SI MONTHLY NEWS August 2006 News
From SI Exco News
Bob Lutweiler in hospital
Good Evening Servas friends,
Carole Wagner, staff in the NY Servas office, is a good investigator. She discovered Bob Luitweiler is in a Nursing Home with Bone cancer.
I have just spoken to Bob and he is in good spirits, mentally aware and alert, however he can't walk now. Phone calls are difficult. Please send Bob notes of remembrance to:
Bob Luitweiler
Alderwood Nursing Home
2726 Alderwood Ave
Bellingham, Washington 98225
Mary Jane Mikuriya
Annual Ngo Conference
At The UN
Every year the UN hosts a DPI/NGO conference. This year's conference focuses on "Unfinished Business: Effective Partnerships for Human Security and Sustainable Development" and will be held on September 6, 7, and 8th, 2006.
The 2005 Conference focused on "Our Challenge: Voices for Peace, Partnership, and Renewal", and was held on September 7, 8, and 9th, 2005.
Read more about our relationship with the UN.
Website, UN, Youth
Congratulations to Servas Belgium .....
The UN is looking at Sustainable Development in its section UNEP - United Nations Environmental Programme. As part of this it is developing a site for Youth to see how they can be part of Sustainable Development - http://www.youthxchange.net/ To help Youth extend themselves there are a number of areas on the site of which one of them is related to travel. Naturally this is looking at Sustainable Tourism. It would seem that UNEP have been searching sites for suitable travel options for youth. They came across the Servas Belgium site and decided that they liked it.
So well done to Servas Belgium for providing a site that is attracting people and so providing greater links with other suitable organisations. Especially as this is relating to a Youth oriented site and so fitting in with the Servas wish to encourage Young People.
Servas in the New York Times
I saw the excellent article about Servas in the travel section today! Congratulations on getting such a clear description of what makes Servas special and differentiated from the other travel groups.
I am so proud to see Servas in the news!
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/09/travel/09prac.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
Lara
The article is quite long, following are some excepts:
Go to Strangers
(and They’ll Come to You)
Amber Plaunty, a 24-year-old from San Diego, figures she has stayed with about 20 complete strangers while traveling around Europe since last August. Mark Galbraith, a 34-year-old manager with a finance company in London, has played host to more than 200 people he met online. But that's still shy of the number of travelers 66-year-old Helga Smith has welcomed into her apartment in Manhattan: "I stopped counting after 300, and that was three years ago".
All three are members of hospitality exchange services, groups that link willing hosts with travelers looking for experiences that range from a meaningful cultural exchange to simply a free place to stay.
One of the oldest services, Servas (http://www.servas.org), has been around for nearly 60 years and has more of a high-minded mission — fostering peace through cultural understanding — while the Internet has given rise to newer groups like Global Freeloaders (http://www.globalfreeloaders.com/) and Hospitality Club (http://www.hospitalityclub.org/), which tend to attract more budget-minded travelers.
"I invite people into my home because I want to get to know them," said Helga Smith, who joined Servas more than 20 years ago. Now retired, she spends much of her time visiting her former guests traveling to places like Samoa, South Korea, Ethiopia, Australia, Japan and South Africa — and still plays host to about 25 people a year in New York. As someone who escaped from East Germany in her early 20's, raised three children on her own and ran her first marathon at 59, it's not surprising that she's open to traveling the globe by herself.
"I'm not really on my own because I have Servas people waiting for me", Ms. Smith said, citing examples of generosity she has experienced, like a couple in India who gave her their bedroom while they slept in a hammock outside, or adventures like hitching a ride on a mail boat into the heart of Surinam. Her philosophy about travel pretty much sums up why certain people are attracted to hospitality exchange services, despite all the unknowns.
"If you're open to experiences", she said. "Then all kinds of things can happen".
Uploaded by Amelia
