= INTERNATIONAL SERVAS MEETINGS =
EVENTS
(Part of the message sent to all members by the SI President, Mr Jonny Saganger) :
"The novel corona virus SARS-CoV-2 and the disease Covid-19 are causing human suffering all around the world and will keep on pestering our lives both in physical and mental medical sense for an uncertain length of time.
Servas has been hard hit by the pandemic, both on an individual humanistic level and as an organisation. Servas’ core activity – the hospitality program with homestay – will dramatically shrink during 2020 and maybe even longer, since both international and domestic travels have come to an almost full stop because of the restrictions laid down by the authorities. And people use common sense and choose not to move around more than necessary in order not to risk their own and other people's health. Other main Servas activities like events and meetings have of course also been postponed or stalled. Servas continues to exist and the aim is to prevail as our organisation did during the financial crisis of 2007–2008 as well as other pandemics like the Asian Flu 1957–1958 and the 2009 swine flu.
As always, crisis moments also present opportunity. There’s a number of potential opportunities for Servas in the ongoing extremely painful upheaval, even though this will not be possible to grasp for the individual Servas members and their families who are effected in an immediate and tragical way. For the rest of us, who are not directly effected, it’s our responsibility towards them and our organisation to make the most and best out of the situation.
I have together with the other members of Servas International’s global board – SI Exco – agreed on the following motto: Servas doesn’t cancel – Servas adjusts.
Many of the opportunities that Servas should seize are driven by the increased intrest and possibilities for interactive digital communication and collaboration on web based electronic platforms. It’s also driven by the fact that the current medical need for physical distancing doesn’t mean that we need to distance ourselves from each other socially. As a matter of fact, it’s quite the opposite: The need for us to keep socially close is larger than ever."
We will try to keep you informed about International Servas Events. As this is a temporary situation, we will be updating this page as often as needed. Thank you!"