SI MONTHLY NEWS October 2006 Editorial
From SI Exco News
Events, events, events ....
There are lots of up coming events next year, as
well as the regular gatherings, see p2. There are
plenty more going on around the world which are
not listed here. It is useful to have events shown
here as that indicates to other members that
Servas is active in many places.
The events give people a chance to get together, meet other like minds, look to see where Servas is going, make decisions. One of the aims of Servas is bringing people together and so forging a better understanding leading to less fighting and power-mongering and so a more peaceful attitude to life. As we have seen this does not always work. It requires everybody to make a big effort to consider others and to work with others. However we know it can work. The eGA this year in Latina went very well because everybody was making the effort to discuss and work together.
It is useful to share the results of your event so that others can gain from it. They can see what went well and hopefully learn from any mistakes. To quote: "We do not live long enough to make all the mistakes, so it is better to learn from others." Events can be of any size. They can be a big one involving every Servas country such as the eGA. They can be a national one, such as an AGM. They can be a small local one of a few people getting together. Events can be serious discussions or they can be parties, or both together. They can be an outing to visit a place, they can be a group of people with a similar interest. What ever type it would be good to hear about it.
One important event next year is the Youth and Family Event to be held in Yorkshire, England, see pages 8 and 9. It is good that people have started asking about it from all over the world. Take special note that there is a bit of funding for someone to have help with their travel with the Travel Award. There is no harm in asking about it, but be ready to answer some searching questions. Hopefully it will help you to think of your reasons for being a Servas member.
I look forward to receiving Event reports from around the world for the next issue.
An Event:
Annual Potluck and video presentation
On Saturday, October 7, Edith Sommer hosted the
annual Servas potluck at a swim club close to her house
in Palo Alto. We enjoyed a presentation by Jay
Davidson, Servas host, traveler and interviewer from San
Francisco, who spoke about his two-year curriculum
writing assignment with the Peace Corps in Nouakchott.
Where's THAT?
It's the capital of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, on the west coast of northern Africa. The country includes a large part of the Sahara desert. Jay dealt with the unique factors of life in this country (115 degree temperatures, and few of the comforts and diversions available here) with a great degree of adaptability. He answered all our questions about the country and showed a very well made video prepared by the Peace Corps showing all aspects of life in Mauritania. It was highly informative and we all enjoyed it.
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