Eric newsletter 2011 10

Dear Rotaractors, Welcome to Wroclaw !

We are very pleased to welcome you in our lovely city. We feel honored that you decided to come to Wroclaw.

As You know, Rotaract is giving you the opportunity to meet people from all over the world, as well as to learn about different cultures. However, meeting new people from different parts of the world might be the most ineterting issue and most valuable experience. As members of Rotaract, we try to improve life of others by working for the local communities and by involvement in international cooperation. Additionally, we Rotarians/ members of Rotaract are developing their leadership and professional skills as well as establishing new friendships.

Whatever we do, members of Rotaract knows how to spend time, make new friendships, and at the same time make the world a little bit better.

Rotaract is friendship in action. Rotaract is a fun activity.

Therefore, we are pleased that this year the REM takes place in our city.

For centuries, Wroclaw was seen as a multicultural metropolis. Residence place for different nations has become at the end of the twelfth century. For centuries, people of Wroclaw has been creating a special atmosphere of this cit. Therefore, it should not be a surprise why people call it "the holly blossom of Europe, a beautiful gem among cities ". The great role in development and growth of Wroclaw was caused by geographical location . that particular issue encouraged people of different nationalities to settle down in our lovely city. In past Wroclaw was inhabited by Poles, Czechs, Germans, Walloons, Russians therefore it is still a place of various languages, religion and perspectives. Some people compare Wroclaw to "Babel Tower".

The amazing atmosphere of the city is also a result of great river of Odra, that gives a unique atmosphere of the 'Venice of the North ". This name was given to Wroclaw because of its location on the five rivers: the river of Odra and its tributaries - Bystrzyca, OĹ‚awa, Sleza and Widawa and numerous islands and bridges (including the railway, there are over 120). The city is vastly vibrant what gives an impression that it never sleeps.

Who will come to Wroclaw once, will always want to come back!

The Wroclaw REM 2011 Committee.

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A word from the President Dear Fellow Rotaractors, During my first five years as a member of Rotaract I worked a lot, participating in all activities of my club, learning from older Rotaractors and Rotarians. I was managing all I was asked to manage, readily accepting all the obligations I was given. After five years Rotaract rewarded me for what I gave. After organising a project where I collected 15.000 euros for purchasing wheelchairs for basketball players in Serbia an opportunity opened – I became International Wheelchair Basketball Referee, later member of an Executive Board of International Wheelchair Basketball Federation.

This is why I choose ERIC theme for this year: “The more you give, the more you get”.

All of us are having two families: our own, precious that gives us strength to exist, and our Rotaract family. There are clubs, districts, national boards, but it is not complete without our European friends. So be a good ambassador! Spread information about events and activities that happen both in your country and in Europe and get involved into Board’s activities – there’s many great ideas to implement together! And above all, open eyes of Rotaractors in your countries to an exciting European Rotaracting, to a network of almost 100 districts in almost 50 countries.

This, new family, is what you can give to your fellow Rotaractors.

Good luck and welcome to ERIC! Darko Šovran ERIC President 2011/2012

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E.R.I.C. Board, 2011/2012 Name: Andreas S. Rath Position in ERIC Board: Vice-president Age:30 Rotaract Club: RAC Graz, Austria, D1910 Work experience: Management consultant Rotaract experience: Country Rep. for Austria since 2010 Personal message: Welcome new country representatives! As a vice president my goals are: (i) supporting the president, (ii) fostering regional, national and international understanding, friendship, collaboration and peace for enriching the Rotarian family and serving our communities and (iii) the Rotaract Wish List Project. Especially for the Rotaract Wish List project which is intended to be a Facebook application where all Rotaractors can post wishes and other Rotaractors can help in fulfilling them I need your valuable support.

Possible wishes can be: fund raising, Rotaract couch surfing, club support, twin club search, project support, etc. People with one or more skills are welcome: communication, design, programming and of course motivation. "Every Rotaractor has a wish, why not help making it true."

Name: Nataliya Stoyanovych Position in ERIC Board: Social Officer Age: 26 Rotaract Club: RAC "Kyiv-Centre" (District 2230, Ukraine) Work experience: Operations Manager in a Danish software company "Kuadriga".

Rotaract experience: 5 years in Rotaract, Club President in 2009/2010, Country Rotaract Representative in 2010/2011, District Officer in 2008/2011 Personal message: During my Rotaract career I was a coordinator of many social Projects that won several National, District and International prizes. Rotaract is my hobby and an important «невід'ємна» part of my life. I am very proud to be elected a Social Officer this year. Among my key focus will be increasing of Twin Clubs in Europe; improving award for Best European Social Project (BESP) and Twin Club Award (TCA); organizing all-European Rotaract project. I feel inspired by Rotaract and will be delighted to share my energy with all of you J

Name: Filip Mrkvička Position in ERIC Board: Social assistent Age: 28 Rotaract Club: RAC Plzen (District 2240, Czech Republic) Work experience: Credit Portfolio Analyst in CSOB Bank.

Rotaract experience: 8 years in Rotaract, Club President in 2004/2005 and 2006/2007, District Rotaract Representative 2004/2005 and 2010/2011, Country Rotaract Representative in 2004/2013, Personal message: Rotaract changed my life in so many ways. It gave me opportunities to fulfil ideas I had in my head for some time and most of all, to meet great people from my town, country and worldwide, many of which I have the privilege to call my friends. In ERIC, apart from helping Nataliya with Social stuff, I'll try to help new Country reps (or anyone who is interested) to get oriented quickly and therefore have more time to have fun and meet as many people as possible ;)

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E.R.I.C. Board, 2011/2012 Name: Mikołaj Nikola Dragović Position in ERIC Board: Marketing Officer Age: 26 Work experience: Strategic marketing consultancy Rotaract Club: Warszawa-Zamek (District 2230, Poland) Rotaract experience: 3 years. Club positions: Board member, Vice-president. District positions: District Committee Member, v-District Rotaract Representative (D. 2230), HOC Warsaw EUCO 2010 Programme and Activities Coordinator. European positions: Country Representative for Poland.

Personal message: The main ERIC channel of communication with outside world is you, Country Representatives. By being in ERIC each one of you is, in fact, in a “marketing and communication” committee. Without your work, there’s no marketing. Remember about that responsibility:) Goals for this term: setting ERIC Facebook Page (then making it living), revising the role and content of a newsletter (in order to make it living), setting Round-trip website along with IT committee, pushing idea of Library Project (to gather real know-how about best European projects, not just nice PR descriptions), gathering knowledge (by equestionnaire) about how information spreading works, preparing ERIC “copy and paste “ materials for common use and promotion (from promotional e-leaflets and simple txt descriptions to ERIC ppt presentations), supporting marketing needs of ERIC Board (visual identity).

Name: Giorgio Gandus Position in ERIC Board: Information Technology Officer Age: 30 Rotaract Club: Rotaract Club Genova Golfo Paradiso, D 2030, Italy Work experience: I've got my own business company since 2003 concerning "Software Development & Analyst". Actually i'm a small one working as consultant for big companies.

Rotaract experience: 2011: President for the HOC REM ITALY - Torino 2012. 2011: Founder of ShelterBox Nord Italia - Onlus. 2010-2011: IT-Officer assistant in the ERIC Board. 2010-2011: Rotaract District newspaper director, District Board member. 2006-2011: Several positions in my rotaract club (president,treasures 3 times, board member) Personal message: Dear Fellows, for the year 2011/2012 these are my goals: Improving the web site, build up an online service for sharing datas with board members, supporting the President for choosing the best IT Tools, suppor the Board during the meeting and more. Continuity and support to the IT-Office. In the last year i visited lots of countries, i'll try to travel around the world to meet rotaractors and for know new style of life, social projects and generally everything that should be intersting and new. Knowledge is a good instrument for growth. Enjoy your life as much as you can, be respectful and responsible. Hope to see you all at Rem Italy Torino 2012.

Name: Alexey Starovoitov Position in ERIC Board: IT Officer assistant Age: 23 Rotaract Club: RAC Minsk City Work experience: Team-lead/developer in a software company "ScienceSoft" Rotaract experience: 3 years. Club Treasurer (2010/11), E.R.I.C. Country Representative (2010/11), Club President (2011/12) Personal message: My main goal as an IT officer assistant is to improve means of relations and cooperation in ERIC between rotaractors from different countries

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E.R.I.C. Board, 2011/2012 Name: Nika AnŞel Position in ERIC Board: Secretary Age: 24 Rotaract Club: RAC Ljubljana (District 1912, Slovenia) Work experience: Managing Director in a translation agency Optimus Lingua Rotaract experience: 4 years in Rotaract, Club President, Country Rotaract Representative in 2010/2011, Member of the Multidistrict Board 1910 in 2010/2011 Personal message: A very important aspect of Rotaract for me is international collaboration. That is why I’m really flattered and motivated to be elected as Secretary for the present year and that a big part of my job is to promote ERIC among Rotarators from all over Europe and beyond. ERIC gives you a great opportunity and support to share your ideas and experience with other Rotaractors from different countries, do joint projects, attend and organise international events, conferences and trips and also to form new friendships. My main task for this year is to support the Board and the Country Representatives by providing quality minutes of Recommitte meetings, offering assistance to new Country Reps, gathering new ideas for ERIC and helping to implement them.

Name: Javier Roldan Position in ERIC Board: Treasurer Age: 28 Work experience: Telecommunications Engineer in the European Space Agency (ESA) Rotaract Club: Madrid-Joven (District 2201, Spain) Rotaract experience: 3 years. Club Charter President 2009, Club President 2009/2010, E.R.I.C. Country Representative for Spain 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 Personal message: During this year, I would like to introduce in the organisation a more systematised and transparent way of working in the accounting area. To achieve this goal, the plan I propose is: 1. getting a view of the accounting status (Where are we at the beginning?), 2. creating a budget plan with the inputs of the other committees and country reps (Where do we want to go?) . 3. creating a clear balance template and report it on a regular basis and prior to the REMs and EuCO so that it can be check by the other colleagues (Where are we at several moments during the year? Is it ok? Doubts?) 4. evaluating the performance at the end of the period (Have we arrived where we wanted to go? Yes/No and Why? What could be improved for next year?)

Finally, considering ERIC is financing itself with a free from REM and EUCO participants (3 and 5 Euro/person in each case), I would like to create an invoice template so that the organizing committee can have a common way to transfer the money to ERIC. Name: Elif Ozturk Position in E.R.I.C. Board: ECO Officer Age: 28 Rotaract Club: RAC Corum (District 2430, Turkiye) Work experience: Marketing and Sales Rep. At A Machine Manufacturing Company Rotaract experience: 4 years in Rotaract, Country Representative 2010/2011, Club President 2011/2012 Personal message: E.R.I.C. Eco Office is here to listen, lead and support you on your ecology and energy based projects. Hence E.R.I.C. Eco Office would like you to implement 'Green' projects which will help our planet to survive for our own future and for incoming generations!

Personally, having the experience as I worked as the assistant of Eco Issues last year, I will be glad to share the ideas! I would like to hear your comments and questions; all you have to do is to contact me at: eco@rotaracteurope.org

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

E.R.I.C. Twinning Initiative Why do you think Rotaract Club is special?

There are a lot of similar organizations on this planet that do social projects and invest in leadership development. There are a number of people who care about environment and enjoy having fun together. But… Rotaract is special because we have like-minded persons in every country. The Rotaract army encounters more than 200 000 young individuals in the world. All of us have similar Club meetings, do similar projects and visit similar events. Distance is not important for us. We are young, energetic and ready to conquer this world!

So how can we use the strength of Rotaract in advantage to everybody?!

How can we communicate, cooperate and integrate with other Rotaractors despite the borders?

Of course there are a lot of opportunities – International events, joint projects, Rotaract Trips and Camps, Social network etc. In this article I would like to talk about one more way to build international relations - Twin Clubs. According to the Official Club Twinning Guideline prepared by E.R.I.C. “Twin clubs are two clubs from different Rotary International countries that have established strong ties and have agreed to team up to complete a special program”.

Twinning is a great chance to build strong relations with Rotaractors located few thousand kilometres from each other. Ten years ago it was even difficult to imagine how to maintain distance relations, but today we have all the tools in our hands – emails, Facebook, Skype.

So let me answer the possible questions you may have: Where can my Club meet a Twin?

Nowadays almost all RACs have their web sites, Facebook pages or groups, so you may just contact them directly. This year E.R.I.C. organized Twin Dating in Wroclaw that helped several Rotaract Clubs to meet each other so we plan to continue this good tradition during REM in Torino. You may also contact potential Twin Club using a CD with contact details of all Clubs in the world that Rotary International sends to the RAC Presidents. It is also possible to find Rotaractors for Twinning attending different International events – Rotary Preconvention Meetings, REMs, EUCOs and other Rotaract events (RYLAs, Trips, Camps etc).

Which projects can we do together?

You could think not only about different social projects, but also focus on interesting cultural projects – friendly visits, photo exhibitions, country presentations and exchanges. Winners of this year Twin Club Award (TC A) – RAC “Warsaw Castle” (Poland) and RAC “Minsk City” (Belarus) - organized a charity concert in Warsaw where they collected money for purchasing computers to an orphanage in the country side of Belarus. This is how both Clubs found a niche for cooperation.

How can we communicate with each other?

Organize regular Skype meetings either to discuss joint activities or to talk about latest news. If possible try to arrange visits to each other to meet face-to-face, discover the country, experience cultural differences and get introduced to local Rotary Clubs. The most important thing is to maintain the relations using all possible means. Remember that it is always more complex to stay close when you are far away from each other. Luckily we have internet these days Are there any special documents required for Twinning?

Yes, E.R.I.C. has a special template of Twinning agreement. Just print it and sign from both sides. Remember to send the information about your Twinning to social@rotaracteurope.org. This year we have implemented a Twin Database to keep the information about Twin Clubs of all European countries in one place.

Are there any possibilities to a get a prize for the best twinning?

Yes, every year E.R.I.C. organizes a Twin Club Award to reward the most active Clubs of the year. In addition to a special prize and diploma, this year the winners are invited to share their success with all Rotaractors during EUCO in Moscow.

How can my Club find more useful information on this topic?

Visit our web site: www.rotaracteurope.org. Join our Facebook page: Write to the Social Officer: social@rotaracteurope.org, We will be glad to support any initiative to increase Twin Clubs all over Europe. Remember that Rotaract is special thanks to each of you! We should use every opportunity to build bridges between the continents and promote friendship in the world!!!

Nataliya Stoyanovych Social Officer in E.R.I.C. 2011/2012 Rotaract Club “Kyiv-Centre” (District 2230), Ukraine

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

ITALY wants you @ REM winter 2012

Rotaract in Italy Country Representative: Filippo Ogno Italy means different ideas and subcultures in the same melting pot: our country is composed by ten different Governors and districts, some of them with countries inside their borders (San Marino, Malta, Montecarlo and, till few moths ago, Albania). Those Ten different realities have in total 382 clubs, 7.000 rotaractors working together in the name of Rotaract and Rotary with the scope of service and amusement.

This year, we had a great opportunity we don't want to miss: To host the Rotaract European Meeting in Winter days (from 26th to 29th January 2012) organized by Giorgio Gandus and hosted by district 2030. So let me introduce Italian districts in order to put them in contact with Europe and to invite Europeans' clubs and the ERIC board to the event we are planning carefully to show you Italy is all around!

Filippo Ogno: Filippo.ogno@gmail.com Italy E.R.I.C. Country Representative 2010-12 District 2030 – Eric Delegate: Claudia Ginex – RD. Filippo Maria Bistolfi Italian District 2030, is located in the "North west Italy". If you visit this district you will face an exciting trip through Italian culture. Some of the most famous cities spread in Piedmont, Liguria and Valle d'Aosta are Novara, Biella, San Remo, Genova, Alba, Casale Monferrato, Asti, Montecarlo, Torino (etc..)

Turin is a flourishing, industrious and cosmopolitan European city, which enjoys state-of-the-art technology and architectural developments. The city has a rich culture and history, and is known for its numerous art galleries, restaurants, churches, palaces, operahouses, piazzas, parks, gardens, theatres, libraries, museums and other venues. Examples: the Royal Palace of Turin, the Palazzina di caccia of Stupinigi and the Basilica di Superga. In this glamorous setting, were the 2006 Winter Olimpic Games took place, we propose to celebrate the ITALIAN - Winter Rotaract European Meeting 2012 http://www.remitalytorino2012.it/ Rotaract District 2120 – Eric Delegate: Elisabetta de Feudis – RD. Ferdinando Ieva Puglia and Basilicata - has 17 years and is composed by 29 clubs with more than 400 active Rotaractors, even if this number is constantly growing up. Our clubs usually carry out 4 or 5 service projects (especially through theme parties and conferences) to address such critical issues as childhood, health and environment or to help the local and the international community.

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District 2080 - Eric Delegate: Giusy de Gori – RD. Giulia Oppia The Rotaract District 2080, consisting of 40 clubs and almost 700 members, brings together two regions, separated by the Mediterranean Sea: the Lazio and Sardinia. Rome, Italy's Capital Town is located in the territory of our district and it has alone over 20 clubs.

The other two zones, zone Lazio and zone Sardinia, respectively, including 13 and 7 clubs.

The oldest club is 43 years old, while the youngest was born in June 2011, than indicate a progressive development, accompanied by a steady growth of the Association's members and all.

Precisely because of the understandable difficulties, due to the division geographical, the Rotaract District 2080 promotes and encourages the union of clubs of different areas, during activities district and beyond, trying to create aggregation and collaboration opportunities, particularly through the sharing of projects.

In this regard each year the individual club follows by about 3-4 different projects: the National Project, the District Project and at least one specific Club Project. On wake of the District twinning, the clubs in our district sign a lot of twinning and forge bonds strong in Italy and abroad. The District 2080 is nice because it varied, its differences, mitigated by the air of the sea, become his strength and his value added.

Italy

District 2100 - Eric Delegate: Marzia Trivellini – RD. Carmela Laino District 2100 includes the area of Southern Italy, from the regions of Campania, to those of Calabria and Territorio di Lauria. The Rotaract clubs of this District have worked on projects within the fields of medical assistance, cultural and social improvement on the territory. In 2011 they got the3rd place as Best Service European Project for the campaign of awareness about the donation of the umbilical cord.

The Rotaractors from D 2100 are now creating new strategies in order to help blind and partially sighted people and to promote education providing remand home and prisons with books and libraries.

District 2090 - Eric Delegate: Michael Minelli – RD. Maria Elena Castori DIstrict 2090 is formed of the regions of Umbria, Marche, Abruzzo and Molise. Although new clubs are opened or re-opened every year, the oldest have about 40 some years of history, and those same people that started Rotaract are now proud Rotarians. Counting 564 members, the Rotaract group of District 2090 consists of both the sons and daughters of Rotarians, as well as those of non-Rotarians. The relationship with Rotary grows stronger every year. Working together for a certain goal or project helps us to understand a truer, deeper meaning of what Rotary and Rotaract really are.

District 2090 is adhering to the following projects on a national, international and district-wide basis: "Mapability", which is the realization of guides and informations to help the urban mobility for the handicapped and social tourism; "Uniti per l'Aquila", whose objective is to continue in the support of the constant work in the reconstruction of the Engineering Facility of Aquila, destroyed by the earthquake of 2009; "Ovunque e' 2090", where the objective is to let people know the importance of actions and the social meaning of Rotaract through work throughout the territory; "End Polio Now", one of the main projects of the Rotary Foundation in eliminating polio throughout the world; "Un Racconto Condiviso Con il Coure", a district-wide service in collaboration with the Rotary of District 2090 where the objective is to donate kits containing school material and books to kids who are recovered in hematology and oncology centers throught the district.

District 2040 - Eric Delegate: Camillo Rusconi - RD 2040 Riccardo Combe Located in northern Italy, on the border with Switzerland, the District 2040 is the smallest Italian district, but also one of the most active.

The Italian oldest Rotary Club was founded in Milan and from here Rotaract started to take over the peninsula. The territory includes the cities of Milan and all the provinces of North Lombardy: Milan (northern part only), Bergamo, Como, Lecco, Monza, Sondrio and Varese.

It 'a densely populated area, about 9 million inhabitants, very industrialized, but with lovely villages and a tourist, cultural and artistic life .

District 2050 - Eric Delegate: Stefania Piccoli - RD Alessandro Lonati The 2050 District occupies the south part of Lombardy and this year it organized the 30^ Italian National Congress, on Garda Lake. Garda Lake is our jewel, one of the main Italian lakes, cradle of ancient civilization, beloved by poets and writers, such as Catullo, Goethe, Byron and Rilke; poets and travellers were astonished and bewitched in front of such a wonderful place.

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District 2060 - Eric Delegate: Giulia Mazzuccato Held - RD Monica Poli The District Rotaract Representative of District 2060 for the year 2011-2012 (Veneto, Friuli, Trentino), Monica Poli, whose motto is "Global Thinkers, Local Leaders", wants to start her year getting her fellow Rotaractors to meet all the neighbouring Rotaractors, in order to share experiences and different ways of living Rotaract.

District 2060 is the only Italian District which is part of such an International and multicultural District; this is why it is essential to have an event where all Clubs can meet and can get to know each other better. The REM will be a great opportunity for this kind of thing, because, together, all the Boards of the Clubs of Zone 19 will be able to learn much more during their year.

Italy

District 2070 - Eric Delegate: Iacopo Biellesi - RD Edoardo Rispoli District 2070 includes the following areas: Emilia Romagna, Republic of San Marino, Tuscany. This territorial configuration was created

by Rotary International with effect from 1972-73 and continues to be such to this day. So why waiting? We wait for you soon! Meet us in REM Turin!

District 2110 - Eric Delegate: Iacopo Biellesi - RD Giovanni Adamo District 2110 Sicily and Malta. This is one of the most beautiful districts of Italy. It covers mainly Sicily, land of turism, poetry, art and food. It's hard to describe Sicilian and Maltese spirit, you have just to join us to experiment. We are waiting for you to meet us at REM Turin!!

Rotaract in Albania Country Representative: Dea Babo & Kristina Culaj Rotaract Club Tirana is the first and still the only club in Albania. It has been founded in 2004 and even if had a lot of difficult paths to walk through, now is stable and active. This year is going to be hard too. We have been divided from our district 2090, which have been a great group to rely on always. Obviously it is a decision of Rotary International to create a new district in the Balkan area and in the meanwhile we'll be a non district area. Of course we are going to keep contacts and continue the friendships made in this time with our district and with the goodwill we're going to give our best in this year. And also we're open for any project that can come form other district.

The club has some significant projects on the way, basically helping the nearby community for the moment.

Projects as helping the older people care home and providing books for the university libraries are some of what we're most proud of.

Albania

The members are really connected to each other and there have been organized round trips and dinners to endure these relationships.

Last year was the first time we had an ERIC Representative Rainer Hoxha who took part of the EUCO convention in Dortmund presenting Albania and its only Rotaract club to the audience.

For this rotaract year in the role of ERIC Albania will be two girls Dea Babo and Kristina Culaj.

The knowledge about Rotary, Rotaract and ERIC is really poor in our country but we hope to improve it with our work as the time goes by.

We are looking forward to found a new Rotaract club in a city nearby to spread the Rotaract spirit over the territory.

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Germany Country Representatives: Doris Grimm and Annette Alt 2855 ... 164 ... 14 ... 1 ... You were wondering what it is about these numbers?

Well, may I introduce to you Rotaract Germany. There are 2855 Rotaractors who are active in 164 clubs. All these clubs are organized in 14 districts and there is 1 Multi District Information Organization (MDIO) - the Rotaract Deutschland Komitee (Rotaract Committee Germany) organizing all the information that is floating back and forth.

Germany

So, what is it that is concerning Rotaract Germany on national level the most?

First of all, our annual national conference! This is the meeting where the Rotaractors who are forming the different committees in the national MDIO are elected as well as where the direction of Rotaract Germany is decided on (with each club having its own vote). The entire conference takes three days with a welcome party on Friday, the conference and the gala ball on Saturday and an inspiring keynote speaker on Sunday. This Rotaract year the national conference will take place in Darmstadt from 14 till 16 April 2012. So, why not join us there and be part of around 850 Rotaractors?

The other issue is our annual national social project which runs under the motto of "Im.puls" this year. What is meant by that is that it is all about setting stimuli: This year's social project is an information campaign about organ donation: Different to other countries in Europe, in Germany you have the chance to select whether or not you want to donate your organs after your death. Therefore, you can fill in an organ donation card which gives you a free choice; nevertheless the majority of Germans does not have such a card and therefore leaves the choice to their relatives. And that is where all Rotaract Clubs in Germany come into play: With the national social project this year, we hope to make the Germans more aware of this topic. This can be done by showing a movie about organ donation, organizing a discussion round with different experts, word of mouth or organizing an event which emphasizes on this topic. Quite a challenge you think? On one hand yes, on the other hand aren't we all as Rotaractors the ones who are dedicated, enthusiastic, courageous and responsible?!

(Doris Grimm, Country Rep Germany 2011/2012) 1.500 visitors at the „Donaubeben Festival" in Ulm It's been the fifth time now that the Rotaract Club of Ulm has organized the "Donaubeben Festival" (in English: Danube-quake Festival).

14 bands performed their music for 11 hours in front of 1.500 spectators on 2 stages, non-stop. Some very interesting German newcomer bands were part of this festival for which the planning has started ten months before. The festival day itself was managed by the organizing team as well as 50 helpers who worked in teams as cashiers, bar tenders, backstage staff, stage and sound technicians, securities and so on. So far the festival could generate 8.669 Euro for aid intended for the Ambrosius School in Okahao in the north of Namibia, a local rock/pop youth development programme and further local associations. With the money generated this year, the sum will rise up to 13.669 Euro. More information can be found at the website www.donaubeben.de.

(Original: Andreas Torka, RAC Ulm, translated by Annette Alt)

Hands on for the Child Protection Agency Lübeck“ Hands on", that was the call for the Rotaract Club Lübeck, up in the North of Germany, when they put on their working gloves in order to help the program "Playing and Learning 2" by the Child Protection Agency Lübeck. The members of the club had a lot of fun although there was a lot to do: Collecting waste, painting the balustrades, refilling the sandpit and renewing the paint of the jungle gym.

Once the playground looked pretty much new, every helper was rewarded with a tasty BBQ. Summing up this great day, the club decided to continue with different other social projects together with the Child Protection Agency; not only this summer but for a longer period of time in order to enable the kids who are taken care of in this institution a fantastic experience.

(Original: Beatrice Fandrich, RAC Hansestadt Lübeck, translated by Doris Grimm)

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Poland Country Representative: Jarek Sauczek Rotaract in Poland has 20 years and during that period it grew to 19 clubs with around 200 active Rotaractors. While some of clubs were launched by Rotarian kids and some (in Warsaw) by division, many developed from community of friends that learned about Rotaract on various trips and scholarships.

There is not even one University based club around, also no Interact.

Poland

Clubs on average do 4-5 projects a year, most often being parties with lottery collecting money for a medical treatment or scholarship as well as supporting orphanages (providing equipment, organising entertainment or educational sessions). In crisis, clubs are getting more creative, focusing more on using networking and knowledge rather than brute-force money gathering and forwarding.

Rotary in Poland is quite Rotaract-literate – there is 73 Rotary clubs in Poland so almost 30% of Rotary clubs have sponsoring Rotaract club. Cooperation is quite close as Polish Rotarians are quite open and relaxed (and so are Rotaract meetings), many Rotaractors participate in Rotary projects, each year some of us join Rotary. A lot changed when polish Rotaractors started organising international Rotaract events – REM in Trójmiasto and Wroclaw as well as EUCO in Warsaw – these projects are bigger than any Rotary conference in Poland, that earned us a lot of respect.

These events changed also point of view of Rotaractors themselves – many realised that ERIC exists, started participating in REMs and EUCO in big numbers, many European Round Trips started receiving much more applicants from Poland, in last year three clubs signed International Twinships, district gives awards for Best International Project. Polish Country Representative (CR) has an access to Countrywide mailing list with direct access to every Polish Rotaractor, district also finances National and International Conference packages of a Representative. As a result, knowledge of European Rotaracting is widespread in Poland.

One of the best project this year was undertaken by Rotaract Club Kraków Wawel On April 16th, 2011 Rotaract Club Krakow Wawel organized a charity concert for a quadriplegic, 25-year old, young man namaed Paweł Szkutnicki (more details on his webpage: www.pawel.netax.pl). The concert took place at the historical assembly hall of the Jagiellonian University’s headquarters (Collegium Novum), with one hundred listeners and succeeded in collecting nearly 3 thousand Euros (11500 PLN). The entire amount will be used for Pawel’s rehabilitation.

The concert was composed of two main acts and provided a versatile program for the audience. The first act was carried out by Jolanta Kowalska (soprano) and Renata Zelobowska-Orzechowska (piano), who have performed operetta arias, songs and opera. The second act was held by vocalist Paulina Bisztyga and Roman Slazyk (bass) who have performed pieces from their newest album, creating an unforgettable atmosphere with a touch of Balkan music. An auction with art pieces of various artists crowned this cultural feast. Despite his serious paralysis, Pawel and his family have attended the concert, which in their words “has been an unforgettable event which has given them a lot of hope and strength for the future”. Rotaract Krakow Wawel is planning to organize further events like this and to support Pawel in the future.

More details about the project, winning the II place as The Best Community Local Project 2010-2011 on District Conference of Rotaract Clubs 2011, 20th-22nd of May, Rivne, Ukraine, are available on club’s website: krakow.rotaract.org.pl.

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Austria Country Representative: Andreas Rath Austria is a country in center of Europe, covers 83.855 square kilometers and has roughly 8.4 million people.

Among these people there is a widespread Rotarian family with 22 Rotaract clubs and 450 Rotaractors.

Until June 2011 District 1910 also involved Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia as well as the east and south part of Austria. The joint union of these countries together with D1920 (west part of Austria) referred to as the Multi-District 1910 & 1920 (MD) had its own statutes. Since Croatia and Slovenia became an own Rotary district the rest of the MD renewed its statutes. New roles of the MD board were created in other to enhance the understanding of the Rotaract board roles for Rotarian in the following manner: a MDRR (Multi District Rotaract Representative) who represents both D 1910 and D 1920 as a DRR similar to a Rotary District Governor, four ADRRs (Assistant District Rotaract Representatives) for Austria North East, Austria South East, Austria West and Bosnia and Herzegovina whose task is to keep on the pulse of the clubs in their respective region similar to Rotary Assistant District Governors, the MDICO (Multi District Information Coordination Officer) who manages the information technology and fosters information distribution, and finally the Rotaract Europe Representatives (RER) for Austria and Bosnia Herzegovina referred to as Country Representatives in E.R.I.C. In Mai 2011 the presidents of the MD agreed on these statutes at our MDPC (Multi District Presidential Conference) in Split (Croatia) and in August we elected the MD board at another MDPC in Austria. The new board is now fully operational and very motivated to develop Rotaract Austria and Bosnia & Herzegovina further, to do helpful community service projects as well as extend the good collaboration with our Rotarian friends. District webpage is: http://www.rotaract.at

Austria

Joined PETS/SETS (President/Secretary Elect Training Seminar) with Rotary, a district wide Rotaract service project “Austria Charity Run” raising 19.500 Euros (http://www.ichhelfelaufend.at), a variety of published Rotaract Europe newsletter articles and two MDPCs are just a view examples of what Rotaractors of Austria did so far this year. For up to date examples of clubs activities and projects please have a look at the following collections:

The Austrian Charity Run continues after successfully having raised 19.500€ at the running event in the Augarten of Vienna. Now it was time to jointly construct the bought playground elements for the children of the therapy center for autistic children in Graz.

“Rotaract bewitches”, a project of RAC Wien Secession, invites about 100 – 200 children with difficult backgrounds to the movies, with one Rotaractor acting as Santa Claus, giving candy to the children.

RAC Leoben did a charity concert with A. Koutopoulos, a pianist of the Berlin philharmonics and other musicians to fund a new bedroom of a handicapped girl.

RAC Wien-Stadtpark cooperated with a residential home run by the Caritas and took children to fun and interesting places, and worked with SOS Kinderdorf where we support the staff at festivals.

RAC Linz with N. Hammerschmid, G. Hanisch, M. Schneditz-Bolfras and V. Witzany participated in NOLA 2011 in Washington D.C. together with current RI President K. Banerjee.

RAC Wolfsberg met at the Neusiedler Lake to discuss the former and the next year. Honesty and friendship are key assets of our club, so events like this are a great way to build a strong team.

RAC Graz raised 2800€ in its yearly charity go race for unfortunate families with children with disabilities in Styria. This time participated 38 teams (152 drivers).

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Spain Country Representative: Javier Roldan According to the latest Rotary International statistics from June 2011 (http://www.rotary.org/RIdocuments/en_pdf/rotaract_statistics_current.pdf), there are 36 Rotaract Clubs in Spain. Yet, just 21 of them are currently active (with around 250 rotaractors in total). All contact details of the clubs can be found in http://www.alumnos.unican.es/uc21003/rotaractspain/clubes.htm The oldest Rotaract Club still active in Spain is Rotaract Club Mallorca, founded in 1984.

Most of the clubs were launched thanks to the effort of Rotarians. Their origin was usually based on Rotarian children and their friends, selected youngsters by Rotarians and RYLA participants. Some clubs grown enough to led the creation of other ones. No club is currently based on any University. In general, Spanish Rotaract clubs are quite heterogenic and have just in common to be working on a friendship basis.

Spain

Most Rotaract Clubs have a nice relationship with its/their godfather/s Rotary club/s. Projects are carried together on a regular basis and some transfer of members between Rotaract and Rotary takes place. Rotarians are increasing their knowledge and consciousness of Rotaract in the last 3 years. This has led to a change in the former tendency of losing clubs and has led to a growth of the active Rotarat Clubs of around 42%. Yet, the rate Rotaract Clubs vs Rotary Clubs stays still really uncompensated. Just less that 10% of the Rotary Clubs are currently sponsoring a Rotaract Club. Rotarians in Spain are usually easygoing… but there is a big age gap between Rotary and Rotaract. The constitution of several young Rotary Clubs, the great job of the rotaractors and the increase of organised RYLAs is leading to an improvement in the situation. Still some critical points remain unsolved. First of all, the majority of Rotaract Clubs are concentrated in just a few cities, leaving most of the country surface without any Rotaract Club. Then, Districts are really independent, with few coordination / communication between them (there is not a national MultiDistrict Information Centre or board although a National Conference is typically hold almost every year). E.R.I.C. Country Rep. is somehow the only common position between them. Finally, really low international interaction is held (almost no international Rotaract events are organised in Spain and even worst, participation of Spanish Rotaractors in International evens is marginal). The status is not a catastrophe thanks to lots of International Rotaractors coming to Spain for studying or working purposes.

Relating our projects, most of the clubs hold between 2 and 5 projects, depending on the number of members, the size of the project,…

Usually, one project is International. The areas of action are typically South America (due to our common language), Africa (due to its proximity and needing), South Asia (India, Bangladesh,…) and natural catastrophes (earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes,…) . The projects for the Community are mainly focused on poor people (special awareness since the last 2 years due to economic crisis), old and young people with any kind of disease and environment. All districts usually have a big international project in common. D2202 continues it big work in Gambasse, where they have been acting since a few years. D2201 focused its effort in raising funds for a new hospital in Haiti (project shared with the rotarians) and District 2203 continued raising money for PolioPlus.

This year, in order to make Spanish rotaractors be more aware of Rotaract as an international movement, D2201 Rotaract Clubs and me organised the I Spanish Rotaract Trip. The event led 6 rotaractors to have the opportunity to visit Spain and share their vision of Rotaract with the rotaractors from here. For more details, a report is available at: http://rotaractspain.blogspot.com/2011/05/spanish-rotaracttrip-2011-report.html Participation in other Rotaract trips was reduced to 1 person in Slovenia and 1 in Serbia Summer Camp this year.

More dramatic is the participation in European Events with just 2 people in REM Amsterdam, 1 in REM Belgrade and 4 in EuCo Dortmund.

Last Best European Service Project (BESP) recognition received was 1st prize in 2006 with Gambasse Project (D2202) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mtDUDG2lnKo.

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Rotaract in UK and Ireland Country Representative: Steven Read Rotaract in the UK & Ireland is much smaller than it once was, with around 80 clubs compared with the number of clubs in the hundreds during the late 1970s. None the less, there are a lot of new and long-established clubs, some with over 40 years of history. Not all Rotary districts have active Rotaract clubs, but all districts have Rotarians who act as Rotaract Liaisons. All Rotary districts are now expected to have a Rotaract sub-committee, and Rotary in Britain and Ireland (RIBI) has within the last year set up a national Rotaract Resource Group for Rotarians working to further Rotaract.

UK

Rotaract clubs in the UK & Ireland are most often community based, often working with two or three Rotary clubs as well as local charities. The clubs organise volunteers for fundraising events, as well as community projects which can be one-off or regular commitments. One such example is Talking Newspapers, where audio recordings of local news are distributed to a mailing list of visually impaired residents within the local community. Many clubs are involved in this and are an important part of the distribution network.

The clubs also have active social calendars and regularly meet in informal venues, such as to play pool, go bowling, or simply meet up for drinks. Clubs will also travel and organise events with other local Rotaract clubs. Sometimes fundraising is incorporated in to Rotaract socials, such as through charity quizzes, gala balls and dragon boat racing.

Ireland

There are a small number of university-based Rotaract clubs in the UK & Ireland, but most often universities will have Raising and Giving clubs instead, which have the same structure as Rotaract and carry heavy institutional support.

One area that Rotaract has been heavily involved in is in adopting national Rotary projects, such as The Big Bulb Plant last year and The Big Spring Clean next year. The projects take a theme and allow the local clubs to decide where and how to implement them.

Rotaract in Great Britain and Ireland (RGBI) is the multi-district organisation covering the UK and Ireland. The organisation has been relatively dormant in recent years, but a national conference is planned for the weekend starting the 25th August 2012, and the RGBI board are looking to re-establish contact with some of the clubs where contact details have become stale.

Knowledge of ERIC is very limited in the UK, largely because of the breakdown in communications between RGBI and the Rotaract clubs.

This is set to improve across the year ahead as those communications lists are updated, allowing more effective education about ERIC and the events it provides.

The UK & Ireland project spotlight is on Deben Rotaract, who last year organised The 24 Hour In*sight Challenge. Five club members spent 24 hours blindfolded, raising sponsorship money for Sightsavers, a charity looking to eliminate avoidable blindness. In doing so they attempted to perform daily tasks such as preparing meals, shopping, a trip to the library, and household chores. The event allowed them to raise awareness of the charity and avoidable blindness, as well as use first hand experiences to help try and understand the challenges that blind and partially-sighted people face. This project could very easily be used as the basis for fundraising and awareness opportunities for many other charities, whether spending a week without running water, or experiencing the life of a carer.

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in The Netherlands Country Representative: Laura Verdegaal In The Netherlands are 48 chartered Rotaract Clubs. The brand new Rotaract Erasmus University is the first Dutch University based Rotaract club, located in the city of Rotterdam. About a year ago the first Interact club was chartered, sponsored by both Rotaract and Rotary.

Exactly 462 Dutch Rotaractors are registered in the online database, 241 men and 221 women. So the average Dutch Rotaract Club has 11 members.

The biggest clubs are Rotaract Amsterdam and Rotaract Oldenzaal with both 20 members.

The Netherlands has seven districts. Those districts are represented in the Country Board.

The Dutch Board has seven board members, for every district one. Twice a year a Dutch Conference is held. In October to present the plans for the coming year and in June to tell what is done in the past year. The Conferences are always combined with some fun activities.

The knowledge about ERIC and Rotaract in Europe is growing. Especially after the REM was organised in Amsterdam, where a lot of Dutch Rotaractors helped or joined. More and more Dutch Rotaractors are travelling to REM and EUCO. And also more members join Roundtrips and International Weekends all around Europe.

A lot of communication is via the internet. Every week a newsletter is spread amongst the members. The Country Representative can add articles, advertisement and announcements in this newsletter. At the website www.rotaract.nl everyone can add activities and projects. In the agenda are almost all national and international events.

The paper R-magazine contains a column from the Country Representative, and some contact information.

The Netherlands

We are on a bus!

Last October RAC Amersfoort visited RAC Meschede (Germany) for a ski trip. We found out that Rotary Meschede-Warstein made a sort of Monopoly game. That's also possible in Amersfoort, maybe even better. We wanted an official Monopoly game. Just because it's possible!

There were some contacts with Identity Games, a licensed company who can make 'Special Editions' Monopoly games. The first arrangements were made, and a charity was found. Stichting Leukemie.nl (Leukaemia Foundation) is a Dutch foundation, but has his roots in Amersfoort. And therefore a lot of contacts in Amersfoort. For both an opportunity to get more attention.

The months that followed the 'streets' had to be sold to companies in Amersfoort. Soon it was clear that there would be enough money to pay the development costs of the game.

Then the sale of the game could begin. In the local newspaper and on the public busses in town was an advertisement for the game. Of course with a Rotaract logo!

At this moment the profit is more than € 15.000 and it can raise even more to € 26.000. We have to wait until the games are sold out, but on the 23rd of September the first game will be handed over to the Mayor of Amersfoort.

Joris Israël – President Rotaract Club Amersfoort

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Rotaract in Bulgaria Country Representative: Angel Kanchev In 1995 in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, the first Rotaract club in the country, RAC Sofia, was established. For the last 16 years the Bulgarian Rotaract community has grown to include today more than 600 members of 36 clubs in the country. New clubs are chartered each year and the already established ones grow their membership. The average number of active members per club is around 20 with average age of 26 years. All of the Bulgarian Rotaract clubs so far are community based. Almost 50% of the Rotary clubs in Bulgaria have their own sponsored Rotaract and Interact club.

One of the keys to the successful development of the Bulgarian Rotaract community is its strong relationship with Rotary. Members of Rotaract clubs usually volunteer in the organization of national and international meetings of Rotary, and Rotary members participate as lecturers in the national conferences of Rotaract. In addition, big amount of the funding for our projects is provided by our sponsoring Rotary clubs. Moreover, every year members of Rotaract join Rotary.

Rotaract clubs in the country cooperate both on city and national level. For instance, all Rotaract clubs from Sofia joined forces to organize REM Sofia in 2009 and many clubs from the country participate every year in the national campaign ‘Buy and Donate’. Some of the projects of Bulgarian Rotaract clubs are connected with fundraising parties or tournaments made within the Rotary community and their friends for children orphanages, people in shelters or people with special needs. Other projects such as ‘Buy and Donate’ collect products from the community as a whole which are afterwards donated to the aforementioned orphanages and shelters. Most of the remaining projects relate to renovation of the buildings of these institutions and donation of specialized equipment.

E.R.I.C. has become more and more popular in Bulgaria after the organization of REM Sofia 2009. There have been several twinnings throughout the years and more are about to take effect this Rotarian year.

Bulgaria

Recent Projects Theatre, Music, Dance and Fine Arts Festival ‘Roshavata Kotka’ (‘The Shaggy Cat’) The festival which is organized by Rotaract Club - Plovdiv, financially supported by Rotary Club – Plovdiv and Rotary Club - Plovdiv – Puldin, is a part of Plovdiv’s cultural life. It takes place annually on a weekend during May. The Ninth edition was held on the 14-th and 15-th of May 2011 at “Plovdiv Drama Theatre”. The main objective of the festival is to encourage gifted children from Bulgarian schools to develop their abilities in different fields of art. It provides a stage for the young talents where they are free to demonstrate their potential and get to make friendships with other young people with similar interests.

This year’s participants were around 500 children aged between 6 and 18 years from all over Bulgaria, which makes the Festival National.

RAC Sofia International again welcomed young leaders from around the world Thanks to the efforts and support of Rotaract Club Sofia International, the beautiful capital of Bulgaria, Sofia became an arena for world politics for 1 week during the 4th edition of the Sofia International Model United Nations (July 23-30 2011). The event was organized together with the SOFIMUN International Foundation and the UN branch offices in Bulgaria. Around 150 participants from around 30 states from 5 continents participated in the 7-day event.

‘Shemetna Varna’ (‘Crazy Race in Varna’)- a project of the recently chartered Rotaract Club Varna-Euxinograd This is a game, played by teams of four people, which was organized by the club on the 5th of September 2011 in the city of Varna. The principal aim of the competition was to attract both members from Rotaract Clubs and participants that are not connected with the Rotary organization, thus popularizing it in the society. In the race against time the players had to complete different tasks, distributed at checkpoints throughout the Sea Garden in Varna. 56 people participated in the game. The overall impression of the event was extremely positive, and many people stated that they are willing to participate again.

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Croatia Country Representative: Julija Turk .

Rotaract in Croatia started with its activities in 1995. The first Rotaract club was founded in Zagreb, the capital. Today, there are 7 clubs, all community based, and there is around 100 active Rotaractors in Croatia.

Croatia was a part od Multidistrict 1910 1920 till this year -now we have our own District 1913 which was founded on 18 June 2011. The organization of the Croatian Rotaract Board is now different than former years. Since we were a part of the biggest District in the world (yes :), part of Austria, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Slovenia and Croatia), our Board consisted each year of Rotaractors of different nationalities. Also, conferences were held in different countries, always in English. No, we have our first DRR, and our first Statute. This is a big step for Rotaract and Rotary in Croatia. Wish us luck :) Most of the clubs were formed by Rotarians children or Roatarians who were guides through the first year of forming. Former Rotaractors, now Rotarians, helped to organize and form new clubs. So the connection between the sponsor Rotary clubs and Rotaract clubs is very good. All of the clubs are involved in some of the projects of their sponsor club, also go to their meetings, and Rotarians also visit our projects and help us with the organization when needed.

There are 47 Rotary clubs in Croatia. First club was founded in 1990. As you can see, only 7 od them are sponsors of Rotaract clubs. One of them founded also Interact club. We also have national RYLA, organized by Rotaract and Rotary club in Varaždin. Also, there is a Rotary Summer Youth Camp in Croatia, which is a result of great cooperation between Rotary and Rotaract here.

The number of people in Rotaract clubs is average 15. Rotaract clubs in Croatia have one big national project called Christmas basket, and in the clubs around 5 projects throug the year. Usually, we collect money in some fund raisers, events like parties , lottery collecting etc.

Usually we collect money for the children, disabled people, people in need. The difference in our national project is that we don't collect money, but products and food for people in need.

There are 2 national conferences, and one of the ideas of these conferences is also meeting new Rotaractors from other clubs. Since there is one club in the city, except the capital, where are 3 clubs, people don't have so many opportunities to meet. We usually try to have formal and unformal parts of meetings, usually people go out, or hang around with each other on some other days of the week and not only every Monday, or Wednesday. We all have meetings every week.

Considering worldwide cooperation, traveling and international projects, Rotaractors in Croatia still don't participate enough. There were some twin projects in past years, but for the past few years the situation is a bit different but still, maybe this year will be active again.

Some Rotaractors participated in international Ryla-s EUCO, REM, Rountrips, but lots of "new and fresh" Rotaractors don't go to these events. Lots of these people are given their time to speak on national conferences to promote these trips and conferences. One of the this year's mission that have this year's DRR and myself, ERIC representative, is promoting Rotaract on the International level. Always trying to prove to my Rotaract friends in Croatia -There are no strangers in Rotaract, only friends you haven't met yet.

Croatia

Distirict 1913 . 7 clubs (since 1995) . 3 in Zagreb, Osijek, Rijeka, Split, Varaždin . 110 members, 24 candidates . 2 National Conferences . 1 national project (Christmas Basket) . DRR 2011/2012 – Domagoj Cvetko . RER 2011/2012 – Julija Turk Christmas basket – national project .During 2-3 weekends before Christmas, all of Rotaract clubs in Croatia, every club in its city, has a stand in front of a big shopping mall and collects food and good for the people in need. Sometimes, some people or firms give their donations in money, or they give their sponsor products. We have a list of families given from Social care Center and these are the families we give our donations to. This projects is the oldest one in Croatia, for 13 years now, and it’s working great.

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Rotaract in Ukraine Country Representative: Olena Gyrenko Ukraine doesn’t have its separate District; we are District 2230 Belarus, Poland, Ukraine. There are more than 800 Rotarians in Ukraine & usually members of their sponsored Rotaract Club visit their meetings once in a month or two. First Rotaract Clubs in Ukraine appeared in 1994 and sins that time didn’t stop to grow & develop. For now there are 18 RAC in Ukraine and about 200 active Rotaractors. Most of Clubs are not big, some of them don’t have 15 members, but all the people, who are involved in Rotary movement in Ukraine, are active. Main projects of Ukrainian RACs are social projects: supporting orphanages, senior centers, economically disadvantaged families with many children. Rotaractors organize different charity events (balls, concerts, auctions) for collecting money.

Ukrainian Rotaractors all the time keep in touch with each other: there are a lot of trips in Ukraine, organized by hosting RAC. Once in a year take place all Ukrainian Conference, last years Rotariada & District Conference, which take place once in a year, also were hosted by Ukrainian Rotaractors. Almost all Ukrainian RAC are involved in organizing of Ukrainian Trip, which with each year is more & more popular among European Rotaractors. Also more & more Ukrainian Rotaractors attend international events, such as REM, EUCO and also Country Trips, RYLA and other. In 2012 we, Ukrainian Rotaractors & Rotarians, hope to host for the first time REM in Kyiv!

Ukraine

„Health as a gift“: international project in Ukraine This year Rotaract Club “Kyiv-Centre” started the biggest international project in Ukraine, - „Health as a gift“. It took more than half of a year to enter final straight of the project. And finally became the long expected Day of August 27th, - the last step: official opening ceremony of the medical centre in Besidka village, Kyiv region.

This day became a memorable and unforgettable for country people because they received an extraordinary present – Health! Equipping of the medical center was of great importance for them, who used to search for helping hand in a distance of 30 kilometers. Thanks to RAC “Kyiv-Centre” and RAC “Göttingen” (Germany) as well as Rotary Club “Kyiv-Centre” henceforward modern technical equipment was made accessible to Besidka´s population and surrounding villages.

RAC ”Kyiv-Centre” had enough of working experience with foundling hospitals and orphanage and came to the conclusion that the general state of orphanage-institutions in Ukraine is satisfactory. That’s why it was decided to redirect our efforts in the area that requires more urgent care – rural hospitals. After meeting with the administration of Besidka and examining a local medical center we totally understood that a qualified medical stuff of Besidka’s has virtually no chance to help their patience. significant resources were needed for equipping the medical centre. That’s why the funds were collected in Ukraine and abroad.

Ukrainian sportsmen such as Vasil Virastyuk, Denis Silantyev, Anna Bessonova, Vyacheslav Uzelkov and Natalia Dobrynska also joined well-doing.

For the sake of this they have become a DJ for the first time in their life at the charity event "Sport stars at turntables", which attracted great interest of local public and media. A similar project took part in Goettingen, where local university professors tried themselves as DJs. Thanks to this action in Germany the lion´s share of the funds was collected for project financing.

The newest equipment (including a dental office, glucometer, cardiograph, quartz lamp, inhaler, and more) was purchased for almost 9,000 EUR to meet the needs of the medical center.

At the opening of the medical point we were glad to welcome guests from the USA, Rotaracters from Kharkov, Minsk, Moscow, representatives of RC "Kyiv-Center" RC and RAC “Kyiv-Multinational”, who gladly agreed to help this day, tiding and staining windows of the medical center and benches on its territory.

In return grateful villagers organized a small tour through the rural school, excursion on a cart through the village and regaled tastily.

Moreover everybody could draw something on the canvas, which afterwards turned into a vivid memory of this event. All participants are very glad to realize this project successfully after which more than five thousand inhabitants of Besidka and its surrounding villages can from now on take of themselves because they received the most important gift – health.

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Ukraine

Rotaract Club Kyiv Multinational (district 2230)

is rather young but very ambitious. The Club was established in 10/10/10. In Ukrainian language we have a saying «влучити в десятку» (hit the ten) what can be translated in English as “hit the bull's-eye”. So three “tens” in our birth date is a good sign!

Kyiv Multinational is one and only among Ukrainian Rotaract Clubs with English as an official language. Common language helps to provide effective communication. We are waiting for “explorers”. Especially for establishing close and friendly relationships we instituted the project “Multinational Affairs” – touristic and cultural exchange.

Among our other deeds is our geriatric house support project “Elderly people care” was awarded as 3rd best international social project in the District 2230 in 2010-2011. Also we are concentrated on our member’s leadership skills development – as an important quality for humanitarian and charity activity.

Nearest goal for Rotaract Club Kyiv Multinational is together with other Kyiv’s Rotaract clubs to take REM-2012 in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Welcome to test famous Ukrainian hospitality!

Let’s integrate! Our Facebook page Charity marathon “Society of equal opportunities” Charity marathon “Society of equal opportunities” pursued the goal of equipping multimedia classroom (furniture, hardware, specialized software) and buying presents on occasion of St. Nicolas Day and New Year for children and teenagers with special needs (disabled) - members of NGO "VMESTE”.

Marathon started in December 2010 with the traditional (since 2008) Sweets Charity Fair which was held in the Crimean University for the Humanities on the eve of St. Nicholas Day. Our initiative was supported by students and lecturers from College of Economics and the Humanities, thus, we also promoted the culture of charity and social work among College students. Sweets-for-sale were cooked with love and magic  by Rotaractors, their families, college students and lecturers. At the sale sites we also set special boxes for donations.

Among others the Fair was attended by Yalta Rotarians and a special guest – District 2230 Governor 2010-2011 Piotr Wygnanczuk – who made their considerable contribution to the good joint deed.

Funds for the project were also raised via donation boxes which were placed in local cafes, restaurants, banks, shops etc. on the preliminary agreement with the owners. The last but, of course, not the least fundraising stage of the charity marathon was the very bright event - II Crimean Charity Auction for Rotary Clubs organized and hosted by our sponsoring Rotary Club of Yalta with active participation of Rotaractors. It was attended by more than 60 Rotarians from Ukraine and Poland.

Funds raised during all the stages were united and the final sum was sufficient to complete the charity marathon mission - equipping multimedia classroom (furniture, hardware, specialized software) at NGO of children and youth with disabilities “VMESTE”. Due to the involvement of sponsors (local Internet provider) computers were connected to free Internet service.

To disseminate the results of the project and make them accessible to the wide public we carried out press-conference for the local mass media on the day of multimedia class opening – February 23rd, 2011. This classroom is open for all children and youth with special needs from Greater Yalta region.

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Rotaract in Russia Country Representative: Vera Popova The first Russian Rotaract club was founded in 1991. But it should be noted - since that time there wasn't a stable development of Rotaract. Partly because of situation in a country those days, partly because of unbelief of young people that there could be something kind and sincere.

Only several years ago Russian Rotaract purchased a value and became a popular organization.

Russia is divided for two districts 2220 and 5010. District 2220 is extended from Kaliningrad, the Western part of Russia to Yekaterinburg, the Eastern part of Russia. District 5010 is extended from Yekaterinburg till Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk and even farther to Alyaska and Canada as it's a joint district. There are 11 Rotaract clubs in the western part of Russia (D2220) and 14 Rotaract clubs in the eastern part of Russia (D5010). There are some joint events and meetings between districts.

Almost all clubs have projects directed to work with children from orphanages or projects directed to improvement of living conditions of children. It could be some educational lessons, entertainment events or providing orphanages with equipment. Besides there are projects such as blood donation for rehabilitation Centers. Health Fairs for population in regions are also very common.

Russian Rotaract has very close and warm relations with Rotary clubs. Rotary in Russia also has long history with success and failures.

There are a lot of joint projects between Rotary and Rotaract clubs. Together with Rotary Rotaract clubs organize fundraising projects.

Some Rotaract members participate in different youth exchange projects that are organized by Rotary.

As for international activity every club tries to realize international projects at least one a year. It could be joint projects with international clubs or just a joint trip to somewhere. This summer there was the first Russian trip called "Two capitals trip (Moscow, St. Petersburg)". And it could become an annual trip.

And of course participation in the European life of Rotaract. Several years ago Russia became a member of ERIC but only a year ago we began to take an active part in its activity. During last year we participated in all European meetings, we became friends with a lot of Rotaractors, we realized the importance of international relations and all these afforded us to take a responsibility for hosting EUCO 2012. Despite the fact that EUCO will take place in Moscow, it has the all-Russian meaning. And our main goal will be to let you know more about Russia and Russian Rotaract.

Russia

Projects of Russian Rotaract RTC Saratov "Help a child" The Project is intended to raise money and equipment for the kids with cerebral palsy. In Saratov officially there are over 260 kids with the disease. Every kid needs a special equipment to ease the disease and sometimes cure it almost completely. This kind of equipment is very. The project is to result in a special center where people can borrow the equipment for their kids free of charge and return it when the kids do not need it anymore (they have grown up or progressed in cure). The project is also intended to make information exchange between the parents of ill kids more active. All the parents send the information of what equipment they have, when it can be passed to another child and what equipment they need next.

Tatiana Kalikinskaya, Project coordinator RTC Ulyanovsk "Boomerang" The main problem of children who grow up in difficult families is their social integration. For sure, we can't replace their parents but at least we can show them that there are people in the society who do care about them. But besides feelings and emotions we don't forget about their intellectual development: once a month we organize an event with a different program each time. It may be aimed at teaching new skills of making something or skills of communicating with each other. We consider that if children gain some professional and artistic skills at this age, then they are on a way to live a happy life. Also, we hope that all our efforts will return to us like a boomerang as smiles and happiness in the eyes of the children.

Shmanatova Daria, Project coordinator RTC Moscow-East "Health Fair" Those children who live and grow up in the atmosphere of orphanage have their own opinion regarding the healthy life style. During the meeting with children we try to explain that things like smoking, alcoholism and drugs could lead to death. We use the special training simulators - lungs of a smoker and a healthy man, glasses that simulate intoxication and others. Besides we inform children about the statistics of different illnesses caused by unhealthy lifestyle. It should be noted that children are very interested in the information we provide them with. Moreover in the frames of the project we organize an auction during which all participants can buy hand-made articles produced by children. Money is spent for purchase of the equipment for a gym and special classes' equipment.

Elena Zolotukhina, Project coordinator

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Switzerland and Liechtenstein Country Representative: Cloé Bernier Rotaractly speaking, Switzerland and Liechtenstein are vertically divided in three districts : from west to east, D1990 (6 clubs) includes the French-speaking part of the country and the canton of Bern, D1980 (10 clubs) goes from Basel to Ticino, and D2000 (8 clubs) is located in eastern Switzerland.

Today, we count no less than 24 Rotaract Clubs across the country. The first one (RAC Zürich) was founded in 1977 ; seven of them are born during the last three years ; and three are now in formation (one in each district). Having said that, we can easily see that the number of Rotaract Clubs is increasing year after year, which is a good thing !

Switzerland

These clubs are lead by the Committee Rotaract Switzerland/Liechtenstein (CRSL), a group of 17 people, including a president, vice-president and past-president ; two representatives of each district ; responsibles for media, social services, international services, IT and finances ; and an Advisory Board.

Liechtenstein

SOCIAL 2010 - 2011 ·

Ball for „ETOILE FILANTE" by RAC Lausanne

On May 21st 2011, Rotaract Club Lausanne hosted a big event in Rotaract life of 2011 : a majestic ball in the Lausanne Palace, which profits (13'000 CHF !) were integrally donated to Etoile Filante (Shooting Star). The aim of this foundation is to make dreams come true for children who live in Switzerland and suffer from a serious illness. They are working closely with the family and doctors, to organize the event that the child wishes the most, to help them forget their hard way of life for a moment ! ·

Car Wash for „SHELTERBOX" by RAC Basel and RAC Oberbaselbiet

ShelterBox is one of the main actions that Rotaract Switerland supports. Both Rotaract Basel and Oberbaselbiet organized for the second time a Car Wash to collect money for this action. While waiting for their car to be cleaned, people could enjoy fresh beverages and sausages, listen to music and get information about ShelterBox. Two days of hard work and 54 cars later, both clubs earned enough money to pay for two Boxes !

With the same goal, RAC Meilen organized a concert, followed by a Party, in December 2010. Six months before, RAC Neuchâtel had presented the action during the Rotary Childhood Festival in Cressier.

When the earthquake destroyed Haïti in 2010, all Rotaract Clubs in the country gave a little amount of money to send a Box to the Island. All this shows that ShelterBox is an action that is particularly dear to the Swiss RAC'ers ! ·

Bicycle Race and Brunch for „MINE-EX" by RAC Neuchâtel

Mine-Ex is another main association that Rotaract Switzerland supported in 2011. On August 21st 2011, All Rotary Clubs from the region of Neuchâtel in collaboration with the RAC Neuchâtel, organized the 7th Mine-Ex Vélothon, during which people cycled to raise money to help victims of landmines in Cambodia. This sportive manifestation was followed by a brunch ; everybody could contribute to the action the way they preferred ! Overall, more than 300 people cycled and 200 had the chance to taste the delicious brunch. The operation was a success !

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Belarus Country Representative: Anastasia Batsianouskaya There are 3 Rotary clubs, 2 Rotaracts and 1 Interact in Belarus. Rotaract in Belarus has 7 year history with more than 30 active members. Rotary clubs help youngsters financially and motivate them. Rotaracts in Belarus gain new members every year. Few people leave the club (1 or 2 people a year). All the Rotaractors take part in organizing different projects, participate in trips, REMs and EUCO. This year Rotaract Minsk City has sign International Twinship with Rotaract Club Warszawa-Zamek, which became the Best International Project by the opinion of the district.

Belarus

Clubs organize 5-6 projects on average in a year. Usually Rotaract's projects are associated with help provided to orphan houses. These are charity projects, informative debates or just entertainments. Rotaract tries to spend more time with children and make new friends. This year RAC Minsk City made a new project directed not only at children, but also at adults, people who have problems with eyesight in particular.

RAC Minsk city does single and serial projects. Such projects as Toys for Children + Crocodile game can be referred the single projects of the year 2010/2011. The goal of the project is to provide the boarding school with things that the school lacks: toys for youngsters, clothes, notebooks and office supplies for inmates. Moreover, entertainment for children: playing a "crocodile" game. AIDS Awareness Project: the main aim of this project is raising awareness of AIDS by the means of showing films and lively debate with the target group on the theme of AIDS. Night club "NLO" provided a place for realization of the project's final part. Members of RAC Minsk City carried out an awareness action with distribution of condoms to club's guests.

Such project as Rotaract League 2011 can be referred to the serial projects. It's a football match which goal is to promote a healthy way of life, to cultivate the spirit of competiveness and desire for victory, as well to give a chance for children from orphanages and boarding schools to communicate with each other.

The first serial project is Music speaks. It's a classical music concert dedicated to visually impaired people. The concert was conducted in faint lighting. Main goal of the project is to express the solidarity with the visually handicapped.

Computers for Children is our first twin club project.

RAC Warszawa-Zamek – our twin club and organizer of this joint project. The idea of the project belongs to the members of RAC Warszawa Zamek. It consisted in collecting a definite number of personal computers and delivering them to an orphanage house or the boarding school in Belarus. We reached the main aim: collecting computers in order to deliver it as a humanitarian aid to the boarding school, located in Belarus, and provide children, brought up there, with tools, enhancing their education process and day-to-day living; activation of mutual understanding and joint activities of twin clubs.

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Bosnia and Herzegovina Country Representative: Nemanja Kovačević Rotaract community in Bosnia and Herzegovina is a young and growing community – first club was chartered in 2002. and today it already has 4 clubs and 69 active members. All clubs are part of District 1910 that is consisted of eastern Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until this year District 1910 also included Croatia and Slovenia, but from this year these countries founded their own districts.

Clubs in Bosnia and Herzegovina see this as the opportunity to improve their contacts and cooperation with Austrian clubs within District (for example one of this year’s Rotary themes in Austria is Bridge to Bosnia, project that should encourage Rotarians and Rotaractors from Austria and Bosnia and Herzegovina to work closer). On the other hand we think that we will gain some valuable multidistrict experience with our close friends from newly formed districts.

Bosnia and Herzegovina

Last year was very important for Rotaract in Bosnia and Herzegovina. From December 2010. citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina don’t need visas for traveling around Europe any more and this fact made visiting conferences and other clubs throughout the Europe much more easier. As a direct result in year 2010/2011 Bosnia and Herzegovina got it’s first Country Representative in E.R.I.C. (until then it was represented by our good friends from Croatia). Furthermore Rotaractors from Bosnia and Herzegovina took part in some other international projects like REM in Belgrade, Rotaract roundtrip in Portugal, Rotary’s year conference of multidistrict 1910/1920 that was held in Vienna and Rotaract MDPC in Split, Croatia. We can see how Rotaractors are slowly open up for new international experiences and we are looking forward to the new ones in the years to come.

Cooperation with Rotary clubs is on a high level. Last year we had numerous examples of “old” Rotaractors becoming young Rotarians.

We also did couple of things together supporting each other in their projects. Number of Rotaract clubs in Bosnia is still not great so every single existing Rotaract club is very valuable to the Rotarians and as a result greatly supported.

First one is coming from Rotaract club Sarajevo where they just finished their project «Ruksak za budućnost» (Translation: Future bag). The goal of the project was to donate school bags with school materials for all the first graders in the elementary school Dobrosevici. This school is near city Sarajevo, and the kids that go to this school are in very tough economical situation. The project went very successfully and they made first day of school a very happy day for all the first graders in the elementary school Dobrosevici. They want to make this a traditional project, and to donate school bags and school materials to the next generation

Second one is a project that was done by Rotaract Club Banja Luka and it’s name was Rotaract Rafting Weekend 2011. It took place from 1st to 3rd of June on a local Vrbas river, that was host to the Rafting world championship in 2009. This was a second Rafting weekend organized by this club and the goal was once again to get people from Rotaract clubs together and give them a chance to experience famous Bosnian hospitality and traditional spirit, taste Bosnian food and beverage, enjoy good atmosphere and go sightseeing some of the most beautiful and unique landscapes in this part of the Europe. This can also serve as great foundation for

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Denmark Country Representative: Sabina Kethelz Even though Denmark is the oldest kingdom in the world, its Rotaract tradition and grounding is still fairly new and unexploited – if you have initiatives or projects that could help Rotaract move forward in Denmark, then let us know!

Denmark

Danish Rotaract history:

Rotaract in Denmark started in the late 1970's. Our oldest club was chartered in 1979, but some of the other clubs that saw the light back then do not exist anymore. Fortunately, new clubs in the bigger cities have risen and at the moment we have 8 clubs throughout Denmark, which is divided into five districts. All clubs are community based, except for one; the International Rotaract Club in Copenhagen, which is university based.

Rotaract Denmark characteristics: Since most clubs are still quite new (founded within the past 5-10 years), or, have experienced a generation change leaving them with new members who are still getting to know all the facets of Rotaract, what characterise the clubs are a so called "positive happy-go-lucky entrepreneurial attitude". This means that many of the clubs are trying to find their identity and sense of belonging.

Nonetheless, the clubs are open to inputs and suggestions that can help them grow and improve.

Rotaract Denmark has a national support team/directory called DANIO (Danish Rotaract Information Organisation) whose assignment is to help the clubs in every way possible. E.g. by facilitating the cross club/cross district collaboration and the collaboration with Rotary.

All clubs tend to focus on the local communities by having meetings in different local companies, institutions etc., and by running projects that somehow support the local community – although some clubs have also collaborated with international projects.

The collaboration with the rest of the Rotary family: The previous couple of years the collaboration with Rotary has grown stronger. In some districts the Rotaract presidents are invited to the Rotarians' PETS workshops. Also, we have appointed a common committee who brain storm on possible activities to run Rotaracters and Rotarians together, both locally and cross district wise. Recently, we are building mentor programmes between Rotaract and Rotary to pair up the Rotaracters with Rotarians who match their professional objectives.

Projects: · ·

·

Christmas gift wrapping.

All clubs wrapped gift in selected malls in return for a small fee. All the money collected was donated to a national charity project.

·

Recruitment project in collaboration with Rotary.

All Rotarians where asked to find possible Rotaract candidates. This was done to help the growth of the clubs.

·

Helping vulnerable groups in the society.

Different projects are in the pipeline to help mentally ill persons, single mothers and immigrants.

·

· ·

Shelterbox.

Some clubs have also worked on the Shelterbox initiative and have, among other things, toured the country with the shelterboxes to collect money. Furthermore, a Facebook page with the possibility to donate small amounts of money to the projects will also be launched soon.

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in San Marino Country Representative: Letizia Cardelli

Dear Rotaractors, San Marino is the most ancient Republic in the world, and its history thrusts roots deep into legend: it is said that Marino, a religious man, went to Rimini from Dalmatia to help Romans in building up the famous Arco d'Augusto, and during his staying he met the owner of Mount Titano, Donna Felicissima (which means Lady Happiness). When her son got ill, Marino saved him from death, and Donna Felicissima give to Marino the property of the Mount.

He became an hermit, but soon many shepherds started to farm and live around him, because everyone knew about his wisdom, and the community became bigger and bigger.

Before dying, the Saint left his fellows with this few words: "I set you free from any other men".

It was 301 A.C. Today we still use this date, together with the Gregorian calendar, in the official documents.

San Marino became officially a Republic only in 1291, but no one could never succeeded, during this 1711 years, in taking control of the State.

San Marino

The first Rotaract club in San Marino was founded in 1994 by Francesco Mussoni – who became our Head of the State (Capitano Reggente) last year – and it is still the only one existing (San Marino population is about 32.000).

It was created thanks to Rotary, which is, for a big part, composed by our fathers; this means that the relationship between us is very strong: indeed Rotary helped us a lot during the realizing phases of our most important projects: the last year's January REM, the competition "One idea, One prize", the Eco week end and our first District meeting ever (which will take place the week end before REM in Wroclaw; during the meeting I will talk about ERIC, REMs/EUCOs and European related issues, as far as our District doesn't know a lot about that).

They use to ask our presence as Rotaractors very often during their councils or for particular, interesting events (for example when important doctors or speakers are guests).

Currently our club counts 14 people, average age is 25 and we are very, very active in creating and organizing projects, events, meetings.

We are proud of every single part of the works we have done, but surely REM will always be our favourite one, because it was the first with the new 'generation' of our club and it gave us the chance to become close friends, and to understand that creating something big together is a thousand times better than do that alone. What is more, we found new members with new ideas, and a new life was given to the club, we could say.

Another aspect is our relationship with the other clubs of the zone: we are 5 clubs, all relaxed and friend based, even if we know how to follow Rotaract formalities when required, and we often meet for aperitifs and to help each other during the organization of important projects.

We are 13 from 3 clubs in Wroclaw!

On 30th April – 1st May 2011 we organized the Eco & Safety Driving week end, a brand new project which we really would like to purpose again, especially now that ERIC has a new Board member, the ECO Officer.

Our countryman William DeAngelis, the famous biker, was present for the whole week end, he signed autographs and took pictures with the participants, and it's probable it's going to be the same on the next year!

As regards the Eco issue, during the District meeting we will purpose again the Eco Kart Competition in the new Kartodromo indoor: we hope it will be a success as during the Eco week end!

Thank you for reading, and have fun in Poland!

Letizia Cardelli Country Representative of San Marino

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Luxembourg Country Representative: Irina Susarina The first and only Rotaract club in Luxembourg was created 14 years ago by Rotarians. The specific characteristics of the Rotaract in Luxembourg are the size of the country and its intensive rotation of young people coming to the Grand-Duchy for short term working contracts. That’s why the part of rotaracters in Luxembourg is not as significant as it is in other countries. Besides this,

Luxembourg

the university in Luxembourg was founded only 5 years ago and for this reason the rotaracters in our club are mainly young professionals rather than students.

Today, the club counts 11 members and numerous guests also actively participate in the club’s projects.

New members to join the club are usually friends, colleagues and children of Rotarians. The meetings are normally run each second week and open to everyone willing to learn about the Rotaract movement and our activities. Last year, our club launched a new tradition to visit companies or to invite thematic speakers to the meetings. We organise this about once a month in order to enable members and guests to get new information, new perspectives and knowledge which can be useful in professional and social life.

Although there is only one Rotaract club, there are 12 Rotary clubs on the territory of Grand-Duchy. The club keeps close contact with only 2 of them which actively participate in Rotaract projects. Furthermore, rotaracters help rotarians in their yearly event organised for handicapped people all around Luxembourg. Some of the Rotaract members who pass above the club age limit, but still willing to keep social activities, become members at Rotary.

So far our club has no experience with Twinship. Being only 11 members makes it impossible to attend main international events.

This fact creates awareness about REMs’, EUCO’s and ERIC’s meaning and purposes of coordination of the European Rotaract life is not fully clear. However, to fill in this gap of exchange of information and experience and to see rotaracters from other countries, our club organises every year a “Weekend International in Luxembourg” open to everybody willing to see the Rotaract spirit and discover Luxembourg as a country.

Other club activities are split between projects run around Christmas and throughout the year. The aim of these activities is to raise funds to support children from difficult families and also to buy shelter boxes.

1. Collecting money for the Red Cross.

The club runs a stand at the yearly Red Cross bazar happening a month before Christmas. On this day we sell Christmas decorations, wine and photos taken with Santa Claus. The entire benefit goes to support the Red Cross activities.

2. Fund raising around the Christmas.

The club packs and sells Christmas candy bags and performs Santa Claus animation at demanding companies for their employees’ children. At the same time we ask the employees or their children to donate some toys to be given to the children at the Foyer for families asking for asylum in Luxembourg.

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Czech Republic and Slovakia Country Representative: Filip Mrkvička Czech Republic and Slovakia are two lovely countries lying in the heart of Europe.

We shared history, currency and name - Czechoslovakia for a long time, and even though we followed different roads after 1993, we still share a common Rotary district - 2240.

Czech Republic

Rotaract in our countries has a quite short history. The oldest one was chartered in March 1993 and is located in Prague, followed by Bratislava and Plzen. After 18 years there are 12 active clubs (8 in Czech Republic and 4 in Slovakia) with approx. 170 members. The clubs are merely community based; however they are closely connected to university cities.

Rotary in Czech Republic and Slovakia is mostly Rotaract-friendly. Rotaract members are welcomed guest on Rotary meetings, which helps to a mutual cooperation and it is not an exception to find rotarians f.e. on rotaractors fundraisers.

The project differs from club to club. Among the most popular ones are performances in the homes for elderly and sales of Christmas cards. Our district has a big tradition in organising theater/music performances and festivals (Plzen, Prague, Ricany, Brno,…). Many clubs also joined district initiative of distance adoption, which lasts until nowadays. On the occasion of district conferences we take a time for sport contests, which are part of traditional SportCup – a competition among the clubs. Champions for 2010/2011 are from RAC Bratislava Danube

Slovakia

The clubs of district 2240 are opening more and more to the international affairs. In 2005 Prague hosted REM meeting and also the number of participants on events abroad is rising with every REM and EUCO. Although we haven't prepared a round-trip yet, Prague will open its gates to Rotaractors for International weekend in spring 2012 again.

2) To find a "signature" project of Disctrict 2240, we would probably have to search among the already mentioned performance fundraisers.

“Concerts in the dark” is a Project of Rotaract Club Brno in cooperatio n with Tyflo centrum Brno, that has taken place already eleven times.

Concerts started in 2005 and since then, there is one every half a year attracting still larger popularity among society. The roles are swapped, now sighted people have to rely on the help of visually impaired. The main goal of the project is not only to repeatedly bring closer world of visually impaired people to the sighted ones, but also to financially support visually impaired people, help them with their incorporation to a regular society and providing a space for talented artist and their presentation during a concert. “Come and experience a life without sun that is lived by visually impaired.” The whole concert runs in a total darkness. Before you enter, you are met by visually impaired guide that will LEAD YOUR WAY to a totally dark concert hall and help you to find your seat. After the music production ends, guides will bring in cooperation with Rotaractors small refreshment consisting of a sandwich, desert and drink - everything in a complete darkness. Afterwards are participants lead out from the dark hall and a small reception takes place so they could finally see the interpreters, guides and Rotaractors.

During the last 6 years the concert raised more than 7 000 EUR and brought unique experience to hundreds of people.

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Slovenia Country Representative: Uroš Šinigoj “We wished for it and it happened!”

This year was very special for Rotary and Rotaract Slovenia. On 17.6.2011 Slovenia officially became independent district 1912 (before we formed district 1910 together with Croatia, Bosnia and the east part of Austria). Dr. Stanislav Ojnik, the first governor of district 1912, announced this important event in the history of the Slovenian Rotary club with the words: “Želeli smo in zgodilo se je!” meaning we wished for it and it happened. District 1912 is comprised of 44 Rotary, 2 Inner Wheel, 6 Rotaract and 3 Interact clubs.

Slovenia

Slovenian Rotaract The first Rotaract club was chartered in 1994 in the capital city, Ljubljana, the last one, Rotaract club Novo mesto, in 2011. All 6 of our clubs have a sponsoring Rotary club. With approximately 80 active Rotaractors, we form a relatively small but connected Slovenian Rotaract. Twice a year Rotaractors gather for a district conference, where we discuss current issues and clubs present their projects. Projects range from charity auctions and sports events to concerts, balls etc. Below is a short description of some projects that took place in 2010/2011, so you can get a better feel for the work of our Rotaract clubs. I would like to thank all of the contributors of text named below.

Charter district 1912 - Foto Nemec

Projects

Project Malči Belič (Contributor Tea Kasnik, president 2011/2012 Rotaract club Celje) We decided to present this project, because it is one of the oldest and most fulfilling we do. Every year we invite 10 children from 6 to 14 years from the Malči Belič orphanage Ljubljana to Celje and host them for the St. Nicolas weekend. Our main goal is to give them as much attention as we can; we put a lot of effort in making them smile. We try to spend every minute with them, take them to several activities-horse riding, swimming, cinema, skiing, etc.. Last year we took them to a shopping mall, where they had the opportunity to choose one item they wanted. The highlight of the weekend is the evening, when theyCharter district 1912 - Foto Nemec get their presents- chosen especially for each child.

Charity match (Contributor Matej Krampač, president 2011/2012 Rotaract club Maribor) On the 23rd of March 2011, Rotaract club Maribor organized a Charity Match between the famous music star Boštjan Bračič and equally famous standup comedian Vid Valič. The Charity Match took place at the Cultural center Narodni dom Maribor where, for two hours, those brilliant artists entertained the audience, who managed to enjoy the music and laugh out loud to the hilarious jokes. At the end we totalled the entrance fees and as a result we were honoured to donate 7700 euros to different institutions, such as Youth orphanage Maribor, Safe house and Maribor`s society for children with cerebral palsy, “Sonček”.

Charity auction as part of Rotaract club Novo mesto charter (Contributor Matej Jordan, president 2011/2012 Rotaract club Novo mesto) Rotaract Club of Novo mesto was chartered on Saturday, 19th of March in Dolenjske Toplice. The evening was based on a mix of musical and cultural elements and a charity artwork auction. A lot of well known artists from the Dolenjska region decided to contribute to the auction. The money raised, 1720 euros, was donated to the “Polžek” society that helps families whose children have cerebral palsy.

Funds raised will help them with acquiring a mobile house on the island of Pag. Slovenia trip Slovenia trip is a special project in our country that connects all of our Rotaract clubs and brings Rotaractors from all over the world (from Nepal to Mexico!) to our little country. It is usually the first project of the Rotaract year (the last one took place from the 1st - 10th of July) for all clubs. This year each club took care of 1-3 days of the program, giving participants 10 days to get to see and experience the best of Slovenia's attractions and culture. It will probably take place next year again, so more about it in the following newsletters!

Till then, Uroš Šinigoj, country rep. for Slovenia 2011/2012

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Sweden Country Representative: Katarina Brud

Sharing quality of life with a Box "One Box a Club" - national project of Rotaract in Sweden 2011/2012 Last year Rotaract in Norway ran a successful project to support the Rotary-founded organization ShelterBox. ShelterBox is an international disaster relief charity that delivers emergency shelter, warmth and dignity to people affected by disaster worldwide.

When the devasting earthquake and Tsunami hit Japan in March 2011 I personallly felt I could not sit back without doing anything. In April 2010 I had been on Rotary's Group Study Exchange scholarship to Hokkaido, Japan, and it was important for me to give back to the country and the people who gave me one of the best times in my life. As I heard about ShelterBox from Rotaract in Norway I decided to raise money for the them. In about two weeks I successfully fundraised money for more than I expected through support from family, friends, colleagues and Rotary Göteborg. It is amazing to see how people come together and want to help.

Sweden

"One Box a Club" – Sharing quality of life with a box Being encouraged by the success of Rotaract Norway's project ( thank you Tove Ragna) and seeing how easy it was to raise money via "Justgiving" the idea of running "One Box a Club" was presented to Rotaract Sweden to become a national project for all Rotaract Clubs in Sweden for 2011/2012. The goal with the project is that at least each Rotaract Club in Sweden will raise enough to fund one ShelterBox each, £490. Rotaract in Sweden believes that this project is achievable and will also help spread awareness about what Rotaract is and how we work.

We encourage any other Rotaractors to join in on the challenge to raise at least one box a club. We would be happy to help you on how to set up your Justgiving-page and brand it with "One Box a Club" and Rotaract. Read more on http://www.slideshare.net/katarinabrud/rotaract-sweden-one-box-a-club Together we can make a difference!

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Azerbaijan Country Representative: Minai Massimova First Rotaract Club in Azerbaijan was revived by 18 young and motivated persons under auspicious of Baku Rotary Club on September 05, 2002 (Rotaract Club of Baku). Now there are 2 Rotaract clubs in our country. RCB organizes a variety of projects and activities, the main areas of focus include service projects, professional and leadership development.

Our club carries out on average 7-8 and/or more projects in a term, most being community service projects, which include psychological training for women in refugees dormitory, Spring Camp project, circumcision operations for poor children, Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign 2010, etc. Main part of funds for the projects is fundraised from charity concerts and charity discos.

Here are some quick facts about the club: First internationally chartered club in Azerbaijan (September 5, 2002) - 4 charity concerts, 7 charity discos; - Visited Rotary/Rotaract Clubs in more than 20 countries; - 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 special award from the district for general quality of projects and activities; - In 2008-09 received district award for “For Better Vision� Joint Project with NGO; - In 2009-10 received an award at Annual Conference of District 2430 held in Antalya, Turkey.

Azerbaijan

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Latvia Rotaract in Latvia Country Representative: Jānis Kundziņš There is one Interact club (Interact Club of Ogre) and 4 Rotaract clubs (Rotaract Club of Ogre, Riga, Gulbene and Jelgava) in Latvia.

Rotaract Club of Ogre was chartered in July 2005, and has 12 active members. Since the charter of the club, it has had several successful projects, and some of them have become annual. One of the annual projects are a visit to on old people's home in Madliena for Easter – each year RC of Ogre usually organizes a concert, some games and traditional Easter activities for seniors staying there. The other annual project, called "Nopērc nieku – sagādā prieku!" takes place around Christmas time, when RC of Ogre asks the customers at a local shopping mall to buy something for children for needy families, and afterwards organizes an event with a concert and delivers the gifts to the children there.

There, of course, have also been one-time projects, realized with the funding from different ministries, the EU or client clubs of banks.

One of the first projects has also been one of the most recognized, namely, a research project on addictions among high-school students, called "The Unconscious Reality". RC of Ogre also carried out a project on voluntary work, educating high-school students about the different possibilities presented by voluntary service in a project called "Be a Volunteer!". And every year RC of Ogre takes part in a local project contest, financed by the municipality, called "Let's Create the Environment Around Ourselves!", where the Club has fostered the development of Ogre City, for example, by putting up benches along the bank of the river.

Rotaract Club of Ogre cooperates very closely with the local Interact Club and Rotary Club. There are several mutual projects, and the professional development of rotaractors would not be as smooth if the Rotary Club of Ogre would not invite us to all the lectures and experience exchanges and visits they organize.

European Rotaract Information Centre

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract in Greece Country Representative: Alkiviadis Romeos Among Rotarian legends, few figures stand as tall as James Wheeler Davidson, the man Paul Harris dubbed the Marco Polo of Rotary. Al though his moniker, “Big Jim,” referred to his physical stature, it also reflects Davidson’s accomplishments in spreading the Rotary movement from the Mediterranean to the South Seas. While it would be hyperbole to call Davidson a mountain of a man, there is in fact a mountain in the Canadian Rockies named for him. Davidson spent time in the Mediterranean Sea, setting up Rotary Clubs in the Mediterranean countries. Jim Davidson flew to Athens on November 18, 1928 and within less than a month had found enough business and professional men to unite in organizing a Rotary Club. This brought together men of sharply divided political opinions, both Royalists and Republicans, under the presidency of Spiros Loverdos, one of the leading bankers in Athens. The charter membership was entirely Greek, unlike many of Davidson's other clubs. The charter was presented and the club formally received into Rotary onJanuary 30, 1929. The Rotary movement spread in Greece, which is now separated in two districts, the 2470 and the 2484. The Rotaract Club of Athens was the first offspring of Rotaray in the 70ies and more Rotaract clubs followed. The 2470 now consists of 13 Rotaract Clubs and the clubs of district 2484 are 8.

Greece

Greek Rotaract has been very active with international projects with European and African clubs, and has also participated in the European Rotaract community, through E.R.I.C. and the meetings held on regular intervals.

The projects that follow are only an indication of the work that has been done over the past rotarian year.

Rotaract Club of Rhodes On Sunday 10/10/2010 the club members participated in the race "Rhodes for life”, which is organized by the Greek Cancer Society to inform and prevent against cancer. In fact it was the culmination of an entire campaign organized by the Rhodes Citizens’ Movement for life in collaboration with citizens and public entities that participated voluntarily and which included lectures, cultural events and various information events in the streets and squares. The club members supported this effort and actively participated in the street race, along with many others gathered in the Town Hall Square on Sunday morning.

Rotaract Club of Glyfada Continuing its social work, the club organized an action of offering clothing and bedding to immigrant reception centers in Lavrion. The project was executed in collaboration with the Rotaract Club of Kifissia. The volume of clothing collected by the Clubs was really beyond the expected.

Moreover, in Thessaloniki, the first phase of the twinning of the Club with the Rotaract Club of Thessaloniki East took place. That twinning is the culmination of 2 years of close relationship with the Club of Thessaloniki East.

Rotaract Club of Piraeus On 15/11/10 The Rotaract Club of Piraeus - East along with its parent club (which was the main organizer), with the presence of Mr. Iliakis, held an event Nautical Club of Voula for the 2500 years since the Marathon Battle, where they awarded the Marathon runner Spiros Zagaris, mayor and director of the Marathon’s museum and the Marathon runner Maria Polyzou for their service and commendable work.

Rotaract Club of Amarousion Rotaract Club of Amaroussion completed the courses of the "Win through Soft Skills" seminar with great success! The Rotaract Club of Amaroussion held during November a series of three seminars entitled "Win through Soft Skills". The seminars were aimed at developing the necessary skills for students and young executives and non-Rotaractors.

European Rotaract Information Centre

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Newsletter of the European Rotaract Information Centre

Rotaract Club of Athens Rotaract Club of Athens assisted "A TABLE FOR GREEKS" a regulated activity under the umbrella of the "Cultural Intervention Society" to help Greek families living below the poverty line with the necessary food in the celebration spirit of the holy days of Christmas. As part of this effort, the club members organized a Bazaar in «THE ROOTS» in Psirri square, where works by famous artists were displayed.

Rotaract Club of Ermoupolis Rotaract Club of Ermoupolis organized a "Party and briefing in the capital of the Cyclades".

With the catch line "We love life and keep the promise" was held the AIDS Awareness Party organized by the Rotaract Club of Ermoupolis at the Bar "Pilot", on Wednesday, 1/12/2010 to st increase awareness of the December 1 , World Day against AIDS.

Greece

Rotaract Club of Dionysos At a time when the word “crisis” is perhaps the most common term to describe many social and economic phenomena in our country, the Rotaract Dionysus, staying faithful to the values of international Rotaract, hosted two celebrations, where they collected money which he used for the first welfare Action. Specifically the club fully funded children's celebrations, at Penelope Kindergarten in Nea Ionia.

Rotaract Club of Kifissia Rotaract club of Kifissia participated in a joint action with the Rotaract Club of Glyfada where they gathered clothes that were th given away on Saturday, November 27 at the Lavrion camp which houses Kurdish and Afghan refugees. The action was greeted with great joy in the camp by the immigrants opening up and telling the club members about everyday problems as well as about how they receive only little support by the state. Finally, the club members received an informational tour in the camp and gave away gift books with the club’s history.

Rotaract Club of Komotini, Rotaract Club of Corfu Co-organized an educational seminar, about the topic: “Rotaract structure and guidelines” Rotaract Club of Anatolia International action in cooperation with the Bulgarian Club of Blagoevgrad for the women’s day. The female employees of the local hospital were visited on March 2011.

Rotaract Club of Thessaloniki East Twinning with Rotaract Club of Glyfada was made. Dinner followed the marvelous winter night and visit to local bars. The next day all went for lunch. Later in the afternoon the brothers from Glyfada left to return back home. We set our new meeting and part two of the twinning for next year in March.

Rotaract Club of Panorama *Sweet Christmas* fundraiser event at “Les Zazous” The revenues from the fundraiser were donated to the “Therapeutic Riding Association of Greece” for people with motional or mental disabilities.

Rotaract Club of Kozani Collected foods which were brought by citizens of Kozani and offered them to an old people’s home in Kozani. Rotaract Club of Kozani’s members and friends stood at the entrance of a supermarket in Kozani, informing consumers about this action and how they can offer a product to help old men and women in the Old People’s Home of Kozani.

European Rotaract Information Centre

EDITOR Mikołaj Nikola Dragović Rotaract Club Warszawa-Zamek Poland, October 2011