e.r.i.c. magazine, fall 2014

EU

RO

PEAN ROTARA

CT

IN

FO

RMATION CENTR

E

EU

RO

PEAN ROTARA

CT

IN

FO

RMATION CENTR

E

E.R.I.C. MAGAZINE Fall 2014

2 · ERIC MAGAZINE · Fall 2014 ·

[email protected]

President’s Welcome 3ANDORRA, FRANCE & MONACO 4BELGIUM 6DENMARK 7GERMANY 8ITALY 15Impressions from Interota, Doris Grimm 20

RUMANIA 22RUSSIA 24SAN MARINO 26INTERVIEWS WITH CLOÉ BERNIER Johanna Bichoff 28 Jeremy Charles 30FUTURE EVENTS 32

President: Emelie Aho Fältskog Past President: Laura Verdegaal

Vice President: Milos Dragovic Secretary: Zsófi Kulcsár

Treasurer: Rana Kesken

IT Officer: Tanguy Chasé Assistant: Phillip Leonhard Franke

Social Officer: Joana Pires Assistant: Friederike Schlüter Assistant: Lucky Dalena

Marketing Officer: Elia Estragues Assistant: Alodia Garcia-Frisach Assistant: Cloé Bernier Assistant: Marco Menegon

Board Advisor: Brenda MertensBoard Advisor: Michael Ziedins

CONTENTS FALL 2014

Elia Estragues Marketing Officer

Alodia Garcia-FrisachMarketing Assistant

Cloé Bernier Marketing Assistant

Marco MenegonMarketing Assistant

Thank you very much Andrea Pizarro and Salvi Estragues for your help in technical issues.

E.R.I.C. BOARD 2014-15

E.R.I.C. MAGAZINE 2014-15 TEAM

EU

RO

PEAN ROTARA

CT

IN

FO

RMATION CENTR

E

· Fall 2014 · ERIC MAGAZINE · 3

Dear Rotaractors,

I would like to welcome you all to the new Rota-ract year! Let us make the E.R.I.C year of 2014 – 2015 productive and successful. The ERIC Board and I are ready. Are you?

New projects ideas, new twinnings and new friendships. I believe our three major European events this year; REM Bremen now in Sep-tember, REM Istanbul in January and EUCO Bucharest in April/May are excellent forums to initiate future cooperation. The E.R.I.C board is there, Rotaract Club members from all over Europe is there and Rotary representatives are also there. In other words, it is an outstanding possibility to introduce our new Rotaractors to the Rotary family.

Speaking of our Rotary family, I recently re-read a blog post I uploaded from a business trip to South Africa for my first Rotaract Club, amazed by how small the world is or rather how big the Rotary family is.

“…The very last days I saw one of the men from Togo wearing his Rotary shirt. I was surprised!

We had no idea the man and I were members of the same family, as he stated it. We immediately talked about his Rotary Club and their projects and I showed some pictures from the Rotaract conferences in Europe. Now, I have a sofa to sleep on whenever I visit Togo.”

Yes, the E.R.I.C board is ready! We have so far had numerous of skype calls, done a mar-keting strategy and planned webinars and work-shops etc., - only for you enjoying REM Bremen to the fullest!

It is important for not only me, but for all Ro-taractors to not forget to have fun and enjoy the E.R.I.C. ride during the year. We put a lot of ef-forts and love into our Rotaract activities - please continue doing it with a smile and let’s help each other!

You + Me = Success.

Rotaractly Yours,

Emelie

PRESIDENT’s WELCOME LETTER

Emelie Aho Fältskog E.R.I.C. President 2014 - 15

Sweden & [email protected]


ANDORRA, FRANCE & MONACO

The first edition of the BWWB held from 3 to 7 September 2014 between Bordeaux and Arcachon. Organised by the Rotaract Club of Bordeaux, this international event aims to discover the cultural and architectural heritage of Bordeaux and its region, through city tour, wine tastings, boat trip during 4 days. The BWWB was attended by 12 Rotaractors from 8 different countries Germany, France, Italy,

Poland, Romania, Russia, Sweden, Zimbabwe and supervised by our members from Bordeaux with a price pakage a €199.

The week ended with a closing dinner on the port of Arcachon in the presence of our Rotary godfathers of Bordeaux, a hand let go of lanterns with a glass of champagne.

Website: rotaract-bordeaux.comEmail: [email protected]

Nicu Stefanuta (Romania)

“Thanking the great team of Rotaract Bordeaux for their

reception and hospitality in Bordeaux and Gironde’s

St Emilion and Arcachon

Frederica Bocci (Italia)

“ Thanks everybody for this experience ! I hope to

see u soon !!!”

Veronica Tondi (Italia)

“Thank you to Rotaract Bordeaux for the wonderful experience. We really enjoyed it and we have had really a good holiday !! Beautiful memories

of a really special week. Thank you!!!”

Patric Palm (Sweden)

“Superthanks for an amazing time”

Margherita Fruendi (Italia)

“I would like to say a big thank you to all of you for this

amazing week and for the super organization

!!!”

Alinka Nikiforova (Russia)

“Thank you very much for this amazing week ;-) You are the

best guys !! Want to see again !!!”

Sophie Susel (Germany)

“Thank you for everything (wine, danse, food, ice cream, boot, dune,

beach) I had an amazing time in france. I felt in love with your city,

your wine and your club. You have a really good club. I will

share my good

https://www.facebook.com/rotaract.bordeaux


ANDORRA, FRANCE & MONACO


BELGIUM

My dearest Rotaract friends from all over the world. What a pleasure it is to address you all again. As we speak our club is preparing to attend REM Bremen 2014 and ready we shall be.

Rotaract Brussels Coudenberg Internation-al is a bunch of happy, beautiful, outgoing and very nice people with a soft spot for

helping out the less fortunate in our society.

Some of you might know us already but for those who don’t, Rotaract Brussels Coudenberg International is a bunch of happy, beautiful, out-going and very nice people with a soft spot for helping out the less fortunate in our society.

Throughout the years we have supported sev-eral causes like projects supporting the home-less in Brussels, helping out in the children’s’ cancer hospital UZ-VUB or our Rotaract Hearts project in South Africa for which we won the 2nd prize as ERIC BESP project for 2012.

This year our theme of the weekend was “Galaddin”. A gala evening with a nice ori-ental touch on the nicest rooftop our city

has to offer

Our club is probably the most international

one in Europe. We have over 15 nationalities repre-sented in our club. All of them working, studying or visiting our beautiful city and the capital of Europe.Now please take out your agenda’s and write in them Rotaract Brussels International Weekend Part 3 – 15 to 17th May 2015 J

If you like to meet new people, if you are a little bit crazy but especially if you would like to party than we guarantee you and your friends a really good time.

This year our theme of the weekend was “Galad-din”. A gala evening with a nice oriental touch on the nicest rooftop our city has to offer. More than 250 people from over 20 different countries joined us for the weekend and it was awesome! We are looking forward to the next edition in 2015 in which we shall try to do even better. Come and join us to this spec-tacular event. More news later. See you @ REM Bre-men and Nordact in Stockholm!

Simon Ginis [email protected]

Rotaract Brussels Coudenberg InternationalYou have to see it to believe it!

Find us on facebook:https://www.facebook.com/RotaractBrussel-Coudenberg

mailto:[email protected]

https://www.facebook.com/RotaractBrusselCoudenberg

https://www.facebook.com/RotaractBrusselCoudenberg


Rotaract Denmark: Raising the conference bar

Rotaract and Rotary is, as we all know, all about service above oneself. Humanitarian projects are the core of our organisational DNA.

But Rotaract is also about net-work, about developing your pro-fessional and leadership skills.

That is why we in Rotaract Denmark are really doing an effort these years to raise the bar at our national conferences and get as many Danish rotaractors as pos-sible to participate in not just the national conferences but also the international ones.

Why? Because we think that participating in these events is crucial to boost the motivation of the members and also make them realize that they themselves can get a lot out of Rotaract. And living an experience like a Rotaract con-ference is a great place to start.

Nordact 2015 on the wayUp until a couple of years ago, the Danes were quite rare guests at international conferences. But things are starting to change.

We sent a +15 delegation to EUCO in Nice and will be send-ing a group of similar size to Nor-dact in Stockholm in October. Before that around 10 Danish Vikings will pay Bremen a visit in September.

And speaking of Nordact: Ru-mours have it that preparations for Nordact 2015 in the Danish city of Aarhus is already well un-der way.

A key strategy for getting more people to attend the international conferences has been to promote these events on Facebook and in our national newsletters.

Closing the bar after midnightImproving our local Danish confer-ences is also a pivotal focus area for us. Currently we have two na-tional conferences a year, one in autumn, one in winter.

Rotaract Danish Championship

On top of that, the Rotaract club in Aalborg last year arranged the first Rotaract Danish Championship, a more social competitive event competition between the different clubs inspired by the famous Shel-terbox Challenge in Amsterdam.

The fall conference, Rotaract Denmark Seminar

The fall conference, Rota-ract Denmark Seminar, is where we suit up our members profes-sionally. In 2013 the theme of the conference was personality types and group dynamics. This year the theme of the weekend will be idea generation and project manage-ment.

Parties and fun remain a vital part of the agenda, but we are try-ing to improve the professional output for each member by clos-ing the not too long after midnight. That way everyone gets to enjoy the day programme instead of ly-ing in bed all day with hangovers.

Remember: Rotaract is also about sharing fun experiences. And getting something out of it yourself!

DENMARK


GERMANY

Fundraising is easiest, if you love what you are doing. And if you’re sharing it with friends, even better.

With that in mind, Maxi, Kai (both RAC Eckernförde) and myself started planning something that had been in my head for a long time: A week long regatta/sailing trip on the Baltic sea. Sailing is a wonderful sport and a privilege. At the same time a fleet race provides a great advertising platform – think pocket-sized Volvo Ocean Race. The actual cost of the trip is born by the 24 participants and so I decided to give the advertising space to companies who donate at least 750

OSTSEE-EXPEDITION 2014 Sailing experience + ShelterBox

€ to ShelterBox. The teams found four of those ‘sponsors’ and a great event took shape. We started from Flensburg, took over the boats – large, modern cruising

yachts - and headed out among the southern Danish isles, having races by day and wonderful evenings in port by night. We went out partying in Sønderborg,visited the charming coastal town of

Faaborg and enjoyed the quiet island life on Ærø. The teams could win points every day, first and foremost by doing well in the races, but there were also opportunities to score in photo contests and team games.

But don’t take it from me, here’s Tove Ragna Reksten, RC Bergenhus, who is a member of the winning team Kalenderfuchs, with her notes on the experience:

Fundraising is easiest, if you love what you are doing. And if you’re sharing it with

friends, even better.

(It continues on the next page)


GERMANY

Mid November last year, an email landed in my inbox with an invitation to some summer sailing fun for a good cause. First thought: Hell YES! Second thought: Uhm, I haven’t actually sailed since I was eight, how is that going to work?

Confident that my Viking genes would see me safely through the rough waters, I conjured pictures in my mind of gorgeous sunsets, warm beaches, cool wine, fluttering shawls and sunbathing on deck.

My romantic notions hit the wall as I received the packing list: Wellingtons, wool, warm hats, scarfs, waterproof trousers, wind and waterproof jackets, solid sailing shoes. This wasn’t going to be a lovely little cruise staying in port if the weather got bad, this was going to be all hands on deck if sun or storm (luckily, the sheltered waters around Flensburg seldom see 12 meter waves), sailing hard to win the regatta.

After stocking up enough food to feed an army, we set sail, three sailing novices and three experienced sailors ready to share their knowledge and love for sailing.

Never was a word of frustration or anger uttered

from the pro’s, and the newbies soaked up as much information as they could. It was fascinating to see how the crew developed as a team during the first few days, how the dynamics steadily improved, how the jokes got worse, how a common sailing language evolved, how the intimate zones miraculously vanished and how friendships grew stronger.

Seven days on a small ship with five others and unknown amounts of beer and sherry, with

the risk of getting wet, cold and sick, might sound terrifying to some, but don’t let that stop you from spending a week together with old and new Rotaract friends. The OX2014 was just as much about time for

conversations, drinking, playing, barbecuing, sightseeing, sea and sunbathing, competitions,

singing and partying as about sailing.

And of course, every night the official hand-over of the orange banner to the leading ship - it didn’t spoil the fun of sailing that the banner never left my ship.

Thank you, Team Kalenderfuchs, for fantastic company and excellent sailing, and shiploads of thanks to the organizers Maxi, Kai and Thomas from RAC and RC Eckernförde for the amazing experience.

Check: www.shelterbox.org www.shelterbox.de

There will, in all likelihood, be a second edition of this event in 2015 and registration will

start towards the end of 2014.

We had a great time and by the hard work of the participants managed to raise 4500 € for ShelterBox. If this sounds like fun to you and you’d be interested in doing some exploring of your own, follow us on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ostseeexpedition

There will, in all likelihood, be a second edition of this event in 2015 and registration will start towards the end of 2014.

Thomas Lärm, RC Eckernförde

We had a great time and by the hard work of the participants managed to raise 4500 € for

https://www.facebook.com/ostseeexpedition

https://www.facebook.com/ostseeexpedition


Spontaneous Buy-One-More-Action to sup-port flood victims on the Balkans Rotaract Club Berlin-Brandenburger Tor

Through their Serbian Rota-ract friends, the members of Ro-taract Club Berlin-Brandenburg-er Tor found out, that the flood in May 2014 hit Serbia very badly. So a very spontaneous Buy-One-More-Action was organized to support the flood victims.

In only 6 hours (!!!) the mem-bers of the Rotaract Club in Ber-lin collected 22 big boxes full of needed stuff, such as cosmetics, tooth brushes and pastes, dia-pers for babies and baby food, in a shopping centre in Berlin.

The transport to Serbia was organized by the Serbian embas-sy in Berlin and 7 boxes even left the German capital to Belgrade the same day by truck. The other boxes followed some days later.

René ScholzRotaract Club Berlin-Branden-burger Tor

GERMANY


From 14th till 28th May the RAC Jena did the “Shelterboy”-Ac-tion.

The green Shelterboy went through the city of Jena with the Shel-terbox on his back and took pictures with the inhabitants.

For each picture the RAC Jena donated 0,50 € to the organization of Shelterbox. The pic-tures were put on Face-book and the best 5 pic-tures were awarded.

Shelterboy is coming to town! Rotaract Club Jena

Merlyn von Hugo

Merlyn von Hugo

GERMANY

Check: www.shelterbox.org www.shelterbox.de


Together with the “Lebenshilfe“, an organisation which cares for disabled people, the RAC Hanau organized the 2nd “24h Hanau-Run”.

25 teams took part and people could run in every possible way: forward, backward, on legs and arms or even doing the “Walzer-Dance”. So the par-ticipants had lots of fun and in 24 hours they finished 17.814 laps!!! In the same time 18.000 € were collected, which were donated to the “Sophie-Scholl-School” in Hanau.

the participants had lots of fun and in 24 hours they finished 17.814

laps!!!

In the same time 18.000 € were col-lected, which were donated to the “Sophie-Scholl-School” in Hanau.

Second 24hours Hanau-Run Rotaract Club Hanau a. M.

Happiness in Cans 2014 Rotaract Club Clausthal-Zellerfeld

As you might now, in Germany there a exists a deposit of 0,25 € on every can you buy, which you get back, when you bring the empty can back to the shops. The cans are then recycled and our en-vironment is kept clean.

In summer 2014 the RAC Clausthal-Zellerfeld went to a German Rock-Festival and collected more than 44.000 cans. The Club got the OK from the festival organizer to keep the cans and thus to collect the money. You can imag-ine how much money the Club got back from the shops ;-)

The final sum of money was donated to different projects in the region, which support children.

Kreative Runners (Tobias Fischer) A wall for playing cans-throwing(Fabian Schink)

GERMANY


Happiness in Cans 2014 Rotaract Club Clausthal-Zellerfeld

Grouppicture (Fabian Schink)

Johnny (Fabian Schink) (Fabian Schink)

A wall for playing cans-throwing(Fabian Schink)

GERMANY


ROTARUN

Rotaract Club Frankfurt (Oder) – Slubice

Rotaracter in Action (Dennis Gensing)

Impressions from the run (Dennis Gensing)

On the 22nd May 2014 the an-nually happening ROTARUN took place in Frankfurt (Oder), a Ger-man city on the border to Slubice/Poland. This run is always orga-nized by the RAC Frankfurt (Oder) – Slubice, a very special Rotaract Club, because its members are from both countries: Germany and Poland!

200 participants from Po-land and Germany were running in different disciplines through the city of Frankfurt (Oder). The amount of 550 € was collected during this event and was donated to the German Main Social Project at that time “Plant for the Planet”.

GERMANY


ITALY

District 2071 and You Are Not Alone

“If you are indifferent in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.”

This famous Desmond Tutu quote is at the core of our endeavor, jointly with our twin District 2072 we have decided to fight indifference through our Project You Are Not Alone. Daily, children and teens are subject to physical and psychological abuse from their peers, while others stand mutein front of such behaviour, to ensure to not become victims themselves. Along with my fellow D.R.R. Giacomo Bianchi, we have decided to adhere to this project jointly while leaving each other the freedom toadapt it to our own Clubs and their necessities, as if we were traveling on a common path while holding hands but each walking on his own legs. In District 2071 we have chosen to give Clubs a choice in the development of the project, they can choose whether to apply it to their own community as: a volunteering program, an awareness-raising campaign, financing a counseling figure

in schools, or contributing financially for a team-building camp for victims and bullies alike.

While our Twin District has decided on a more category-focused bullying, we tackle this psychological and social phenomenon in all forms, focusing on the new generations aspect of the issue.

Every day both social minorities and perfectly normal kids are being told that they are “less” than others, that they are not worthy of friendship, of solidarity, of a sense of self-worth. Every day these are the the voices that remain with them, and through indifference, they never receive a contrasting version of their value as individuals; eventually, they begin believing that their bullies’ version of them is true. The psychological damage remains with them, in most cases, for the rest of their lives, impairing their chances to livea happy and fulfilling life, making them doubt themselves and their self worth forevermore. All they truly need is for someone to tell them that they Are Not Alone.

Our primary focus is to teach children and teens that acts of bullying are instances of injustice, that they cannot stand idle,that their support could make all the difference in a person’s life: we wish to feed the flame of their sense of right and wrong, and to act upon it with grace, dignity, and genuine idealism. Our objective is to show our younger generations that standing up to injustice is one of the most fulfilling things they can achieveas individuals, that overcoming your fears is one of the main distinguishing factors of maturity, pushing them to strive to better themselves, ensuring that our youths maintain an intrinsic wish to not abandon each other, becoming eventually young adults that will stand up in front of situations of injustice. In the end, “a young adult that will stand up in situations of injustice, and will strive to make a difference”...is it not a grand definitionof a Rotaractor?

Caroline Ribi ZappiD.R.R. District 2071 - Tuscany


ITALY

“United in the Excellence” is name of the National Service that will join all the Italian Rotaract Clubs. Designed, proposed and strongly desired by Danilo De Fazio, district Rotaract representative of District 2100, it was chosen by the all Italian District like Common Project to be carried out during the rotaractian social year.

The idea was born from the realization that Italy is always considered the home of manufacturing excellence known and appreciated all over the world, from big names to small manufacturing companies and artisanal quality and tradition. Unfortunately, in recent years, we are witnessing a loss not only “dimensional” but mostly numerical, with consequent implications on the economy and the identity.

It is our Italian identity that needs to be rediscovered and appreciated starting from almost mythical places of Italian history, such as the Arezzo goldsmith, the Prato textile, the Arzignano tanning, San Marzano tomatoes of Salerno, the Cirò wine and most others.

The aims are ambitious and pragmatic and they want to promote the knowledge of local and national production companies, to appreciate the many manufacturing or

production centers of excellence “made in Italy”, to make known to the Rotaractians and to all the people what means doing business in Italy today, making them understand the advantages and disadvantages, with the hope of awakening in these people a desire to seek a solution to the problems that plague our economy.

Each club will be able to identify the excellence of its territory, to develop a data collection of the economic realities using a web portal or brochures¸ to arrange guided tours and conferences with entrepreneurs or artisans to advertise and promote their activities and forge partnerships with local authorities and the most representative trade unions. “United in Excellence”, says Danilo De Fazio, “wants to discover the stories, passions, traditions that are the basis of Italian art and products. This is very important to reflect on that particular blend that unites the luxury enjoyed by the cosmopolitan bourgeoisie, the food, the functionality and the Italian design. During the next rotaractian year, we will promote a journey into the culture of the “Made in Italy”: a journey through an Italy that knows how to do, which explores arts, crafts and businesses, which values people and their products.

Let’s discover, together with the excellence, the need of “doing well” through the knowledge of our noble traditions trying to bring out the exceptional varieties of skill and intelligence which, for millennia, are preserved in Italy, although with difficulty, thanks to the passion and skills of entrepreneurs, artisans, professionals. “

A Project, then, careful to the characteristics of the various territories and challenges, based on the desire to not give up. Don Chisciotte in the Miguel de Cervantes’ novel, said: «remember, my dear Sancho, who is worth more, should do more». To us, the Rotaractians, the task of «do more»!

Danilo De Fazio

District Rotaract Representative of District

2100 2014-15

Rotaract that unites Italy in the excellence

· ERIC MAGAZINE · Fall 2014 · 17


ITALY

Why taking action for Syria?

The answer is in Paul Harris’words: “As white corpuscles defend the human blood against the ravages of disease, so the constructive forces of cooperation, tolerance, courage, and brotherly love will eventually overcome selfishness, envy, intolerance, hatred, and fear the most destructive enemies of the social order.” And this constructive force is Rotary.

Furthermore, the answer is to be found in the eyes of children, women and elderly people that are crowding into the refugee camps: their look is empty, or full of fear and sorrow, lacking any kind of hope. The Syrian civil war, prolonging itself for almost 4 years, has caused 10.000.000 displaced persons who have to be provided with food, health care and housing.

In addition, around 50% of the buildings has been destroyed. For this reason, the UN considers the Syrian crisis as “the most arduous humanitarian crisis of the 21st century”.

As a consequence of this situation of despair, Stefano Al Issa, counselor of Rtc Brescia Ovest-Castello organizes a collection of foodstuffs and medicines within the club. As a result, in April 2012 an exploratory expedition was sent to the Syrian refugee camps. In spite of the success of the expedition, the images and the reports concerning the refugees’

unbearably difficult conditions shook everyone’s conscience and heart. In fact, an entire population was escaping from the horrors of war and thousands of orphans, ill elderly people and pregnant women had no aid.

For this reason, the Rotaract 2050 district, led by the RD Andrea Morandi (A.S.2012/13), activated the ambitious triennial Service “Uniti per la Siria.

The aim of this service is to provide the Syrian population affected by the conflict with support. As a matter of fact, considering the spread of infectious diseases at the paedriatic age, a fund-raising project was organized in partnership with UNICEF. Thanks to this, it became possible to vaccinate more than 16.000 children. As we have seen, the first part of the service had an incredible success. Notwithstanding this, the Syrian health crisis is worsening: it seems impossible to give aid to an exodus involving millions of persons.

Once again, Paul Harris’ wisdom guides our hearts: “Many obstacles to the expansion of good will have presented themselves.”Therefore, the RD Patrizia Volonghi (2013-2014) has activated a fundraising campaign. It enabled the delivery of medical equipment to the clinics managed by InterMed Onlus, situated on the border between Syria and Turkey.

Moreover, the rising awareness for this cause, promoted by the district during the meetings and the show “Dancing for Syria”, encouraged many clubs to support the district service (Rotaract Brescia Ovest-castello, Binasco, Franciacorta). As well as this, the Rotaract Brescia Vittoria Alata club engaged in sending an equipped ambulance to the Syrian refugee camp Bab Al Salam.

As a result of the military upheavals in this area, the RD Clara Pavesi (2014-2015) is organizing the provision of extemporaneous humanitarian aid, aimed to meet the refugees’ immediate needs.

The Rotaract 2050 district and its humanitarian aid may be just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean is made of drops. That is why Rotaract and Rotary believe in the impossible and in the cooperation among people.

We, the Rotaract 2050 district, need the help of all the Rotary and Rotaract of the world, to succeed in becoming the change we want to see in the world.


ITALY

Why taking action for Syria?

Moreover, the rising awareness for this cause, promoted by the district during the meetings and the show “Dancing for Syria”, encouraged many clubs to support the district service (Rotaract Brescia Ovest-castello, Binasco, Franciacorta). As well as this, the Rotaract Brescia Vittoria Alata club engaged in sending an equipped ambulance to the Syrian refugee camp Bab Al Salam.

As a result of the military upheavals in this area, the RD Clara Pavesi (2014-2015) is organizing the provision of extemporaneous humanitarian aid, aimed to meet the refugees’ immediate needs.

The Rotaract 2050 district and its humanitarian aid may be just a drop in the ocean, but the ocean is made of drops. That is why Rotaract and Rotary believe in the impossible and in the cooperation among people.

We, the Rotaract 2050 district, need the help of all the Rotary and Rotaract of the world, to succeed in becoming the change we want to see in the world.


Impressions from Interota 2014Doris Grimm, Past E.R.I.C. Vice President

The Interota 2014 in Montreal and Toronto, Canada was the second time that I participated in an Interota. As Interota is only taking place every three years it is always special to meet up with people again that you have not seen for a while.

What is also truely amazing about Interota is that you literally meet people from everywhere in the world - from European events we already know how great it is to meet up with people from all over Europe but with Interota it is another dimension as this means you meet people from Asia, the US, South and Central America and even Australia although the participants number is a lot smaller that those coming to EuCo or REM.

One of my highlight was for example to meet up with Rotaractors from e.g. Australia that I have not seen for two year as well as that we were even five participants who all met three years ago during Interota in Egypt.

Another fact that is always amazing me compared to European events is that you can party all night long but still the next day you see all participants in the conferences. I am sure that workshops such as the Conflict Resolution workshop “Conflict is for birds” do their part for these high attendancy rates. So, all in all I would say if you have the chance to go there, start saving your money and go for Interota 2017 in Taiwan, the program is quite promising!

Photo from Tim-Benjamin Lembcke

Photo from Tim-Benjamin Lembcke


ITALY


Duck Racing for Fundraising Powered by Rotaract Club Timisoara

All of these for charity: about 4000-5000 € each year, do-nated to a special cause:

2008: Renovating a public fountain in Unirii Square, Ti-misoara and installing water filters in numerous schools in Timis County.

2009: Equipment of a trailer destined for basic healthcare services (measuring blood pressure, glycemia, etc.) that can be connected to any automobile and transported in rural areas of our County, according to local needs.

2010: Renovating a patients’ room in the “Bega” Paediat-rics Hospital Timisoara.

2011: Renovating a patients’ room in the Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital for Surgical Oncology Timisoara.

2012: Participated in building the new Wing for the “Louis Turcanu” Paediatric Hospital in Timisoara.

2013: Money was donated to the Department for Emer-gency Situations Timisoara (a team of medics, fire fight-ers, military staff dealing with natural disasters, fires, floods, etc.)

2014: Money was donated to SALVO (a local NGO deal-ing with natural disasters).

zine articles, Rotaractors, Interactors and Rotarians to the mix and enjoy a turn-up of thousands of people on the riverbanks, with numbers growing each year.

And the event? One could see it as 5000 bits of yellow rubber racing down the Bega River, or as the people of Ti-misoara have come to see it: the rub-ber-feathered symbols of a community working together. Specials include a “beauty contest” of decorated ducks from sponsor companies, thousands of people cheering for their “contestant”, music, exhibitions, prizes (the I st prize consisting of 1000 €), NGOs... pure joy!

Of course, once the race is over, all the Racing Ducks are collected and safely stored for the next edition.

1 amazing team, 1 project, 7 edi-tions, more than 30,000 € raised, hundreds of prizes, 55,000 rubber ducks, thousands of members of the community involved in charity, more than 100 companies, countless un-forgettable memories. All of these in 3 words – Rotaract Duck Race.

The duck-mania started in Sep-tember 2008 and has gradually be-come our signature-project. Its main purpose was to involve the whole community – children, parents, com-panies and institutions – in a char-ity activity, shaped as a fundraising event. And we found the perfect scene for the race – the Bega Bule-vard Festival, organised by Timiso-ara City Hall.

The aim of Bega Bulevard is to raise awareness for the environment and for the endless possibilities of-fered by the river crossing our city centre. Thus, the ducks have made their entrance in Timisoara. People could either buy Souvenir Ducks, or buy tickets with a unique number, matching the number printed on a Racing Duck. Add banners, posters, costumes, flyers, radio spots, maga-

ROMANIA

Duck Racing for Fundraising Powered by Rotaract Club Timisoara

All of these for charity: about 4000-5000 € each year, do-nated to a special cause:

2008: Renovating a public fountain in Unirii Square, Ti-misoara and installing water filters in numerous schools in Timis County.

2009: Equipment of a trailer destined for basic healthcare services (measuring blood pressure, glycemia, etc.) that can be connected to any automobile and transported in rural areas of our County, according to local needs.

2010: Renovating a patients’ room in the “Bega” Paediat-rics Hospital Timisoara.

2011: Renovating a patients’ room in the Intensive Care Unit of the Hospital for Surgical Oncology Timisoara.

2012: Participated in building the new Wing for the “Louis Turcanu” Paediatric Hospital in Timisoara.

2013: Money was donated to the Department for Emer-gency Situations Timisoara (a team of medics, fire fight-ers, military staff dealing with natural disasters, fires, floods, etc.)

2014: Money was donated to SALVO (a local NGO deal-ing with natural disasters).

Needless to say, this project has grown close to the heart of each Club Member and our hope is to carry on our message for many years to come: a clean environment, bringing real, fi-nancial help to those who need it, join-ing our community together.

Duck Racing for FundraisingPowered by Rotaract

Club Timisoara

· ERIC MAGAZINE · Fall 2014 · 23

ROMANIA


Results of the first one Sibe-rian Trip’13-14 were impressive.That was a unique project which has covered vast expanses of Si-beria and engaged almost every single one Rotaractor of District 2225.

5 months of intensive prepa-rations, 150 days of selection of candidates and conversations with participants, 3600 hours of ideas and failures. And then, final-ly, 8 participants from 8 countries (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Turkey, France, Costa Rica, Aus-tria, Netherlands) visited 4 Sibe-rian cities - Omsk, Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Krasnoyarsk!

Our brave participants met with nature, architecture and tradi-tions of our region, imbued harsh but at the same time so incred-ibly warm and hospitable Siberian

spirit, tempered their characters and fell in love with the vast ex-panses of snowy Russia.

Rotaractors of District 2225 prepared an extraordinary and very diverse program, which included ice fishing, CHL ice hockey game watching, bandy, Russian ballet, international ama-teur curling tournament, visiting of Stolby National Park, ice skat-ing, tasting of national dishes, a real Russian New Year and many other activities!

Two weeks of the first Siberian Trip in a history gave participants and organizers an unforgettable experience and emotions. All to-gether we have lived a little life filled with enthusiasm, warmth and love in extreme conditions of Siberia! Once again we all real-ized that there are no borders in It is time to announce

this unique opportu-nity for everyone! District 2225 welcoming everyone on Siberian Trip’14-15, that will give a great chance to 8 fearless rotarac-tors to participate in memorable for a lifetime adventure through such Siberian cities as Krasnoyarsk-Kemerovo-Novosibirsk-Omsk. First city –station is Krasnoyarsk, with it’s breathtaking history, secrets and mysteries. The next one is Kemero-vo, where you will enjoy of hot Rus-sians Christmas celebration. Take

the world! Just act!

Well, the most important thing is that Siberian Trip erased the borders of the world and dispeled stereo-types about Siberia and Siberians. It united people, attracted new Ro-taractors, strengthened the image of Rotary and Rotaract clubs as major international organizations, inspired all participants with incredible Ro-taract spirit, intrigued partners and sponsors, consecrated local medias.

Finally, it showed us that we can do whatever we want to, if we co-operate together and have a strong desire.We already have some feed-backs from our participants, who have become proud Sberians while taking part at the Trip:

RUSSIA


a chance to visit Novosibirsk, you will never forget it’s impressive ar-chitecture and cozy places. And the last but not least city is Omsk –the city of smiles, good mood and good people. We hope you will join us f or this exciting adventure into Siberia’s friendly cities, beautiful landscapes, frost that will nip your cheeks, and active lifestyle. Siberian Trip 20114-2015 starts on Saturday, January 3rd 2015 to Monday, January 12th 2015. Successful trip candidates may ar-rive on Friday, January 2nd 2015 in

- I’m so happy I took the chance and applied and that you welcomed us in such a great way to Siberia. You will always have a special place in my heart and I am so grateful for how you arranged our stay with you during these days. (c) Johanna Hermansson, Sweden

- It was a one in a lifetime opportunity. (c) Bora Erelmali, Turkey

- As one wrote on the Facebook Group “Siberian Trip 2013-2014” it was a wounderful feeling to see that this world in Rotary has no boundar-ies, no borders. For me personally, it is such a great emotion to experience, that we are all the same - whether you originate from Austria, Costa Rica, the Netherlands, Sweden, Tunesia, Turkey, Paraguay, Germany or Sibe-ria! We all long for the same needs such as peace, love, joy, happiness and friendship. I found all of this on the trip - thank you! (c) Daniel Kluge, German

Krasnoyarsk and take one’s de-parture on Tuesday, January 13th 2015 from Omsk.

The application process starts on August 15th and will continue until October 1st. The names of lucky rotaractors who will come for Siberian Trip will be an-nounced on October 1st.

Fee: 200 euros Application link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QW9zT_ub-1g4O-KppockI2waE_Qcs-

2f57E9fIeBKGyM/viewform

For more information contact us at: [email protected]

Also feel free to use +79050804349 on WhatsApp or Viber (Irina)

Discover the winter like a Sibe-rian with District 2225!

Thank you for your interest in Siberian Trip! We hope to see you in Russia!Yours, Siberian Trip Team

- Siberian Trip is for sure one of those experiences in life I will never forget. An adventure that opened my eyes to a different culture, to a mysterious place and to such great people, who in less than 12 days became really good friends. (c) Giuliana Bresciani, Costa Rica

- This trip has been a great hu-man experience, I have met won-derful people that I hope to see again somewhere! (c) Rachid Snoussi, France

RUSSIA

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1QW9zT_ub-1g4O-KppockI2waE_Qcs2f57E9fIeBKGyM/viewform






Our new PinsIn the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the club we decided to create our own commemorative pin with the Rotaract logo and the emblem of our Re-public.

Anyone interested in buying the pin can con-tact the club ([email protected])and make arrangements for shipping or to re-ceive it directly to the upcoming international events.

A celebrative evening for the milestone reached by the club is planned on October 11th with the participation of Rotary members and all past presidents of Rotaract Club.

Casa MariaThe Rotaract club San Marino, in collaboration with the Rotaract Club Imola, decided to join the national proj-ect “Casa Maria” in support of an or-phanage in Africa.

In November there will be a themed evening with food, artists and typical products of the African tradition, an event already successfully organized during the past social year by the Club of San Marino.

The proceeds of the evening will be donated to the national project “Casa Maria”.

Rotaract San Marino

SAN MARINO



In November there will be an annual congress focused on the topic, with several profession-als and authorities and there will be give voice to those who has not been heard before or has not just listened. Those who have been trained along with experienced operators in the con-

text, will travel in schools of their own territory to continue the process of dif-fusion of knowledge and awareness putting full play to their abilities and their commitment

All the service will culminate in a web page with an attached chat in which we will finally get the support you need for talking directly with some of the members formats.

It ‘clear that the service is really challenging this year, we know that it is not simple matters, and we also know that will take away much time ... but the time invested will always return one day in the form of the personal belongings that makes us more sensitive to others’ needs and that we can afford to live more peacefully.

You are not Alone: awareness campaign against bullyingOne person in three has something wrong with it. One person in three is hiding something that can fades his way of linking with oth-ers. One in three people often do not know where to turn for help. Two out of three people often do not even know what they are doing to the third.

The service of the year that in-cludes many clubs of District 2072° is focused on this topic: raise awareness and fight a real disease: bullying.

The service is divided into modules: firstly, we will have a period of training on the issues of bul-lying, cyberbullying, homophobic bullying and their psychological impact and developments; the second step is a transfer of knowledge ac-quired by some members to all the other mem-bers of each club.

Increase our members: let’s talk about Rotaract to youngest generation Thanks to the support of the local Rotary club has been possible to meet the guys graduated from high school with honors.

Through these meetings, we could talk about Ro-taract to those who do not know it, but more im-portantly, to those who represent a bright future for the Country and therefore for our association.

One of the main objectives is to add new hu-man resources at Rotaract: the result is being reached gradually as there have been several inputs.Rotaract is so important to do, as it is so impor-tant to let others know what we do and how!

Ice Bucket ChallengeRotaract San Marino along with 8 other neigh-boring clubs (Rimini, Riccione, Cesena, Raven-(Rimini, Riccione, Cesena, Raven-na, Lugo, Forlì, Faenza and Imola) have joined the worldwide project to raise awareness about SLA.

We ventured into Ice Bucket challenge to raise awareness of the issue. But we did not stop at this, we have organized an evening of fundrais-ing and donated the revenues to support re-search on this insidious disease.

SAN MARINO


INTERVIEWS WITH CLOÉ BERNIER

Jeremy Charles

Name: Jeremy CharlesAge: 29Club: RAC CrosslandsCity: Sydney, AustraliaOccupation: owns a company that runs after school activities at 40 locations in Sydney and Brisbane. P.R.D.D.Hobbies: rock climbing, hiking, sailing, volunteering, travelling and of course Rotaract

How would you describe life in Australia to someone who only has in mind the image of “surf and sandy beaches” ? Sydney is well known for it’s beaches (almost 90% of the population lives within 50km of the coast) but it is so much more than that. Australia is a modern country with cosmo-politan cities so despite hav-ing lots of amazing distractions people in Australia work quite hard. We also have deadly spi-ders, sharks, drop bears and snakes that eat crocodiles. Luckily most of these (except for the sharks) aren’t really close to the cities. After a long ride home from work on our kangaroos (just kidding) there a lots of cool places to hang out from bars to parks to res-taurants or rivers and there’s quite a vibrant party scene in Sydney. Australia embraces a combination of hard work and laid back culture with many employers allowing staff to take extended holidays and still return to the same position.

Why are you attending REM ? What do you expect from it ?

I’m attending REM be-cause I would like to learn more about Rotaract in Eu-rope as well as to meet and connect with other Rotaract leaders who are working hard to support clubs in their area. Having spend some time with Rotaractors in South Asia, Asia Pacific and North America I’m excited to finally experience ome Rotaract in Europe. I’m expecting some great idea sharing and discussions, I’m hoping to learn a lot and of course enjoy socializing with new Rotaract friends.

I know you’ve been travel-ing quite a lot since you left Australia and before you ar-rived here… Where have you been ? Tell us a few anec-dotes about cultural differ-ences (from Australia) that you spotted and amused you (or shocked, as you like) ! So far I’ve been to the USA, Canada, England and Spain. I am continually amazed by how many beautiful places there are in the world, from the beach life-style in San Diego to the vibrant start up culture of San Fran-cisco. The grandeur of Lon-don and their traditions and the

amazing architecture and “feel” of Mardrid and Barcelona. Some things that have shocked me have been the dif-ficulty of starting business in the USA (I were going to ex-pand our company there, not any more...), freedom is rela-tive right? And having the whole crowd cheer and clap at the very start of a movie in New York. Complaining about the per-sistent rain in London then be-ing told “Actually we’re having a great summer!” Travelling 20,000 km to get to La Toma-tina (tomato throwing festi-val) in Spain only to find the majority of the 20,000 at-tendees were Australian. But the thing that have been the most amazing was having so many Rotaractors connect and make me feel at home anywhere I travelled to. There are no stranger in Rotaract, just friends you haven’t met yet.

How is Rotaract in Austra-lia ? We know you have an MDIO… How does it work ? What is its structure ? How many districts/clubs/Rotarac-tors are involved ?


Rotaract in Australia has been weak (with some excep-tions) but is now growing. I founded the MDIO back in 2010 and the most important aspect of it’s structure is the 4 regions that the districts are di-vided into. Each region is a maximum 2-3 hour drive (mostly) from a central city where events are held such as multi-district club officer training. At the time of founding Rotaract in Australia had only 23 clubs per district so being able to combine dis-tricts for events easily has been really important for us. Another feature of the MDIO is a separate executive which allows the MDIO to finalise de-tails of the DRR’s wishes with out endless Council Meetings.

Enough about technical de-tails… What are the activities (projects, conferences) of the MDIO Rotaract Australia ? Australian Rotaract used to be very fragmented and inef-fective and Rotaract Australia has been integral in bringing Rotaract together. RA runs the Annual Aus-tralian Rotaract Conference, promotes Rotaract and helps people find clubs via a direc-tory, publishes a newslet-ter, organised training in the

4 regions for club officers, assists with strategic guid-ance for Rotaract and Rota-ract awards to showcase and encourage a higher degree of success in all individual and club aspects of Rotaract. It also runs the National project, Rotaractors against Malaria. Every 30 seconds someone dies from Malaria, a preventable disease. That’s over 600,000 people every year and pregnant women and children are most at risk. Clubs purchase insecticide treated bed nets for $10 each and are distributed to the most affected areas through Rotary contacts. This allows clubs to make small or large donations, every-one can contribute depending on their fundraising capacity.

Tell us about your favorite project of Rotaract (any club) in Australia ! Rotaractors against Ma-laria is my favorite project because it enables ordinary people to easily contribute to savings lives for just $10. But another that I have really en-joyed was a Rotaract District project to the island of Vanua Lava, Torba Province of Van-uatu. Our Team of Rotaractors were refurbishing a school and

helping build a hospital. To get there it takes 2 places from Vanuatu’s capital, the sec-ond plane is like a flying bus. It stops at about 7 remote is-land airstrips and at each stop a few people get on and off. I loved that project because I got to see 23 year old Rotarac-tors making project decisions (yes no Rotarians on this trip), using their skills and problem solving in a remote area with no outside communication (yeah, no internet) and very limited re-sources.

Anything else you’d like to share with European Rota-ractors? I’d like to say that despite geographical differences there are lot of things that Rotarac-tors everywhere in the world have in common. So the more that can be done to help us all connect will make Rotaract a better experience for everyone. I’m looking forward to making conection with European Rota-ractors at REM!



How are you feeling, 2 weeks before REM starts ? Great and totally relaxed! I’m sitting on the sofa, we’re about to start watching a mov-ie. Everything is ready for you guys to enjoy bREMen... OK, that was Javier’s answer...be-cause I’m thinking about REM day and night just like all the others in the team, not man-aging to have a clear thought about anything else ;-) so: how do I feel? Excited and nervous :)

How did the idea of bid-ding for REM Fall 2014 grow in your mind. Actually it wasn’t my idea. A girl from our club brought it up during EuCo in Rome which was her first interna-tional event. First we all joked about it, then we started imag-ining things, and very soon we noticed that REM was already a part of bREMen - so we de-cided that it was destiny ;-)

What arguments did you use to convince your Rotaract Club and Rota-ry Sponsor Clubs to em-bark for the adventure ? Well, after coming back from Rome, we offered the club two options: either to do it, or to do it...so they agreed, haha. No, indeed at the time of the discussion we already had a very international club, with members and guests from Guatemala, Turkey, Poland, Russia, Mexico, Spain, Roma-nia, and France. They loved the idea of organising an international event with participants from all over Europe, which would enrich our Rotaract and cul-tural experience, and would give us the opportunity to show them our beautiful city. Our sponsor club was on-board immediately after we ex-plained them how many friend-ships across boarders will be created during the event, and how much we could learn or-

Name: Johanna BischoffAge: since when do we ask her age to a lady?Club: RAC BremenCountry: Germany


Johanna Bischoff


ganising it.

What are the problems you encounter while pulling off this big event ? The biggest problem was the time. We aren’t full-time Rotaractors (even though we’d love to be), we all have a job or university courses, which must have priority. Especially in the last weeks prior to the event, this created some problems, because we had many deadlines to keep. And even though everyone was working hard, there were some things that in the end had to be done during a night-shift. Another big challenge was to finance the event. We are deeply grateful that so many Rotary Clubs, our district 1850, companies and even private persons have decided that bREMen is worth to be supported.

What makes it worth going through all the trouble anyway ? Seeing how the euphoria for the event starts kicking in with one after the other in the club, member or guest. Receiving emails from Rotara-tors saying they look so much forward to bREMen. Getting calls from the Governor asking how we feel and how he can help. Being recognised by Rotari-ans as “the guys who organ-ise this big European event, right? Great job, we really can learn a thing or two from you.”

What was (were) your fa-vorite moment(s) during

this long process of orga-nizing a REM ? Can you de-scribe it (them) and tell us why it was your favorite ? We had some favourite moments, for example when we received the confirma-tion that we could hold the gala in the histroric Ratskeller! Or the day when we opened our registrations for the first time and everything was sold out after 30 minutes. And when Daniel had to put on a girls shirt dur-ing bREMen presentation in Riga, because we didn’t notice before arriving there that it wasn’t a unisex one ;-) We prepared a promotional video for the Rotary Clubs in our district, with some impres-sions from previous REMs. When we held our pre-sentation including the video for the first time, it was on the Rotary district conference, in front of the governor and 150 Rotarians. To see their faces while watching the video was super cool - and receiving many help offers afterwards was even more satisfying!

What do you look for-ward the most during REM ? Meeting all the people in person that so far I only know the names of from email. And of course meeting all the friends again <3

What is the second thing you’re gonna do after REM, sleep prob-ably being the first one ? Partying during Post-REM in Munich ;-) and from there going right away to Milan on a business trip...great timing, isn’t it?



The 10th Anniversary of Rotaract Wroclaw Pan-orama and 15th Anniversary of Rotary Wroclaw Panorama18th October 2014 Wroclaw, Poland

more info: http://www.wroclawpanorama.rotary.org.pl/pl_klub-14-15,1252.html

e-mail address: [email protected]: Rotarians: 180 PLN + hotel;Rotaractors: 150 PLN + hotel

RAC Trójmiasto 15th Anniversary Hotel Miramar, Sopot, Poland24-26th October 2014

More info: https://www.facebook.com/events/683139498425771/

RAC HANAU 25th CHARTER-PARTYOctober 11th, 2015Hanau, Germany,

The Rotaract Club of Hanau in District 1820, Germany, invites every interested Rotaractor to join a full weekend of celebration and fun.

http://schwalm-eder.rotaract.de/charterfeier/

RAC SCHWAKM-EDER, FOUNDING-CHAR-TEROctober 18 - 19th, 2014D1820 Germany

The Rotaract Club Schwalm-Eder in District 1820, Germany, invites every interested Rota-ractor to join a weekend of celebration and fun.

http://www.rotaract-hanau.de/

FUTURE ROTARACT EVENTS


SIBERIAN TRIP 2015 - Discover the winter!January 3 - 15th, 2015Siberia, Russia

The application process starts on August 15th and will continue until October 1st.Fee: 200 eurosApply here: [email protected] feel free to use +79050804349 on WhatsApp or Viber (Irina)

12th ASIA PACIFIC REGIONAL ROTARACT CON-FERENCE (APRRC) 2015 INDONESIAAugust 8th, 2015Indonesia

The Asia Pacific Regional Rotaract Conference is an annual conference hosted by a country within the Asia Pacific Region. APRRC serves as a forum for Rotarac-tors to meet and learn in an environment framed by the ideals of service and progress. It is culminated in the signing of a pact among the various (...)

http://www.aprrc2015.org/Twitter & Instagram: @APRRC2015

FUTURE ROTARACT EVENTS

REM ISTANBUL 2015ROTARACT EUROPE MEETING January 15 - 18th, 2015Istanbul, Turkey

Winter Rotaract Europe Meeting.Save the date to make Your Route to Istanbul!

EUCO 2015 BUCHARESTROTARACT EUROPE CONFERENCEApril 29th - May 3rd, 2015Bucharest, Romania

Save the date!More info soon.

Fall 2014

@rotaracteurope www.rotaracteurope.org [email protected]

#rotaracteurope #weRrotaract #weloverotaract #serviceaboveself

e.r.i.c. magazine, fall 2014

Documents

rotary family

eric magazine fall

rotary club

eric board

clo bernier assistant

elia estragues assistant

new rotaractors

c year