SI MONTHLY NEWS APRIL 2007 Comments
From SI Exco News
Israel and Turkey -part 8 - finale
In the March issue the 12 travellers from India visited Istanbul. In the final part of their travel some visits before returning.
As in every issue space precludes being able to include the whole of this descriptive report. Those wishing to read the full report should contact the editor - see email address on p1.
It was a free day but was raining. Mr. Murat had guests at home and Sercan wanted me to prepare vegetarian dishes. So I went to his house and prepared Khichadi. Sercan also wanted me to go to Mr. Kemal Ertas house, who invited all of us for dinner. Sercan told me that since he is alone we should help him. We learnt he had asked somebody to prepare Vegetarian dishes. They introduced me to Eva whom I considered as Kemal’s daughter. But I learnt afterwards that she was his beloved. Kemal expressed his desire to make Eva wear the sari which he had brought from India. I made her to wear Sari over her small skirt. People started coming slowly and slowly. They expressed the desire to prepare chapattis. Bhavanaben and I prepared some puris.
Mr. Kemal had huge big balcony facing the Sea. Opposite to Domabalche Palace. He showed the palace and said I am waiting for 4999 queens of sultan to come to me. A dozen Turkish men and women and ten of us, introduced ourselves. A young boy of 25 introduced himself saying, “I am David, this guy (Kemal) is my father! I was taken a back by this impolite introduction of his father. It may be common for them.. We talked about Indian-Turkish friendship. One part of Turkey belonged in Asia. The western civilization has influenced them much more than Asian.
11.6.06 The day of our departure.
Sercan had tasted Potato wada in India so he wanted to prepare it. We went in search of weekly market to get coriander and flour of chickpeas. I bought Cherries, Plums and Apricots which were very good. We came to Sercan’s house. Dr. Ramesh Sharma boiled potatoes. I cleaned coriander and prepared parathas. Vegetables, Potato wadas and water-melon was our brunch at 12.noon. Sercan told me about his plan to tour the world explaining the people that we are all one. I told him about Mr. E.P. Menon and Mr. Satish Kumar who had trekked round the world without a single penny. He was inspired by this idea. To understand it better I presented him my book on “Vinoba Bhave’s Philosophy: A new perspective in Gandhian Thought.”
We packed for the Aerodrome and stared our journey at 2.p.m. We reached the Airport at 3.15 p.m. Sercan was sad but had to tell us ‘Good bye’. The plane was full as 70 Neurologist physicians from India, in Istanbul for a conference were now returning to India. It was a homely atmosphere but there was no Indian vegetarian food. It was Turkish rice, salad, bread and lentils. On 12th June at about 3.15 a.m. we reached Mumbai and everybody was in hurry to reach to the destination.
We came to know the culture, way of life, attitude and traditions of the people of different countries by the SERVAS way of traveling. Let SERVAS prosper more and more in the world.
Dr Geeta Mehta, India
Checklist: Performance of S I
…a federation of national Servas groups, encompassing an international network of hosts and travelers. The purpose of the network is to help build world peace, goodwill and understanding by providing opportunities for personal contacts among people of different cultures, backgrounds and nationalities. (SI Statutes)
'Indicator One: How strongly does Servas International contribute to the constructive engagement of its participating Servas National Groups, e.g. by:
• equipping Servas with sound facts, reasoned principles, strategic vision and collective memory
• fostering diversity, respect and constructive work in and among national and international committees
• managing current budget, in-trust resources legally and consistently with established financial guidelines
• preventing and resolving local problems through wisdom, compassion, commitment to common good
• upholding the Statutes democratically; and respecting and responding to directives by General Assembly
• celebrating outstanding achievements towards Servas's purposes
Indicator Two: How well does Servas International facilitate promotion of the global Servas system and inclusiveness at the local level, adapting universal Servas values and best practices, annual Officer and Committee Reports and election results into local languages cultures (interpretation and translation of meetings and documents, websites in local language,)?
Indicator Three: How strongly does S I directly or through National Groups engage in global dialogues and demonstration projects with members of local communities, Area Coordinators and with other Servas National Groups and other individuals in the country or region, on issues important to the region, related to Servas purposes (number of events, size and impact)?
Indicator Four: How well does Servas International [[effectively participate in the development and capacity building of Servas National groups in contributing significantly to the global purposes of peace, goodwill and understanding among individuals, among hosts-and-travelers, and within the community locally and among individual members of other groups represented at the UN]]? (give specific examples)
Indicator Five: How active and successful does Servas International identify and implement partnership projects which advance its defined purposes?
Indicator Six: What quality does Servas International attain in its communication role, between its Servas National Groups and other stakeholders, with other networks world-wide, with government and the public in a given country or Area (quality of global and local website, frequency of updates sent to SI website, etc)?
Indicator Seven: To what extent does Servas International grow and showcase new engagements and affiliations with new Servas National Groups and increase contacts among travelers and hosts and others (number per year and trend)?
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