April 2009 European Rotaract Informational Centre
Newsletter Bringing people together! http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Dear Rotaractors, We welcome you to celebrate the biggest Rotaract Europe meeting of the year. EUCO ISTANBUL promises to become one big Rotaract weekend and this in the city where the continents meet. What place can be more symbolic showing the true spirit that all of us, Rotaractors, believe in:” Bridge the world and bring people together.” Traditionally there will be the famous conference organized by the board of Rotaract Europe. We would like to kindly invite all of you to take part at this conference and learn what the RE board together with your country representatives achieved in the last year. Off course there will be also the election of the new board and President of Rotaract Europe and we will announce the new team during this conference. Afternoon workshops are organized and the topics are as always hot: Shelter box, Membership recruitment, MDIO Project forum and Professionalism in Rotaract Europe. Dear friends, after a period of 2 years as President of Rotaract Europe my term will end on 30th of June and I would like to tell all of you that I enjoyed this term. It was a true honor for me to have the opportunity to be your president and I would like to stress that it is thanks to all of you that I was able to carry this duty until the finish. Keep in mind: “You are the power behind Rotaract, without you we wouldn’t exist” Your president, Benoît Klinkers
European AIDS Awareness project Sunday 30th November 2008, one day before World Day against AIDS
2470 Rotaract District organized an awareness party participating in E.R.I.C. ‘s social project on making people realize the importance of this disease and how it affects everyone’s life. Gathered in a night club in the northern suburbs of Athens in Greece, Rotaractors and Rotaract’s friends tried to reach as many young people as possible on the importance of being aware of this so harmful disease, AIDS, which is not just a lethal illness but has also become a wider social problem in our communities nowadays and increases so rapidly that is terrifying. For this reason 2470 Rotaract District distributed to all attendees red ribbons and informational kits about AIDS and the rest venereal diseases. We would also like to note that our district handed out red ribbons to the 600 Rotarians including R.I. President D.K. Lee, who attended
the R.I. Zone 10 Institute which took place in Athens 2 days earlier. Once again Rotaractors showed how socially aware they are and participated and managed to gather many people who were informed on AIDS. With Rotaract Greetings Anastassakos Dimitris Vice Representative of Greece in E.R.I.C. / Rotaract Europe (2008 – 2009) Assistant DRR RID 2470 (2008 – 2009) President of RAC Amaroussion RID 2470 (2008 – 2009)
Issue #3 (2008-2009)
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 2
AIDS Awareness Project Rotaract Thessaloniki Rotaract Minsk City
to the Governor for Rotarians in Poland! On 1st December 2008 we devoted our meeting to the Global Problem of AIDS. Our club made 1,000 cards against AIDS & distributed them to: - big business centers; - universities; - cafes & restaurants. Also on 28th November joint meeting of 3 Minsk Rotary Clubs was held with participation of D2230 (Poland-Ukraine-Belarus) Governor 2008/09 Tadeusz Pluzinski. Rotaract Club Minsk City made a presentation about the projects realized & about AIDS awareness project, distributed cards among Rotarians & also gave 100 cards
With warmest regards, Alexandra Zagorskaya ERIC representative for Belarus 2008/09
The Rotaract Club of Thessaloniki is participating in the global AIDS Awareness project, initiated by the Rotaract Clubs of Solan Mid Town and Chandigarh (India), named “Dose of Hope”. We embraced this project because we firmly believe that “Safe Sex means Safe Life” and that Greece is too close to India to cast a blind eye to such a benevolent and challenging act of worldwide Rotaract activism. Rotaract Clubs are based on bigger or smaller acts of volunteerism and on international understanding towards all peoples. The realization of this motto made us ponder; what else could better serve this purpose if not small acts of activism, simple things like painting and engaging our members and friends to the realization of the AIDS impact, activities that together strengthen each other and become a humanitarian project that embraces all earth? In this context our members participated in the worldwide effort to create a gigantic banner that will be put together in India covering an area of 55 Km2 (35 square miles) which is also part of a broader effort that will lead to a fundraiser for the establishment of an AIDS rehabilitation centre in Shimla, India. More precisely, after a lot of col-
laborative effort and joy, the Greek contribution to this project resulted in a 5m*1m banner with the mottos “Ignorance means Fear”, “Fight AIDS, Act Up”, “Safe Sex means Safe Life” and “We don’t close our eyes”. These mottos are the settling up of our knowledge around AIDS awareness and their message is compounded with AIDS ribbons around our Club’s sign and a small olive branch, sign of peace. Last but not least, we want to thank our members for their effort, the Rotaract Clubs of Solan Mid Town and Chandigarh for their inspirational idea and the Prefect of Thessaloniki, Mr.Panagiotis Psomiadis, for his support. Alexandros Koutsoukis President of Rotaract Club of Thessaloniki RID 2481 Hellas Epameinondas Gousopoulos President of the International Service Committee
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 3
Don’t take organizational tasks too seriously, you will get out alive any way! Dear fellow Rotaractors, past or future international Rotaract event organizers! I know that there is a long way to go from applying, organizing and evaluating an international Rotaract event. This is the biggest work, the biggest risk need to be taken but at the same time, it can be the greatest Rotaract achievement in anyone’s international Rotaract career. Let me drive you into the world of the event organization in Rotaract through my mirror, as head organizer of REM Budapest 2008– I would like to introduce my expectations, my fears, my stress and my best experience and greatest recognition to you as well as giving some advices for the future generation of REM and EUCO organizers. I clearly remember, when sitting at the train station of Cremona, after an excellent, truly Italian Rotaract Europe Meeting me and my fellow Hungarian Rotaractors and great friends I can say, Eszter Németh (RER of Hungary 2008-09 district 1911) and Attila Paksi (RER of Hungary 2007-08 district 1911) decided to organize the upcoming REM in Budapest next fall. We did a detailed application document of 15 pages and I travelled all over to REM Thessaloniki 2008 to present our ideas to the president of Rotaract Europe, Benoit Klinkers as well as to his board and the country representatives. I have to admit, that after my presentation, having all the votes of the reps and board members present at the meeting was one of the greatest recognition I have ever imagined on the international front of Rotaract. Although I was aware of the fact, that beside their votes, I started to possess their trust and high expectations towards REM Budapest 2008. Advice 1: prepare a detailed application documents with all the relevant information about your city, your club and the planned program. Your presentation should also be clear, easy
to follow and entertaining. Getting back home I started to dedicate a few minutes from every single meeting of my club to finalize the program of the weekend and to start building my organization committee. After having booked the hotel, all the compulsory and optional programs, Eszter and I felt like very satisfied (especially after having booked one of the most wonderful palace of Budapest for the gala) and we thought to be already over with the majority of the work. By the time went we realized that this was only a drop in the ocean! Advice 2: book the hotel and the popular sightseeing tours and programs AS EARLY AS POSSIBLE to be able to get the best available rates from the providers. Always start with the accommodation and the venue for the gala! After opening our official website we have drawn the following conclusion: nothing is obvious!!!! We faced emails from all over Europe questioning every single part of the website from registration form through bank details until the map. Advice 3: give clear instructions on the website. EXPLAIN EVERYTHING in detail! It was really great to get our limit of people filled in during a month! The event had a popularity we have never dreamed of! It felt so sad to disregard the messages from the latecomers and also to reject the last applicants. But the limit was made for ensuring the quality of our service we are able to provide during those 3 days. So it was essential to draw up a frame, which in our case was 250 people. Advice 4: only accept as many Rotaractors’ registrations as you are able to deal with! Be careful with over- and underestimation of your club’s capability to provide quality service! Approaching the date of REM Budapest 2008, me and my organizing committee (especially the girls)
started to bomb clothing shops, balldress rental salons, hairdressers, make-up artists for appointments. We wanted to give our best not only on the service providing front, but also physically and aesthetically. (Because beside being stressed by the expectations of the Rotaractors regarding the our service, we were also clear about the fact the Hungarian girls are told to be the most beautiful in Europe. We couldn’t just let the legend to be destroyed!:) Advice 5: Delegate the tasks! Don’t try to solve every problem alone, try to involve the team because together you will be more effective! Take your time for being able to present yourself the way you have imagined! (referring to traditional dresses, makeups or every entertaining details) On the first official night of REM Budapest 2008 I was standing on the staircase at the lobby in my traditional, Hungarian red dress and I was overlooking the crowd in front of me: it was one of the most heart-warming phenomenon I have ever experienced. Finally I was there, given the chance to host my friends, to entertain them during a weekend, to show them around my breath-taking capital who has hosted me for years or with whom I had met through my international Rotaract year. All the worries seemed to be gone I knew that there was an unforgettable weekend in front of us which we could spent together with our fellow Rotaractors and friends. Even if we, Attila, Eszter and I knew that anything could go wrong, anything could happen during the event (3 days can be veeeery long sometimes), we were sure, that we did our best and our task was for the rest of the time to entertain these people, show them as many things as we can from our culture, our city, our habits, our nation! Advice 6: take it easy! Don’t stress about the small details, do not think about possible failures. Appreciate
the time you are able to spend with your international friends from all over Rotaract Europe! Socialize yourself, make new friendships, that is why these events were made for! It is unavoidable that you make small mistakes, like us not thinking about the pork meat content of the bacon (!) but fortunately we are always surrounded by the service providers who are able to help us facing the difficulties like this. As last advice, do not forget that for us, Rotaractors the most important thing is being together, having fun, sharing ideas, spreading the words of ERIC throughout Europe and it doesn’t matter whether we are doing it in a nice and friendly youth hostel in the heart of Luxembourg city or in a breath-taking 5-star hotel in Thessaloniki. All in all, summarizing every details and taking a look at the bright and the dark side of the paper, I have to confess that without this experience I would be mentally and emotionally poorer and I strongly believe that every single Rotaractor at least once should try to play in the other team: in the team of the international Rotaract event organizers (this is quite an emerging one now)! As well as being the assistant marketing and communication officer of Rotaract Europe for this term I would like to encourage you to turn to me anytime if case of further questions regarding organizational questions, application documents or any other marketing issues. Yours in Rotaract, Ildikó Ignácz – President of RAC Budapest-City 2008-09, Hungary, District 1911 Assist. Marketing and Communication Officer of ERIC 2008-09 Head of Organizing Committee of REM Budapest 2008
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 4
REM San Marino ‘09
Young and fast-growing-the newly-founded Rotaract Club
The oldest republic of the world has a strong fit with the values of Rotaract. Freedom, cultural diversity, art and sports.
Wien Albertina
San Marino is a small republic situated in the centre of Italy that was founded officially the 3 September 301, so we are the oldest Republic of the world. According to tradition, Saint Marinus left the island of Rab in Croatia and went to the town of Rimini as a mason. Because of the Christian’s persecution he decided to reach the nearby Monte Titano, where he founded what is now the city and the state of San Marino. By the mid-5th century, a community was formed, and our independence its was recognized also by the Papacy in 1631.
Our Republic became a member of the Council of Europe in 1988 and of the United Nations in 1992 but is not a member of the European Union. Although this fact it is allowed to use the euro and to put our own designs on the national side of the euro coins; because of this particularity the Sammarinese euro coins are collected by people all over the world. What can you will offer the REM 2010 in San Marino, that become part of the UNESCO’s World Heritage List in 2008 for his historical and institutional uniqueness?
You will pass four day in our Medieval Republic for discover the fashion of that period with sightseeing and historical visits During the stay we can enjoy the Italian food deliciousness It’s possible to buy the fashion of the made in Italy a low price, thanks to the tax free but with the payment in euro Who don’t know about the night life of the Adriatic Riviera? You will have the opportunity to discover a particular legislative and government institution of the ancient Republic of the world We are sure that the sport lovers knows that The San Marino’s Coast motorcycle Grand Prix was reinstated in the schedule in 2007, and who is Poggiali or De Angelis. The natural beauty of our uncontaminated region are famous, and you will appreciated the sunrise from the high top of the mountain and the sunset from the sea. The galà ball will take place in 700’ elegant villa that will make all breathless Take a look and register to our website! www.remsanmarino.org Marilisa Mazza Country representative Republic San Marino 2009-2010
With its 15 founder members the Rotaract Club Wien Albertina treasures friendship, loyalty and its interesting guests. The history of this very special club dates from November 2007. Andreas Hartlieb, the later president of the club, and a small group of Interact Members wanted to join Rotaract. But they wanted to have a very special club of their own and so they had the idea to found a new Rotaract Club in Vienna. Andreas Theiss, a member of the Rotary Club Wien Albertina supported the idea and so he presented it to his club. The Rotary Club Wien Albertina and its two presidents Dieter Volc (2007/08) and Dieter Wenzel (2008/09) were both very interested in taking on this responsibility and so the newly founded Rotaract is honoured to have such a strong, helpful and excellent Sponsoring Club. The first meeting took place in January 2008 and the charter of the club was established on the 10th of December 2008. The Rotaract Club Wien Albertina is pleased to welcome very interesting guests, e.g. a judge at the constitutional court, the former editor in chief of the newspaper “Kurier” and current city councillor, and an influential entrepreneur. The visitors talk about their jobs, their lives, and other interesting things. This allows the club members to broaden their minds and to learn things about a variety of topics. Although we are a young club, we
have already arranged our first social project which is named “Ski for free”. We make it possible that school classes of mentally-handicapped children are able to enjoy a free day’s skiing. More than anything it’s our members that make this Rotaract Club so unique. Although the club is quite young, we are already like a big family. Everybody shares their interests and hobbies with the group and is proud to be a part of it. Even our guests mention that there is a very warm and familiar atmosphere in this Rotaract Club. The Rotaract Club Wien Albertina has its meetings every 1st, 3rd (and 5th) Wednesday in the month at 19:30 at the Radisson SAS Hotel, Parkring 16, 1010 Vienna. We’re looking forward to welcoming you to one of our meetings!
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 5
The Greatest Camp ever New Beginnings Rotaract Club Novi Sad has an honor to invite you to yet Rotaract Amsterdam Nachtwacht International another traditional International Rotary Summer Camp Turbulent times have marked what would become a ‘09 “Let’s play in Vojvodina”. defining year for Rotaract Amsterdam International. Novi Sad (the capitol of Vojvodina) is a city one gets to know and love easily, but also it is a place hard to forget. It is hard, if not impossible, for us, the citizens of Novi Sad, to talk about our city or to show its pictures in an impartial way, without showing how much we love it. Therefore, we have decided to make this one of the BEST summer camps ever. You will be able to explore not just the city of Novi Sad and visit many historic places that this beautiful city has, but you will become involved in its crazy nightlife.
covering your transport expenses in Serbia and doing all the best to entertain you.
SO COME AND JOIN US IN THIS AMAZING ADVENTURE LET’S PLAY IN VOJVODINA
Brotherly greetings, Tamara Crevar President 07/08 Rotaract Club Novi Sad
Summer camp will begin on July 11, 2009 and will last until July 18, 2009. Summer Camp is a great chance to meet people from all over the World, a chance to learn about other cultures and hear about projects carried out by people from many different countries. You will have an opportunity to promote your country from a touristic and rotaractarian point of view. It is a unique occasion to visit many places in Vojvodina, getting to know many new friends and experience Rotaract life our way. The participation fee is 80 EUR and it includes your accommodation and food. During your stay, we, Serbian Rotaract members, are taking care of you by hosting you in hostels and our homes, planning your visits,
If you are coming from a country that needs visa for Serbia, please send us your application as soon as possible so that we could send you an invitation letter on time. Summer Camp is organized for the ninth time already, and it is an event open to all the world’s active Rotaract members. The aim of this event is upgrading international understanding and promotion of our country.
Our club has come full circle from being a non-existent entity to a club which is thriving, but we are most proud to announce our charter has been granted – we are officially a club. Along the way we have fought many battles and would even have to claim defeat in our fight to keep our name Rotaract Amsterdam International, but in the end had to change it to Rotaract AmsterdamNachtwacht International. That being said we are honoured to carry our parent club’s (Rotary Amsterdam-Nachtwacht) name. So what was next? A celebration of course. Our club has been hosting a charter dinner on the 25th of October. What have we been doing besides trying to charter our club? Lots. We have several projects on the go at the moment with more planned. Our largest ongoing project is not in fact a project at all; rather we volunteer our time to feed the homeless on the streets of Amsterdam. Every month we are given several shifts we can sign-up for. This is no ordinary soup kitchen – nope this kitchen is mobile – we take the soup, sandwiches and too sweet coffee to the people on the streets of Amsterdam. The bus has four stops through out the city. On one of my many shifts the bus pulled up to an overpass – I could not see anyone; it was until one of the Salvation Army staff walked up to the boards blocking the entrance to the space below the overpass did people emerge. We later got invited inside to look around and what I saw was amazing. Three people had made their home under the overpass and pinup girl posters on wall rounded off what would for most people be
squalor conditions. Many members of our club have gotten involved and even some non-members regularly go with members of our club on soup bus shifts. In addition to the soup bus we also participated in the Salvation Army Christmas dinner of 2007 – we had the task of preparing a goody-bag for the attendees of the dinner. The reception of the goody bags was overwhelming positive from both the Salvation Army and the attendees of the dinner. Christmas 2008 we will give some subscriptions to a home for elder men to a few magazines they like, just to give them something they like but could never afford. Currently we are planning two projects which will happen in the coming Rotaract year, one is an international project which will focus on sending medical equipment to Thailand, and the other is a community project focusing on cleaning-up the Shorelines here in the Netherlands. As you can see from above we are a busy group of young adults. We are a diverse club, truly international. The energy is high and the attitude is one of acceptance and openness. We will continue to grow and no doubt have fun along the way. The sky is the limit for our club – I for one am excited about the year to come and the challenges that lay ahead for our young club – come join us in our journey to becoming a vital and active Rotaract club – we will not disappoint. If you would like more information about us you can find us on the web at www.rotaractinternational.nl. Written by: Sarah Kraynick
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Give them a hand community service project Due to IR. Rotary’s Term Theme “Make Dreams Real”- For The Children of The World, this year we- as I.R D.2440 Çiğli Rotaract Club- have decided to help Autistic Children. We have searched the schools, centres and communities near us and we decided to help Menemen Autistic Children’s Centre. In our negotiation process with the management of Autistic Children Centre, they were very positive about our willingness to be fellow partners and organising a Community Service Project with them. They told us that providing breakfast and lunch for children were a serious cost for them, so we decided to create a dry nutrition products and beverages project, and then we asked Ege Park/ Mavisehir( One of The Biggest Malls in Izmir) to provide us a space in their 1st floor, near a wide known supermarket chain- Migros and we set the activity date as 27.12.2008Just before New Year Celebrating, when people spend most of their times at malls. We started to the organisation of our projects at the beginning of December 2008, we have chosen the Project Committee and we have started the legal process, at the same time we started to prepare a handout for giving information about
Autism(which we gave people and donors during the activity). On the 27th December 2008, all of our members and other members of 7 other Rotaract Clubs and a Rotary Club actively took part in our project, some of us gave people hand outs about Autism and Menemen Autistic Children Centre’s Information Guide, some of us gave people information about or Rotaract Club and Rotaract Foundation and some of us dealt with the donations. At the and, approximately 51 boxes of dry nutrition products and beverages such as; rice, flour, macaroni, spaghetti, cereal& corn products and infant food and as fruit juices and milk( estimated cost of 5500- 5000 Euros) are donated and delivered to Menemen Autistic Children’s Centre.
Information: ROTARACT CLUB Of ÇİĞLİ (D.2440) with some of the donations collected) Information: As the activity goes on… Members are giving information and hand- outs, and you see the donations.
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30 years Rotaract Wien It’s time to celebrate This May (15th to 17th) Rotaract Wien, the oldest Rotaract Club in Vienna, is celebrating its 30th birthday. The Club was originally chartered on May 19th 1979 and since then had over 150 members. Today 26 members are active and meet twice a month (every second Monday) with renowned politicians, scientists, artists, economists, etc., or take action together: “We go to museums, kartraces or meet for our social projects”, describes Anna Groh, current president of Rotaract Wien, some of the activities. The Club currently supports three social projects, which show the diverse interests and the commitment of its members. “We regularly visit a nursing home and entertain the residents”, says Anna. Rotaract Wien also supports the Österreichische Muskelforschung, an Austrian society, which does research for muscular diseases, with a yearly fundraising-project around Christmas. “We sell punsch and hot wine for a good cause. In our best years we’ve raised over 30.000 EUR”, says Anna. The third project, which completes the portfolio of the Club, is the “Sterntalerhof”, a project of all Austrian Clubs, which took 3rd place of the BESP at the London-EUCO last year together with the Hungarian Rotarod-Project (for more info see: www.rotaracteurope. org). Charter and MDPC Together with the Charter-celebrations in May also the MDPC (MultiDistrict-Presidential-Conference) of the Multinational District 1910 (Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia) and District 1920 (WestAustria) will take place. The MDPC is an annual meeting of the ClubPresidents of the two districts and is being organized this year by all
Viennese Clubs. Anna, who coordinates the Charter-celebrations, is excited: “We are expecting national and international guests and are looking forward to a weekend full of fun and friendship.” Rotaractors and friends who would like to be part of the weekend in Vienna are welcome to register at www.rotaract-wien.org. Maria Schoiswohl
The program: Charter & MDPC May 15th: Welcome and Get Together at a Viennese Tavern (Heuriger) May 16th: Multidistricts-Conference Checking out Vienna Museums Tram-Tour around the City Clubbing @ night May 17th: Late Brunch & Farewell Information and registration @ www. rotaract-wien.org More info about Rotaract Wien www.rotaract-wien.org www.rotaract-md.org www.caritas-wien.at www.sterntalerhof.at www.muskelforschung.at
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Rotaract Club of Baku Dear Rotaractors and readers, it is great pleasure for me to greet you from sunny Baku and share with you our club projects. Just a brief info: There are two Rotary clubs and two Rotaract clubs in Azerbaijan. -Rotaract club of Baku (RCB) was established in September 5, 2002. At present we have 16 active members (1 member serving in the District, 1 member on the board of Rotaract Europe MDIO). Raised over 53,500 USD on community service projects -Held 4 large charity concerts, 7 charity discos -In 2005-06 received distinctiveness award from the district as one of five most active clubs among 50 clubs in Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Kyrgyzstan -In 2007-08 received a Special Award from the district for general quality of projects and activities Hope you are not bored with short listed achievements of our young club.
Our first large project in this Rotaract term was 6th year anniversary celebration of our club on September 13, 2008 with disco party and 330 invited guests and local media representatives. Our club benefited this disco two ways: that was good PR for our young club (to understand importance of that consider that even Rotary and Ro-
taract words are not well known to local Azerbaijani people) and we made fundraising of about 2,000 USD.
That raised amount helped us to start educational (to finance transportation costs to the Baku and wages for teachers) project with local NGO “Birliye Dogru” (this youth organization deals with poor children from streets and with disabilities). This 6 month project consisted of foreign language and computer courses for 14-16 year old young people from two rural area boarding schools. This project will enable fourteen young people to have some skills which will help them in recent future to find some job. Also there are invited psychologist who once a month speak to our young students and try to help them. This project was launched in November 2008 and will be finished in April 2009. We are happy and proud that we were able to handle this project. Hope our little efforts will help those fourteen young people in their future life and we will be able to repeat and develop these kind of projects. Our club’s another project was “Road Safety” started in January
2009. Our club prepared very comprehensive presentation of basic road safety rules for 5-13 years old children. At initial stage of this project we visited boarding schools (please note that children there do not have classes on these issues) and made presentation for children, organized special games with them for better comprehension of material. In recent future we plan to collaborate with local Ministry of Education and State Road Police department to cover more audience. Of course, RCB celebrated March 13th date – “Rotaract’s birthday”. We organized “Open Doors Day” in café where in a very friendly atmosphere made presentation on Rotary/Rotaract and our club’s development chronology and its future plans. But here we also didn’t miss the chance to sign under another service project - RCB gave presentation and distributed brochures on Alzheimer’s disease to an audience of about 50 people on March 13, 2009 joining European Rotaract’s project on Alzheimer Awareness.
As a part of club tradition this year on March 15 RCB organized “Kid’s Day Out” for children from rural boarding schools (according to our culture we celebrate New Year with spring’s coming on March 2022, Novruz Holidays). This time we took them to circus. Tasty snacks during sessions and gifts to all 50 children made their joy even much more we expected. Our last project is joint project with eye clinic under Caspian Compassion Project, where our club
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financed trip expenses of Rotarian Dr Khalil’s and his medical team to Nakhchivan (this about 700 km away from Baku) where they will do surgery operations on eyes of about twelve children from poor families who has problems in their eyes. This project will last three days from March 24-March 27, 2009. And I can inform you that our member who is in Nakhchivan at present reported that surgery operations started already. Me as every RCB member happy that we had a chance to participate in this project and have little share in more clear sun light of those children.
I hope readers of this very short article understand our pleasure from these projects. From our projects you can see that we do not have international projects and we are open to joint projects with other clubs, to strengthen our relationships, share with experience and serve our communities. As Azerbaijanis and real honest Rotaractors, for my club it would be great pleasure to see all of Rotaractors in Azerbaijan and serve them as our guests in our national manner. Good luck with your Rotaract world! Parviz Gurbanov President 2008-2009 Roataract Club of Baku, District 2430
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 8
EUCO 2009 Istanbul Turkish culture has a unique blend of Eastern and Western tradition due to its strategic location astride two continents. A powerful regional presence in the Eurasian landmass with strong historic, cultural and economic influence in the area between Europe in the west and Central Asia in the east, Russia in the north and the Middle East in the south, Turkey has come to acquire increasing strategic significance.
the major one which coordinates the EUCO2009. It is located on the Marmara Region, consists of 52 clubs and contains over 1500 Rotaractors. Here below some of the distinctive projects make them real ROTARACT; o Vocalization of over a hundred
Turkey has a young population since 15–64 age group constitute 66.5% of the total population, the 0–14 age group corresponds 26.4% and 65 years& higher of age correspond to 7.1% of the total population. In this young generation, Turkey has an amazing Rotaract statistics as well. There are three Districts in Turkey. District 2420 is one of
books for blind people, o A beautiful park for disabled children, o Our traditional long-weekend; Route Istanbul, o Providing Supplies for martyrs’ families, o Providing books and school gear for poor children, o Arranging conferences about European Union , o Making a huge festival for disabled children, o Planting a forest to fight against Global Warming, o Vaccinating over 500 children against Hepatitis-B o Three primary schools, a high school, a school for the deaf and a shelter for children, who live in
the streets, District 2420 Rotaractors have long been known with a history of accomplishments as well as successful arrangement of conferences, some of which are: o Hosting the 1991 E.E.M.A. Rotaract Conference and later INTEROTA 1996 in Istanbul, Turkey with delightful organizations which received many compliments from the attendees; o One Past District Rotaract Representative serving as a founding member of Multidistrict Information Organization of Rotaract Europe (formally known as E.R.I.C./R.E.) D2420; bestowing the gift of World Rotaract Day to the Rotaract world via submission of initial proposal of World Rotaract Day in 1989, which is followed by admittance of
proposal in 1991. Numerous Outstanding Project Awards, BESP’s, Presidential Citations and World Rotaract Week Celebration Recognitions granted to various Rotaract Clubs in the district. D2420 is also chosen as the district for Presidential Citation and World Rotaract Week Celebration Recognition. From 29th of April till 3rd of May you will share the Rotaract spirit and feel the infinity in this amazing District with the amazing Rotaractors. Sincerely Best Regards The EUCO 2009 Organisation Committee We are REaDy to welcome you to EUCO 2009 Istanbul. Are you REaDy?
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 9
Rotaract Club of Goztepe
Rotaract Club of Amsterdam
Izmir have completed the Tepecik Children Hospital Education & Hobby Area Project
Rotaract Amsterdam is a very active club with over 20 members.
We have completed the Education & Hobby Area of the Tepeceik Children Hospital Together with our sponsor Rotary Club on the World Rotaract Week.
We have a meeting once every two weeks on Wednesday evening where we discuss all projects that we are planning to organise. Most projects are in the weekends as most persons work during the week. Just before Christmas we had a project whereby we asked people at supermarkets to buy and donate food. Besides, we asked companies to donate food and boxes. We eventually could fully fill 100 large boxes as Christmas boxes. We brought 45 to a women’s shelter and 55 to a house where they help homeless people. All persons who received the Christmas boxes were extremely cheerful and you could see they enjoyed getting it. The volunteers who work with the homeless people said that the homeless could often sleep at friends places and could now finally do something back by giving/sharing the Christmas boxes. Another project we had, was a High Tea with elderly people in an elderly home on February 22nd. We arranged a lot of food for free and had high tea in the home with elderly people who wanted to participate. Later in the year, we will probably arrange to go walking with them in a nice park. They hardly get out of the home, as a lot of volunteers are needed, as all are in wheel chairs. In March we went to a professional basketball match with children from the age of 10 until 13, whereby we arranged to get the tickets for free. Besides these projects for the society’s benefit we also do other things like the New Year’s reception (see pic-
Our aim was to set up an area which the children patients can spend good time and also relax. We wanted to make them forget about their illnesses and other rush surrounding around them. We built a special committee from the members of Goztepe Rotaract and Rotary Clubs’ members for this project. The committee searched the suitable sponsors
for the project and negotiated with the companies for the needs. One week after the meetings, we have collected one LCD TV, one DVD player, toypark equipments, comics film series from our national TV, playground carpet. We are happy that we made those children’s dreams real. Thanks to the project team for all their efforts.
ture) we had in January and a wine tasting evening with Argentinean wines. We are now in the planning phase for a number of other projects. On April 13th we will have a brunch with young persons who suffer from dementia. Another club has arranged playground sets which still need to be painted. We will help with a large number of our members to paint these sets. On May 17th we will have a mother’s day project. This is meant for mothers of children with a chronic disease. It is extremely hard work to raise and take care of these children. Therefore we decided
to do something for the mothers. We will arrange a SPA Beauty day, whereby the mothers will have an afternoon of beauty treatments. For the fathers we plan to go to a football match. Besides these projects we will have a club weekend with all members on June 12th until June 14th. This is as a closing of the year and is just for fun. The year 08/09 will have been a year with lots of fun and good projects that have been organised. Marcel Jonker, Rotaract Amsterdam
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Discover Ukraine with Rotaract! Ukrainian trip is a project organized by Ukrainian Rotaract clubs. For five years we have been improving and developing our program to make it even more exciting for you this year. Today we would like to invite eight active, energetic and positive young people from all over the world to discover Ukraine with Rotaract. Don’t miss your chance! What do you know about Ukraine? Hearing this question most people would give the following answers: 1.Chernobyl. It is part of our Soviet Union history. But it is not pleasant to be famous for this fact in the world! And this is not what we are proud of, for sure. 2.Andriy Shevchenko. This is something we want to be proud of. But we have many more new football stars coming (Andiy Voronin, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk).
3.Klichko brothers. They are strong and big guys. But sport is not our main advantage after all. 4.Orange revolution. It is a bright example of our modern history. But this is just a small part of our today’s life. But does anybody of you know that: 1.Ukraine is the biggest country in Europe
The area of the Ukraine is 603,700 sq. km, which is 5,7% of the area of Europe. 2.One of the oldest civilization in world was located in Ukraine Trypillian culture that flourished between 5500 BC and 2750 BC in the Dniester-Dnieper region has
been called the first urban culture in Europe. 3.Ukraine is so-called orthodox centre We are famous for thousands of churches, monasteries and cathedrals with unique architecture and design. Some of them are inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site 4.Ukrainian cuisine is one of the most delicious We have not only vodka that is of high quality but many of tasty dishes. Among them are Chicken Kyiv pampushki, dumplings, vareniks and borsch. 5.Ukraine has a Great history Kyiv Rus, part of Russian Empire, part of Austro-Hungarian Empire, part of USSR, independent country, orange revolution – all of these facts had a deep influence on our modern life. 6.Beautiful nature is a strong part of Ukraine We have Carpathian Mountains and the Crimean mountains, Black
Sea and Sea of Azov, forests and lakes. And we are proud of that! 7.Ukrainian gilrs are very pretty Even The Beatles noticed this fact in 60th : Well the Ukraine girls really knock me out, They leave the west behind… Come to Ukraine and you would have a chance to test Beatles’ song (Back to USSR) 8.Ukraine is a former part of USSR Huge factories, specific architecture, enormous monuments are the brightest examples of our heritage from USSR period. And they worth your attention 9.Ukraine is one of two host countries of Euro 2012 Nothing to add here. Please don’t forget to book your tickets for 2012! 10.Hospital Ukrainian People We are always happy to host friends! Ukrainian Trip Team is waiting for Rotaractors from all over the world to show the famous parts of our country. We would make sure that you discover only the best of Ukraine. If you are interested in discovering Ukraine with Rotaract, send your application by April 15th. You are welcome to visit our web site – www.ukrtrip.info and join our group at www.facebook.com - to find more interesting information and download the application form. We will choose eight lucky rotaractors from different countries to participate in Ukrainian Trip’2009. This
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exciting event will last from June 9th till June 22nd. Our country is too big to show it in 12 days, but we will do our best to make the program unforgettable. That is why we prepared a special feature in each city you will visit. What features we are talking about? Well, you know where to find all the details – visit our web site. So if you have any questions or more interesting facts about Ukraine, don’t hesitate to contact us at ukrainian.trip@gmail.com. We would be glad to give you the full answers. Ukrainian Trip Team is looking forward to receiving your application forms and meeting new friends from different counrties! Try yourself in Ukrainian Trip’2009. Who knows, maybe you would be among our eight selected participants who would Discover Ukraine with Rotaract… See you in Ukraine! Ukrainian Trip Team
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 11
Fight Celiac Join in the Swinging Sixties Fun at Birmingham 2009 Disease Charity With less than 2 months remaining until the event of the year, have you registered for the Rotaract Preconvention Meeting and Party Program yet? No, then what are you Fundraising waiting for? In October 2008, Rotaract Club Grosuplje, together with Rotary Club Grosuplje, organized a charity ball. The main goal of the ball was to raise funds for people that suffer from celiac disease. People with celiac disease are all around us and many of them even have not even been diagnosed with the disease yet. We found out that the food without gluten is much more expensive than the ordinary food. Many people cannot afford those products in required quantities since they are simply too expensive for them. We have organized this project hand in hand with our national community for celiac that has the best information database - so that the funds will reach those who really need them. Through many activities, including the charity ball, we have collected more than 7,000 euro and formed a board that is placing funds to the right spots. Our project is still running, but we are already thrilled by the feedback. This encourages us even more to follow and spread the Rotarian ideas. Ana Jovandarič
Join in the Swinging Sixties fun, let down your hair and socialise with Rotaractors from all over the world. We’ve got an amazing party program planned for you that includes: •An Indian Night - enjoy traditional curry, the UK’s national dish, and Indian Dance •Swinging Sixties Theme Club Night including a free glass of bubbly •Brindley Place Pub Crawl around the great city canals •A Medieval Spectacular - Warwick Castle (HOC Ticket Event organised by Rotary) •Evening visit to the Snowdome Snow, Ice & Leisure •Afternoon visit to Cadbury World and Bourneville It’s going to be a superb event so get in quick and join the other Rotaractors who have already registered - visit www.brum09.com to book your place. Feeling the penny pinch? Remember, as stated in the Rotaract Handbook (page 10), it states that the sponsoring Rotary Clubs/ Districts should pay for Rotaract Leaders to receive official training… and the good news is…Birmingham qualifies. So do talk to your Sponsoring Club and ask for assistance with the cost of attending the Rotaract Preconvention 2009. Download the Rotaract Handbook from http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/562en.pdfg With more good news for you - it’s now cheaper than ever to come to the UK as the VAT (Value Added Tax) rate has just been lowered, meaning you pay less for hotels, food,
entertainment etc. Its also good news for our American/European friends, with the strong Dollar/Euro compared to the Pound you can travel for less - so take advantage while this lasts! Preconvention Meeting During the day you can join in the discussions at the Preconvention meetings taking place at the National Exhibition Arena (NEC) covering a wide range of topics relevant to Rotaractors today. Keynote speakers include the leadership of Rotary International. Remember this is the only “OFFICIAL” Rotary International sponsored Rotaract event for 2009 and
the only one where the RI President will address Rotaractors specifically at our own convention meeting. It’s truly international, not regional!! How can you register? Visit our website www.brum09.com and book for the Rotaract Social Program Get registered with Rotary International by downloading the pdf booking form: http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/ en_pdf/c09_registration_form_ en.pdf
Book your hotel – the ETAP International is the official Rotaract hotel but you’ll need to book your room now to ensure you get in! Visit http:// www.rotaryconvention2009.com/ hotels.html N.B This has been arranged by Rotary International and not the Rotaract Host Committee Buy host event tickets online from www.rotaryconvention2009.com So don’t miss out on this great opportunity to visit Birmingham and take part in some great party events. Visit www.brum09.com for more information. We promise to show you a good time in Birmingham, the Heart of England, with a fun-filled party program and the opportunity to network with fellow Rotary Family members from all over the world. Yours in the Rotary Family Lisa Burnett Chairman Rotaract Host Committee Birmingham 2009 Email: lisa.burnett@brum09.com Birmingham 2009 Preconvention Party Events Website: www.brum09.com
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Child (ren) & Flags Calender 2009 Project We, as Rotaract Club of Bodrum, are getting started an international–community service project with our Twin Club, Rotaract Club Of Jawalakhel, Nepal. Subject is, making a CALENDER of year 2009 with the national flag and child(ren) photographs. Every month is going to have themed for different countries who sent. Our aim was going to organize a seminar about sexual harassment on children in Bodrum. We’ve just made it on 24th Feb. We designed the calender and printed then we sold these calenders. Also we sent these calenders for the clubs who were involved to have donations with this project. Participants in this project : Rtc Club of Bodrum,D2440,Bodrum,T urkey Rtc Club of Mysore,D3180,Karnataka ,India Rtc Club of Pashupati,D-3290,Nepal Rtc Club of Metropolitan,D3270,Karac hi,Pakhistan Rtc Club of ElTahrir,D2450,Cairo,Egypt Rtc Club Of East Central College,D 6060,Missouri,USA Rtc Club Of Alliance Lapa, D4610,Brasil Rotaract Club of Belize,D-4250,Belize Rotaract Clubs of Tripoli Committee (Rac Tripolis, Rac Tripoli Elmina, Rac Tripoli Al Maarad),D-2450,Lebanon h t t p : / / w w w. a l l a t u r k a . o r g / 2009%20takvim%20bask%C4%B1.pdf You can download the calender with HQ on this link Ozan CARGA RAC Bodrum,D2440 08-09 President http://www.bodrumrotaract.org/ bodrumrtc@gmail.com
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Rotaract and the Duke of Edinburgh Increasing Rotaract Membership!! Working with other organizations that have similar goals and ideas as Rotaract International has increased Rotaract Ireland’s ability to make a positive impact on the community and also a positive impact on the personal development of our members.
In the efforts to maintain and increase membership, our strength and our ability to make a difference and grow increases when we work in coordination with other groups. Together, we can accomplish bigger goals, build broader support and make the message of “Service above Self” more compelling to a wider audience. On the national and international level, Rotaract Ireland (District 1160) is working with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award International Association. Through this organization we are working to promote community service, International service and adventure projects that fulfill the Rotaract International club requirements. Some examples include Volunteering in a local school to give homework help and grinds to high school students Learning a new language or taking a part time course to further your professional development. Hiking the Grand Canyon top to
bottom while raising money for charity Linking up with the local sports club to do a weekly activity. On the local level, Gaisce- The President’s Award and The Duke of Edinburgh Award (both of which are affiliated with the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award International Association) are building connections with Rotaract Ireland through a range of community based civic and area organizations. This is having a knock on effect of helping to build Rotaract grassroots strength and capacity on the ground and as a movement. Building alliances with this partner organization not only helps build strength, but it is also helping our members gain recognition from the President of Ireland through Gaisce- The President’s Award and HRH Duke of Edinburgh through the Duke of Edinburgh Award. Our Rotaract clubs involved with the award are building diversity, gaining credibility and visibility nationally and regionally, gaining new strategies and ideas for projects while at the same time attracting new people into their clubs. Through the award, the individual members are being congratulated for having accomplished the hardest and most rewarding challenge for young people by their Head of State. Also bear in mind that by carrying out the award, a club may find that it helps them gain a Presidential Citation from Rotary International from
overlapping requirements. In short, through partnering with Duke of Edinburgh’s Award International Association, it increases membership and gives personal recognition to members while the club may increase their profile with the Rotary International circle both regionally and internationally. To qualify for the Gold award, each individual participant must complete the following sections: Community Involvement Personal Skill Physical Recreation Adventure Journey: Plan, prepare and undertake a 4 day 3 night adventure journey in a group. Residential Project As you can see from the list above, the chances are your club are currently fulfilling at least 60% of the award requirements! To borrow a saying from GaisceThe President’s Award: “Go Discover” and see how a partner organization such as the award can help your club and your members! “Go Discover” and attend District 1160 (Ireland)’s workshop at EUCO on Reaching Out To Partner Organisations. If you’re not attending EUCO, your club and members can also benefit from the International award by contacting them at the email (emas@intaward.org) or indeed contacting Rotaract District 1160 (rotaract-district@lists.redbrick. dcu.ie)
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 13
RGBI Rotaract Overseas Project Go Gambia 2009 A team of Rotaractors from Rotaract in Great Britain & Ireland (RGBI) has returned from The Gambia, West Africa, having completed a highly successful project which brought great advancements for two remote rural villages. One of the villages, Mesira, now has fresh, clean drinking water for the first time in the history of the village which was founded in 1953. Thanks to the Rotaract Overseas Team this village now has its own borehole, a water tower with two large storage tanks, solar panels and solar powered pump to deliver the water to six standpipes built around the village. In addition, the ladies instead of walking 3km to the river to do their washing, can now use the washhouse built centrally in the village by the team. You cannot imagine the delight of villagers when the water was first turned on – it is truly humbling to realise the provision of safe, clean water means so much when the developed world just takes it for granted. The other village, Sambel Kunda, already had a small clinic but as there were no toilets for the patients waiting area and no enclosure around the clinic, animals constantly fouled the area causing a health hazard. The team built two toilets and a very long wall with lockable metal gates. All the bricks required were made on site and a very deep hole was dug and brick-lined before the toilets were built on top. However, the team first had to raise over £12,000 in order to purchase the necessary construction supplies and materials required to carry out the project. Additionally they had to pay £850 in personal costs and get two weeks off work to take part. They raised the project money in a number of ingenious ways including: • Gambia night party, quiz nights and raffles • Sponsored swimming events
• Scottish Ceilidh and a Barn Dance • Presentations to Rotary Clubs and Conferences • A Christmas quiz sheet sold by Rotaractors throughout GB&I • Solicited donations from Rotaract and Rotary clubs throughout GB&I The team consisted of 9 Rotaractors and 4 Rotarians who all worked well together as one team to complete the work in the two week timescale. Team leaders, Rotarians Richard & Sue Burnett of District 1110 flew out two weeks before the team to ensure all materials were ready on site and to organise local workers to assist with the building of the wall, washhouse and toilets. The rest of the team arrived at the end of January and were met at the airport by team leaders who whisked them via a ten ton lorry to a hotel in the capital for the first night stay. That night the team attended a re-
ception held jointly by the Rotary Club of Banjul and the Rotary Club of Fajara. Imagine everyone’s surprise when the Gambian Rotarians started the meeting with a rendition of ‘If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands’. This was to become the teams anthem… The following morning at 6.30am before the sun had risen, the team started the long journey up country to their home for the next two weeks, the Horse & Donkey Trust’s house in Sambel Kunda. The team were beginning to realise why transporting goods and people around The Gambia was not as simple as one would expect, and certainly not so comfortable. Following 3 ferry crossings and a long road trip on rough, bumpy and sometimes non-existent roads, they arrived in Sambel Kunda to be welcomed by the 7 dogs, 2 cats,
assorted horses, donkeys, sheep, goat, chickens etc, not to mention the lizards and bats. Team leaders had already got an Aquabox up and running on site to provide the team with drinking water, and they soon got used to washing in cold water and managing without electricity. The team immediately were introduced to the Alkalas (village chief) of both the villages and shown the scale of the work required. It did not take long for the team to get started and they worked from early in the morning until sunset to make sure they did not let the villagers down. At one point it looked like there was going to be a problem with the pump and bore hole and this caused a major headache for the team, which thankfully was overcome. With everyone taking part in digging trenches, wood working, plumbing, electrical work, building walls, painting, roofing, and having fun at the same time, the project was delivered on time. The success and impact of the project was apparent as soon as water arrived in the standpipes and cheers could be heard all around Mesira. It is important not to overlook the cultural side of taking part in a Rotaract Overseas Project and certainly working in the village of Mesira gave the team a chance to see rural African tribal life close up. We were honoured to be invited to the naming ceremony for the son of one of the village elders in Mesira whose compound (home) was used for storage of our building materials. Also, travelling by donkey cart, they visited a local market and the Wassu Stones which are said to be older than Stonehenge. In their luggage, the team took out educational, sporting and medical supplies for the Sambel Kunda
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Go Gambia 2009 community school and village clinic and were able to present them personally to the headmaster and clinic nurse. The headmaster was proud to show the team around his school and it was good to see the children using the gifts within hours of receiving them. \On the final afternoon, both villages treated the team to a very African village celebration of singing and dancing with a traditional meal of sheep and rice. The team joined in with the tribal dancing and gave both villages a rendition of their anthem - ‘If you are happy and you know it, clap your hands’. They were also presented with a goat for their dinner by Sambel Kunda, but quickly named him Lucky and donated him to the Horse and Donkey Trust where they stayed. Lucky is now due to be castrated, so perhaps not so lucky now. The biggest surprise was the emotional impact when departing from the area on the last day. Not only most of the team, but also the villagers and the village elders all burst into tears and sobs quite unexpectedly. Many of the team have said that taking part in this Rotaract Overseas Project in The Gambia has been a life changing experience that will stay with them forever. The team truly feel that they have achieved this year’s Rotary theme ‘Make Dreams Real’ for the people of Sambel Kunda and Misira. Ironically, the village school in Sambel Kunda has a sign on its wall saying ‘The future is in your hands’ which echoes next years Rotary International theme, The Future of Rotary is in your hands. The team of Rotaractors and Rotarians from GB&I taking part in Go Gambia 2009 were: Rotaractors: • Gavin Smith Bournemouth, District 1110
• Jonathan Hoare West Berkshire, District 1090 • Stuart Yeo Southampton, District 1110 • Thomas Watkins Derby, District 1220 • Martin Coates Liverpool, District 1180 • Gabrielle Nutt Camberley, District 1140 • Natasha Last Deben, District 1080 • Nupur Mehrotra Langley & Iver, District 1090 • Donna Finlayson Glasgow, District 1230 Rotarians: • Richard & Sue Burnett Team leaders, Westbourne, District 1110 • Sarah McNaughton Westbourne, District 1110 • Phaedra Palfrey Westbourne, District 1110 RGBI’s Rotaract Overseas Projects is just one way in which Rotaractors from Great Britain & Ireland make a difference to the world. Since 1995 Rotaractors have travelled to Romania, Tanzania, Ghana, Bulgaria, Malawi, Uganda, Benin and now The Gambia, in each case doing a similar sort of task: decoration, refurbishment, construction. The aim of the projects is to promote teamwork and foster good working relationships between Rotarians and Rotaractors by carrying out a worthwhile overseas task satisfying the Rotary ideal of service above self.
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Rotaract club of Niš Contributing the Week of Children celebration, the Rotaract club Niš organized two connected projects. In the period 06.10.2008. – 12.10.2008. – in the student club of the Faculty of medicine, there was held the exhibition of awarded and best photos from the international competition on the topic “Life with 1000 faces - CHILD” On October 7th 2008. members of the Rotaract club Niš visited the Health center for children in Niš (doctors and children as well), when the patients (children age of up to 16 years) were given sweet boodles with flyers about Rotaract club Nis and the Health center was donated a few of awarded pictures from the above mentioned exhibition. RAC Pirot During last two months the Rotaract club Pirot realised two actions. The Week of children celebration we began with action “ The first letter for my mother” . It is an action from the field of mentally prevention and it was realised together with maternity hospital. Few days after baby birth, mother gets the letter, from witch she can learn some very important things about her baby and first days of life. The letter is also written on the “sweet language” of babies and it starts with “Dear ma, we have officially met each other few days ago, but we have been knowing each other much longer, ect.”... On november 12th The Rotaractors of our club donated a TV and DVD player to childrengarden in Poljska Rzana village, near the Pirot. This is the begginig of our help to this children which will continue in the future. Rotaract club Subotica Support of “Center for real life” – International Day of People with Disability – 3rd of December 2008. Rotaract Club Subotica donated 20.000 dinars ( ~ 250 Euros) gathered from an earlier activity to the “Center for real life” in Subotica. ”Center for real life” works on promoting
the living conditions of disabled people and improving the care of same ones. Besides the donation Rotaract Club Subotica supported the “Center for Real Life” by taking part in The International day of People with Disability by sending e-mails that stress out how important it is to showcase the skills, abilities, contributions and achievements of people with disability to all friends and acquaintances.
Rotaract club Novi Sad At the end of December we made human action in one club, where the entrace was some sweet, all that sweets were New Year’s gifts for children in school “Bratstvo”in Bece. During the December we were selling Christmas Cards by semi-annual Rotary Novi Sad and the money was for children in school “Bratstvo” in Bece. On the first day of 2009 we were selling on the beach of the Danube tee, wine, sweets and the money from this project are going toward to the “Safe Children’s House” Rotaract Club Nis Constantine The Great Lecture about mobbing - On Monday, January 19th 2009, at 61st regular meeting, we had a very interesting lecture. Our guest, Mrs. Irena Milic, Psychiatrist and member of Rotary Club Nis Constantine the Great, presented a lecture on topic “Mobing”. This topic covers a new issue in business relationships, so it was very interesting to hear this lecture. After the lecture, Mrs. Milic gladly answered to all our questions.
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 15
A.P.I.N. Project - District 2030 A.R.2008/2009 My-Ki Project “Alberto Camusso” PROJECT TIMING
Children with rare diseases. More than 1300 children from Piemonte, 20 from Valle d’Aosta and 400 from Liguria.
Inside the pen there will be files about clinical details of the patient and a free space that the patient can use as he/she wants. Files are divided in elemnts not changeable and they shows details about the disease. They will be uploaded on the pen before the pen would be given to the patient, they could be upgraded but not changed. The project is complete in each part of it and actually it is on test with 20 USB pens delivered to 20 patiets with rare diseases. Every computer has a USB entrance, so thats why it has be chosen that type on information support.
ACTIVITIES FOR THE PROJECT
OBJECTIVE
My-Ki is a project consisting on a technical support portable: an USB pendrive bracelet, that is useful to help comunication between doctors and patients, especially in urgent needs. It could also be a good alternative to the mediacal case history (obviously without subsituing it), making more quickier and simple to under stand the clinical history of a patient. A patient with a rare disease is udes toh ave a big case history, with lot of pages, that could not be taken everywhere. Information technology can make an easier research of destre elements.
This gadget gives to the patient the possibilità to take with him/her all the elements of the clinical case history and it’s useful for the following clinical diagnosis. At the end it would bea n archive useful to study the disease. But most of all we want to give to the patient something with wich everyone could understand quckly what disease they are in front of (the name of the diseas, features, therapy, link internet, doctor of the patient with e-amil and phone numbers).
Starting: September 2008 Ending: July 2009 REGION INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT Rotaract District 2030 Piemonte, Liguria e Valle d’Aosta PROJECT BENEFICIARY (Numbers and type of people involved)
MY-KI PROJECT It is a gadget that will be given to all patients with rare disease and it consist in a rubber bracelet with an USB pendrive.
GRAPHIC INTERFACE Elements inside the USB pen are created in an easy interface, that is realized beased on high level compability and high level of sicurity. To make more clear to undertand the interface we would define 3 areas:
A)Patient file B)Clinical case history C)Free space A) Contains files not changable nither with the Format directory. Files are hyperlik ones and contains informations of the desease and a dictionary for terms. They can also be printed, and can be updated oly by a specific referring centre for the disease. B) This is the most complex area regarding the functionig. In this area the referring medical centre has uploaded files regarding the disease. This file can not be changed but only upgraded with new comments or new files. It is the equivalent of the clinical case history, here it could be written everything, like terapy, visits.. etc, but it could not be changed. Each new file or comment would be archived in order of time. We should immagine it as a Blog, where doctors can post their comments. C) The free space for the user (the patient), doesn’t need many explications. It is easily reachable and it
could be used exactly like a normal USB pen. In 2008-2009, there were realized some classes in the Architecture University that would improve the “My-Ki” project, making rare diseases more closer to technology and design. MATERIALS/INSTRUMENTS FOR THE PROJECT USB pendrive braccelets. RESULTS REACHED WITH THE PROJECT It is now on going a trial for 20 patients. HYPOTETICAL REDESIGN Possible link with an online server that functions as a data bank, that could be updated on line by every doctor who has seen the patient file.
April 2009
Newsletter European Rotaract Informational Centre
Bringing people together!
http://www.rotaracteurope.org
Page 16
Rotaract Club Moscow International (ROMI) Amateur Photo Exhibition & Fundraiser Rotaract Club Moscow International (ROMI) is organizing its second annual amateur photo exhibition, which will be launched in May 2009. The exhibition will include photos taken by members and friends of Rotaract clubs from around the world and attract the attention to the phenomena of the street children in different countries. This event is meant to build awareness of the issue of homelessness not only in developing countries but worldwide. Money raised during this event will go to ROMI charity projects, which includes the Club’s work with two orphanages close to Moscow. Project Theme The theme for 2009 is Street Kids. Photographs will capture what the live of these kids looks like. Sometimes it is full of sorrow and violence, but there are moments of their lives when they smile and see the light at the end of the tunnel. Through the photographs we would like to attract people’s attention and action to this burning issue. The Exhibition The exhibition will include approximately 20 digital photos, gathered from Rotaract clubs from around the world through Rotary’s internal communications network. Each club may submit up to 5 photos. The story behind the picture will be published on the biggest international social picture-sharing platform Flickr (www.
flickr.com). The intent is to make this an annual event, growing in stature and scope each year. Deadline for photo submission is April 30, 2009 (for photo submission requirements, please see page 2) Gala Opening (May 2009) A jury will choose the top 3 photos, and these will be framed and displayed at the gala and auctioned to the attendees with proceeds going to benefit Rotaract charity projects. The top 20 photos chosen by the jury will also be displayed at the event. If sponsorship can be found, a catalogue of the top 20 photos, including the stories behind the photos, will be printed. Rotaract clubs whose photos place in the top 3 will receive a share in the auction proceeds that may be used toward their own club’s charity projects. Those attending the event include members of Rotary clubs, their friends, and their associates. About ROMI (www.rotaractmoscow. org) ROMI is the first international Rotaract Club in Russia with 15 members consisting of young professionals from various business spheres and university students. ROMI is sponsored by Rotary Club Moscow International.
The club’s projects include the support of two orphanages close to Moscow. 2 of 2 Project Contacts: Photo Submission & General Management Elena Zohrabyan Mobile: +7 910 458 7129 Email: only-for-vip@mail.ru Photo Submission & General Management Dario Pelazzo Mobile: +7 916 126 4314 Email: darius711@gmail.com Media and PR Aleksandra Markova Mobile: 8 903 554 2374 Email: aleksandra.markova@gmail. com International Relations Svetlana Kasparova Mobile: +7 963 711 3864 Email: svetlanka_piece@mail.ru International Relations Natalia Polyakova Mobile: +7 903 266 5577 Email: struna2000@mail.ru International Relations Aaron Blomme Mobile: +7 915 209 4097 Email: aaronblomme@hotmail.com Photo Submission: • The photos may be taken with film or digital camera. If they are taken on film, they need to be digitalized. • The base pixel dimensions for digi-
ERIC Newsletter Issue #3 (2008-2009) April 2009 MDIO European Rotaract Informational Centre marketing@rotaracteurope.org
Editor Anna-Maria Anatoliotaki Marketing & Communication Officer Rotaract Club Piraeus East (Castella) D. 2470 Greece
Graphic Designer Andreas Panousopoulos Rotaract Club Kifissia D. 2470 Greece
tal files are: around 2000 to 3500 and more x 2000 to 2500 and more pixels with min. of 150dpi. Please include a sentence or two about the child (or children) in the photograph. Each club may submit a maximum of 5 photos. Please be sure to include contact information! Submit photos by April 31st to: Lena Zohrabyan, ROMI President Project Leadership Lena Zohrabyan (ROMI President) has been a Rotaracter for 3 years. She is a student at Moscow State University of Steel and Alloys. Dario Pelazzo (ROMI Vice-President) has been a Rotaracter for 2 years. He comes from Italy, but studies at Moscow State Technical University N.E.Bauman and works as Sales Manager for Russia and CIS countries at SEST, LU-VE group. Aleksandra Markova (ROMI Treasurer) has been a Rotaracter for more than 3 years. She is a student at Moscow State Linguistic University. Svetlana Kasparova (ROMI Board member) has been a Rotaracter for 3 years. She is a student at Moscow State Linguistic University. Aaron Blomme (ROMI Secretary) is Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar and the Secretary of ROMI. He is violinist and an Intern at the Moscow State Conservatory P.I. Tchaikovsky.
Assistant Editor Ildiko Ignacz Assistant Marketing & Communication Officer Rotaract Club Budapest City D. 1911 Hungary