and Luxembourg, Belgium constitutes the Benelux. Also Belgium was one of the founding members of the European Union. It’s not without a reason that Belgium is often called “the small one between the big ones or the big one between the small ones”. Belgium has about 10 ten million inhabitants, of which about one million live in Brussels. Since 1993 Belgium has been a federal country. The essential powers like the foreign office, defence, public health, etc. are under authority of the federal government. The regional governments of Flanders, Wallonia, and Brussels control the essential issues of culture, education, environment, etc.. Belgium is a federal kingdom that consists of three regions (Flanders, Wallonia, Brussels) and three communities: Flemish (Flanders + 20% of Brussels), French (Wallonia + 80% of Brussels) and German speaking community (the eastern cantons of Belgium). Belgium, primarily an industrial nation, imports great quantities of raw materials that are mainly processed for export. The main trusts of the Belgian industry are made up of steel, coal, chemical and petroleum companies. The diamond-cutting industry, centred in Antwerp, is a main source of industrial diamonds.
Did you know • There are more than 38.000 bars in Belgium. • Adolphe Sax, a Belgian, invented the saxophone in 1846. • Belgium is ‘the kingdom of comic books’: the Smurfs (Peyo), Lucky Luke (Morris), Blake and Mortimer (Edgar P. Jacobs) and Tintin (Hergé) are just some examples of Belgian comic book heroes. • The Brussels metro features murals by such famous painters as Magritte and Del-
pean Union. It is host to the world’s largest number of diplomatic missions. • Antwerp, Belgium’s second largest city, and the world’s fourth largest port, is also the diamond capital of the world • Over two-thirds of the gross domestic product of Belgium is derived from trade. Belgium has always been a
vaux. • Belgium is also known for its carillons, or chimes of bells. Bellringers practically everywhere in the world have received their training in Mechelen. • Brussels is the capital of Belgium and the headquarters of NATO and the Euro-
proponent of free trade. • It was in Waterloo, a suburb of Brussels, that Napoleon surrendered in 1815. • Belgium is a gourmet paradise. It boasts the highest density of Michelin star-rated restaurants in Europe. • There are four officially
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recognised religions in Belgium : Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism and Islam. Their official representatives are paid by the Belgian state. • Europe’s most medieval city is Bruges, whose ancient ramparts have survived sieges, sackings, occupations and burnings. In the 14th century it was the country’s principal port. At that time it was, with Venice, the most important economic and cultural centre of the Western world. More than 80 bridges span the maze of canals. • Belgium has one of the largest glass industries in the world. Around half the glass used in the city centre buildings of Singapore is from Belgium, where glass making has gone on since the Middle Ages. • In Belgium there’re 815 different beers and 185 of them are still brewed on the genuine way. • Belgium produces 15.000.000 hectoliter of beer per year.
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Newsletter
April 26, 2006
Rotaract Belgium Rotaract Europe’s Motherland
From the early start of Rotaract, it has always been well represented in Belgium. Some of the existing clubs (like Aalst and Antwerp Centre) were created more than forty years ago. The clubs were named ‘Paul Harris circles’ as the name Rotaract only was invented in 1968. The pioneer of Rotaract Europe was created in 1988 by Jan Huygens, member of Rotaract Meche-
len. At that time, the organisation was called ‘European Rotaract Information Centre (ERIC). ERIC centralised information from Rotaract across Europe, through a network of country representatives, and distributed this information to the subscribers with a newsletter. Besides sharing information, ERIC has always been a driving force behind international Rotaract meet-
ings throughout Europe. The first European Convention, where ERIC was founded, was held in … ANTWERP. Nowadays Rotaract in Belgium has three districts: 1620 in the West, 2170 in the centre and 1630 that groups the East of Belgium and Luxembourg. In total there are about 1400 members in 70 clubs. All clubs are community-based
clubs. Each year, they spend around €350 000 on service projects. The money is collected through various fundraising activities, but the major fundraising activity of most clubs is their annual gala evening. Almost every club organises a Gala evening every year. Mathias Wijffels R.E. Representative for Belgium
Technopolis : a day of science… Sunday March 26th 10.30 am The first visitors arrive at the science park near Mechelen in the centre of our District. They surely didn’t miss the change from Winter to Summer time – during the night before 2 o’clock changed to 3 o’clock… Very soon, we are overwhelmed by a crowd of participants, most of them are children supported by the local Rotaract Clubs of the district.
Everybody is welcomed at “the cone”. The day schedule and a few rules are clarified in this colorful auditorium together with the reason why everyone gets a bracelet: to have a track of your personal tests and an evaluation of the answers given to some quiz questions all in the theme “How long will you live?”. After the introduction, we all went for a lunch in the “Megabyte”: two pastries, a soda and an apple.
The enthusiastic children had the chance to have a glimpse on what was waiting for them. The afternoon was full of different activities, which gave the children the opportunity to learn about science, nature, physics, history.,… Learning by doing: racing against a horse or a fly, testing the impact of alcohol and bad weather behind the wheel of a real car, making your hair stand on end suffering electricity at a high voltage (but a low ampere ;)), playing on crooked billiard table where you can’t go wrong, listening to songs, news reports and funny
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facts from a year of your birth with the radio-time-machine… After a nap on a nail bed and a wheel chair race, you can also determine your age to be with some question and exercises.
With all this information input and a whole afternoon of fun, we could wave the children goodbye… but not empty handed of course: some chips and a small toy joined them home. A smile of a children can make your day! Olivier & Marc Social Responsible & President District 2170 – Belgium
Make-A-Wish Euco 2006 will be dedicated to the Make-A-Wish foundation. Mission of Make-A-Wish Foundation International The mission of Make-A-Wish Foundation International is to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening illness around the world. The First Wish The Make-A-Wish Foundation began in the USA in 1980 with the fulfillment of the first wish. A 7-year-old boy with leukemia named Chris Greicius wished
to be a policeman. His mother, several friends and a group of police officers, with the cooperation of the Arizona Department of Public Safety, granted his wish with a custom-made uniform, helmet, badge, and helicopter ride! Our Global Reach The Make-A-Wish Foundation has become the largest wishgranting organization in the world and can be found in more than 30 countries on five continents. Since its inception in 1980 the Foundation has granted more than 144,000 wishes around the world.
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Newsletter
Issue #3
Rotaract Germany
Rotaract Italy
Rotaract Paralympic German National Conference Week DeuKo 2006 The ideals that have always animated the Olympic At the beginning of April, the national conference and the Paralympic Games are peace amongst people, of 170 German Rotaract Clubs took place in Schwedt, fair play and the unselfish sharing of joys and emotions. a city located right at the Polish boarder about 150km The same ideas that animate Rotaract! northeast from Berlin Italy hosted the XX Olympic Winter Games and the ninth edition of the Paralympic Winter Games, a great occasion for the Rotaract District 2030, to “do some Rotaract”. Rotaractors decided to take part in the Paralympic Games, the most exciting, involving, fascinating and “Olympic” moment in the two months that have seen Torino as the capital of the entire world. Thanks to Marcello Picchio (Rotaract Valticino) and Benedetta Delleani (Rotaract Vercelli), Rotaract District 2030 (representing the northwest of Italy) has been nominated official non commercial partner of TOROC (the 2006 Olympic Committee) and organized the Rotaract Paralympic Week to celebrate the event and the Rotaract week. From the 10th to the 19th of March Rotaractors were in Sestriere, venue of the alpine skiing competition, with the “Rotaract Point” hosted in a typical wood house placed in Fraiteve Square, heart of the mountain village.
For hundreds of fans, Rotaract Point has become the place to meet the athletes after the competitions, to have a cup of hot coffee and to learn more about the paralympic spirit. The Rotaract Point has also allowed to a big number of disabled person to be welcomed in Sestriere and to participate to an exceptional event made of hope and joy. For Rotaractors, the Paralympic week represented the occasion to serve, to illustrate what Rotaract and Rotary are and to make their projects known by a very large audience (Rotaract was also present on the official Olympic Games website) and, most important, it has been the chance to discover a fascinating world, with great athletes and extraordinary persons that consider sport and life a challenge to be won with determination and constancy. A great lesson and an extraordinary example for Rotaractors! Chiara Buggio R.E. Representative for Italy
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More than 300 Rotaractors registered for this most important national event. The conference weekend started on Friday night with a welcome party. It was a great atmosphere among the people since it was time to see long known friends again. With a snack and some prosecco or beer at hand everyone enjoyed the night. Frolic-some people, dancing, greeting, exchange of news, last preparations for the workshops and so on. While some stayed at hotels, most of the guests have chosen to sleep in a gym, a 10 minute walk away from the c on fe re n c e location. Right after arriving from the party, some lost souls started a barbecue at 4am. At 7 the hosting Rotaract club came to wake everyone up, breakfast started at 8 at the conference location. So most of us were in time at the plenary to enjoy the opening of the 2006 national conference. During the preparation of this event the national board developed a new structure of the conference. The aim was to get as many people as possible joining the workshops and not going to shop and see the hosting city. It turned out to be a great success since all workshops have been crowded. The most Rotaractors joined a workshop about Interact. During the whole day a couple of Rotaractors have been at a local supermarket for the DeuKo-Social Activity. It’s called „Buy one more“, which means, that people going to shop are
asked to buy one more article of their choice and leave it at the end of their shopping tour for a social project that helps people in need. After nine hours hundreds of articles filled a large box of about 1x1x1m and 2 large shopping carts. This way the city of Schwedt also got a feeling of what Rotaract means and does. After some free time everyone started preparing for the festive night. After such a busy day everyone enjoyed the atmosphere of friendship, relaxation, dancing and so on. Sunday morning the plenary III was held, where some more decisions have been made. The plenary elected the best social activity of a club. The first price went to a Kindergarten project. German Rotaractors designed a Kindergarten and went to South Africa to build it up. A great project with enormous personal involvement! A highlight was Jörg Schönbohm’s (Minister of the interior of the state Brandenburg) speech about the nation of Germany and how its history influences todays feelings of young people towards the nation. The final decision was the place for next year’s DeuKo. Finally, the national board chanted a song about it’s work and team spirit. We are happy to meet everyone again in Mannheim at next year’s DeuKo. It would be great to see you in Germany as well! Uwe Klötzner R.E. Representative for Germany
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April 26, 2006
Rotaract Lithuania
Vilnius Rotaract Club Vilnius Rotaract Club, established in 1997, already has more than nine years experience implementing Rotary International aims and objectives in the capital of Lithuania - Vilnius. Today the Club gathers 25 members challenged to improve in a personal and social way. We meet four times per month strictly dividing these meetings into workshops and free time together. The last greatest event in the Club was March 13-19 International Rotaract Week, which we celebrated together with brothers and sisters from the entire world! For this occasion we had a special meeting to discuss future plans of the Club and possibilities to expand our friendship ties with a foreign Rotaract Clubs. On Friday night was a special party, of course! Following the International Rotaract Club Constitution in a year 2005-2006 Vilnius Rotaract Club has already organized a few very successful community projects and made strong international ties with Minsk, Belarus. Some internal and one very interesting international project are now in process. On June 2005 a new and ambitious Duck Race project was
launched with absolute success. Our Club invited all Rotarians with their families and friends to buy toy-ducks and to come to a Father’s Sunday celebration to find out the duck winner.
Children were mostly excited of a race, funny games and prizes. All money raised during this event was donated to the Vilnius orchestra of people disabled with cerebral palsy. This project will be repeated in June 2006. Just after the summer holidays Club members had an unforgettable visit to Minsk Rotaract Club! We found wonderful people there and made friendship forever! Belarusian brothers and sisters in a few months had even two response visits to Vilnius. The first trip was in respect of
meeting all members of our Club and the other for taking part in a traditional Vilnius Rotaract Club Dance charity project. This year participants of this project had a wonderful opportunity to feel Havana Nights rhythm and taste! Selected money was donated for one more challenging Club project - Motivation for education learning better Chemistry. Today the first part of this project is already finished. A group of seven children from three Vilnius custody children houses finished chemistry lessons organized by our Club and Association of Lithuanian Nature Sciences Olympiad’s, but this is just the beginning of a long lasting project. One more challenging idea of Vilnius Rotaract Club is collaboration with an international community to fight Afghanistan children illiteracy. This project is in the first stage only. The aim is to supply furniture, books, paper, pencils, etc. for Ghor province schools, built by big international investors from Europe and USA. Marius Skarupskas
Rotaract Turkey Park “Rotaract” Rotaractors.com First Soap – D2420 aimed to dedicate the name “Rotaract” to a huge social project during 2005-2006: a Playground for the Disabled. This park will be located at a very central location in the city of Istanbul, will serve as a socializing facility for disabled children and citizens in general. The playground is targeted to include items such as swings with disabled chairs and a suitable slide, etc. Rotaract District Social Services Committee have arranged many collaborations and sponsorships for a project of this magnitude: Municipality of Sisli-Istanbul has agreed to donate the appropriate vacant land, an anonymous disabled donor contributed equipment for construction needs and various contribution efforts from all district Rotaract and Rotary clubs were received. The District has raised 3000€ so far and is looking forward to obtain more funds in near future.
Newsletter
Ankara Maltepe Rotary and Rotaract Clubs of D2430 are sponsoring and enpowering a new communication platform that is meant for the worldwise use of Rotaractors. www.rotaractors.com is an international online community aiming to connect Rotaractors and Interactors in 158 countries over the world. 7600 Rotaract Clubs and 176.000 Rotaractors, 9600 Interact Clubs and 220.000 Interactors will be able to meet each other, have fun and develop common projects. Rotaractors and Interactors will get the chance to report their news, announce their events and inform the others about their projects. Each Rotaract and Interact Club will have a private page to communicate with the club members via forum which is private for each club and to introduce their clubs to world Rotaractors. Rotaract Europe Newsletter Issue #3, April, 2006 MDIO Rotaract Europe www.rotaracteurope.org
Bringing people together!
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Editor-in-chief Julia Kurbaka Rotaract Club Kyiv-Centre, D 2230, Ukraine Julia_kurbaka@yahoo.com
Then Water Rotaractors in D2440 have launched a new awareness project district-wide regarding “conservation of water” also paralel to RI’s global goal of “preservation of water resources”. The project was named “First Soap Then Water”. First, a strong awareness campaign was initiated for which many stickers and posters were produced with similar messages to encourage conservation of water. Over 300 Rotaractors distributed the message-bearing campaign materials around their offices, schools and other education institutions in their communities and reached hundreds of citizens. Sebnem Demirel, R.E. Representative for Turkey Technical editor Andrij Eremenko Rotaract Club Kyiv-Centre, D 2230, Ukraine eav@autopen.info
Literal correction Thomas Krepitch East Valley Rotaract, D 5510, USA tkrepitch@cox.net
http://www.rotaracteurope.org