SI NEWS 2006 eng Travel Report World
From SI Exco News
SERVAS EXPERIENCES
Since joining Servas in 1993, Ben and I have made many new friends and learned a lot about the World and it’s people.
We started as hosts while we were living aboard our boat in Eastern Australia and our first traveller was an English girl backpacking around Australia. Her parents were born in Pakistan but migrated to England after the war so we were given an insight into the problems of different values held by different faiths. We lived for three years in the Middle East in the 1960’s so we already had some knowledge, but the personal meeting within our home helped our understanding.
Since that time we have hosted many interesting people, both in Australia and also in England from 2000 -2003 while we were travelling the canals in a barge. We joined Servas Britain at that time.
We have also been Servas travellers and one of our first experiences was marvellous. Australia is a large country and we had driven our campervan from Brisbane to Darwin and needed somewhere to leave it while we sailed with friends to Indonesia. A Servas Host in Darwin promptly offered space and also offered their downstairs flat for a more comfortable bed when we returned!
Our most recent Servas travelling was during August, September & October this year when we travelled by train from Beijing to London. The journey from Beijing to St.Petersburg was with a small group tour but from then on we made new Servas friends.
In Potsdam we learned first hand about life as it was during World War II and the subsequent cold war period, we were also shown the beautiful gardens and the palace of Sans Souci. In Cologne our host gave us a personal tour of the cathedral, including climbing the tower (509 steps). He also showed us the beautiful gardens in Leverkusen, a space returned to the town by Bayer thus making the River Rhine accessible to all. In Compiègne, 80km North of Paris, our hosts took us to an outdoor market and drove us through beautiful forests, we also had the opportunity to visit Paris and the Louvre and go to the top of the Eiffel Tower. In England we stayed with Servas friends made when we were living on the barge. With Servas, meeting again is greeting familiar friends because of the unifying desire for peace and understanding among the peoples of the World. With each host, the problems of the World were discussed and we all agreed that , in a small but very important way, Servas was helping to break down barriers between countries.
Ben & Jean Spencer.
Servas Hosts, Brisbane, Australia.
Servas friends made, thanks to Hurricane Rita
At 12:30 am on September 23, I was awakened by a phone call from a Servas Peru traveler, Roxana Suarez, fleeing Houston, Texas with her brother and friend as Hurricane Rita approached. She asked if my husband Jeff and I might be able to shelter them and their two dogs. While we offered to share our home during the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, we did not reach any Servas hosts in need of our offer, and so I was delighted that a Rita evacuee had called, and I immediately answered in the affirmative. Our weary travelers arrived at 2:30 am after a long, hot, 22-hour trip that should have taken 4 hours on a “normal” day.
While our guests spent most of that first day at our home sleeping and recovering from their stressful journey, we went to work. My cynical co-worker exclaimed that he would never leave strangers alone in his house, where they could “wipe me out.” I knew that I could never adequately explain how much the mutual trust inherent in the Servas host-traveler relationship has enriched our lives over the years. Instead, when I go to work tomorrow, I will tell my co-worker what greeted me that afternoon when I returned home: our kitchen was overflowing with groceries that they purchased, other thoughtful gifts awaited us, and more importantly, our refreshed and very grateful guests greeted us with warm hugs.
We enjoyed a weekend sharing food and wonderful conversations. Roxana cooked us a traditional Peruvian meal, and she and her brother Edgardo offered information about their culture. My husband, Roxana, and I shared information about Servas and its philosophy with Edgardo and Mehl, who were not members. Under these emergency conditions, we did not worry that they were not official Servas travelers. However, we explained to them that the best “thank you” that they could give us would be to join Servas themselves, which they promised to do. On our last evening, we gave them “WAGE PEACE” bracelets from the American Friends Service Committee as a memento of our weekend and reminder of the mission of Servas. Finally, we toasted our new friendships and the positive impact of Servas on all of our lives. Our Hurricane Rita evacuees arrived as strangers, and left as family. Our dogs, on the other hand, are just glad that their dogs left, period.
Story submitted by Celia Pechak
