February 2009, Volume 3, Issue 1

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Inside:

Annual Meeting 1

Guys' Trip 1

IMS Report 2

Going Green 2

Calendar 2

President’s Column 3

Student Loans/Scholarships 3

Membership 5

Strategic Planning 6

Entertain Them 6

Photos 6

PTPI Message 7

New Board Member 7

Ballot 8

You are invited toThe Greater Kansas City People to People Chapter’s

Annual MeetingMarch 22, 2009, 2:00 to 4:00 p.m.

Thompson Commons Student CenterPark University, Parkville, Missouri

Cost is $15.00 per personRSVP to Candice McField at cmcfield@yahoo.com,

or RSVP and pay at www.gkcptp.org

This is our annual gathering of GKCPTP members! You’ll have an opportunity to hear a re-cap of the past year and welcome the newest slate of officers. Most importantly, you’ll

have a chance to talk with some of the most dynamic people in the Kansas City area!

The capstone of the afternoon will be a presentation by the Park University PTP Student Chapter. What a wonderful opportunity for our two chapters to mix it up and share experi-ences.

GKCPTP's Annual Meeting

Guys' Trip to Southeastern Europe

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(continued on page 2)

by Terry Smitka - with a little help from his friends

In 1995, four friends formed a travel club to explore different areas of the world.

We (Pete Davis, Tom Waggoner, David de la Fuente, and Terry Smitka) selected countries that were interesting to us, not particularly popular with tourists, and maybe not quite the romantic getaways that would appeal to our wives. We have visited over 30 countries together over the last 13 years, with the most recent being Bulgaria, Macedonia, Albania, and Kosovo. This has resulted in many interesting experiences as well as opportunities to learn more about these various countries. As members of

GKCPTP, we have also tried to sponsor officers that could help us learn about their countries and perhaps visit sometime in the future.

Our 2008 trip began on Thursday, Octo-ber 2nd. Our first stop was in Bulgaria, a country whose population is approximately 85% native Bulgarian, with the remainder primarily Turks and Roma. Arriving in Sofia on Friday, October 3, our first experi-ence was finding our hotel. As is always the case with traveling, it takes a while to learn the value of certain things. So although paying 30 Euros ($42 US) for a 15 minute cab ride to our hotel seemed a little high, we didn’t know any better. Being a little

Vote Today!Ballots for selecting the next board are on page eight! Mail

yours in today!

Annual Meeting

RSVP today for the March 22 event at

Park University

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Contact Newsletter GKCPTP

Calendar Date Event Location Time

2/18/09 Know Your World: Chile Lewis/Clark, Ft. Leavenworth 3:30 p.m.

3/6/09 09-1 Spring Food Fair (invitation only) Frontier Conf. Center 6:00 p.m.

3/16/09 International Hall of Fame Induction Lewis/Clark, Ft. Leavenworth

3/20/09 09-2 Spring Food Fair (invitation only) Frontier Conf. Center 6:00 p.m.

3/22/09 GKCPTP Annual Dinner Meeting Thompson Commons Student Center, Park University

2 p.m.

3/25/09 Know Your World Lewis/Clark, Ft. Leavenworth 3:30 p.m.

5/29/09 Sponsor Recognition, Class 09-01

Note: 09-1 Ft. Leavenworth IMS class graduates in June 2009, 09-2 class graduates in December 2009.

Responsibilities for the International Military Student (IMS) sponsorship program recently migrated to a com-

mittee structure. The committee consists of: Sharon Valasek (chair), Sonia Eichenwald, Nila Cleaves, Alan and Pamela Fel-ton, Nelson Markel, Terry Smitka and Tom Waggoner. I greatly appreciate each committee member’s time and willingness to help. We’ve completed one “round” of assignments (the 09-2 class). If you were part of that sponsoring group and things went smoothly, our thanks and appreciation for your kindness. As a committee, we did some self-assessment and believe we can make a few tweaks to help things work even better next time, for the 10-1 class coming in June.

The rescheduled sponsor orientation session was held January 6th. Thank you to all who attended, we packed

our space at Waldo library. If you’d like to refer back to the information presented or were unable to attend, the presen-tation by LTC (Ret) Jim Fain from IMSD is now posted on our website at www.gkcptp.org. From the home page, click on Programs, then International Officers. The presentation includes details of the CGSC organization, program guide-lines, funding, IMS housing, and much more. Also posted on the website (same location) is a sponsor guidelines document. The document provides some policies that must be followed along with tips to enhance the sponsorship experience. Thank you to Gabrielle Reilly, our website creator, for posting the documents and for her strong support of IMS sponsorship. Gabrielle asks you to email pictures and/or stories about your travels and time spent with your IMS.

Encourage friends to join GKCPTP! It’s great to sponsor with friends. As Gabrielle says, “If you would like to encour-age your friends to join GKCPTP and double your fun, send them to our new website. If they are excited about joining, they can either sign up online or download a PDF application to send in.” If you or any prospective sponsor has questions, contact me at 816-942-2794 or at svalasek@kc.rr.com or any member of the military committee.

Ims Committee ReportSharon Valasek

Annual Meeting c(ontinued from p. 1)

Going Green! This is It!

This is your last issue of the ContaCt by U.S. mail. Begin-ning with our next issue (April 2009), ContaCt will be

delivered via email. In an effort to curb waste and control mailing costs, the board has voted to take this responsible step. You will be alerted by email when each issue is available, and you can then read it in full color on your computer or print it for later viewing.

However, all is not lost if you absolutely cannot receive it by email. Please let the newsletter coordinator know if you MUST receive it by U.S. mail no later than April 1, 2009 (and that’s no foolin’!)

Joan Barrett jrcbarrett@aol.com816-746-7966

As a unique opportunity to help the children of Iraq, we’re also using this meeting to gather supplies for the school fund drive of Operation Iraqi Children (OIC). Bring some or all of what is needed for one school kit. (The drive extends until May 22nd if you’d like to donate at another time.)

3 folders1. Composition notebook2. Loose leaf paper3. Pencil bag4. 12 pencils5.

12 colored pencils6. Pencil sharpener7. Large eraser8. 12" Ruler9. Scissors10.

Supplies Needed for Operation Iraqi Children (OIC)

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For a number of years GKCPTP has awarded students scholarships and loans for international travel. The

majority of this funding has come from a fund estab-lished by Al and Anne Brown (deceased members) of GKCPTP for this purpose. Other funding has come from the sale of flags. Note: flag sales net about $300-$1,000 annually.

Over the past several years, we have experienced increas-ing difficulty in collecting payments from the loan fund to the point of having to hire a collection agency to col-lect our monies. In addition, the administration of the loan fund is very time consuming and we have not been able to find a chapter member who is willing to take on this task in the future. Larry Dolci is currently adminis-tering the loan collections but will not be able to do so in the future.

The board feels it is important to continue to use the fund established by the Browns and the funds from the sale of flags to benefit students who seek to travel on PTP programs but do not have the resources to do so. At the same time the task of lending and collecting loan payments has become too burdensome to continue. The Board is recommending a solution that will benefit stu-dent travel and remove the burden of debt collection.

The board recommends that GKCPTP cease the lend-ing of money for student travel, and instead award only scholarships. We believe that the awarding of scholar-ships fulfills the intent of assisting student travel through the fund created by Al and Anne Brown. The money from the Brown Fund and the sale of flags will still be used for student travel and will not be used for any other purpose. The following past presidents endorse this action. We will be voting on this motion at the annual dinner meeting in March.

Regards, Pat Burnett GKCPTP president

Well, it is a certainty that by the time you read

this newsletter, one or more of my resolutions will have been broken. Despite my failings, I still like the tradition. It provides a “forced” personal reflection.

One resolution that the board has collectively identified for our chapter is the need to redirect our energies with regard to the student loan fund. You will find a letter to the membership in this edition that addresses the issue. The decision reflects the thoughts of not only the current board members, but many past presidents as well.

It was unfortunate that the December sponsor orienta-tion meeting had to be cancelled; however, the re-sched-

uled January meeting was very well attended. The infor-mation provided by the International Military Student Division (IMSD) enhances the sponsorship experience. There is always something to be learned so all members are encouraged to attend any orientation.

GKCPTP joined forces with PTPI and the KC Public Library in providing programming on February 8th. PTPI staff presented a riveting program on the Cambo-dian Landmine Eradication and Awareness initiative that PTPI has sponsored for several years.

Looking ahead to the annual meeting March 22, I am pleased that the slate of officers is a balance of new and veteran members. If you are unable to attend the an-nual meeting, please fill out your ballot and mail it to the P.O. Box listed in the ContaCt.

In the event that you, too, have slipped up on your New Year’s resolutions, fear not - Nepal celebrates its new year in mid-April!

Warm regards, Pat

www.gkcptp.org

President’s Column Annual Meeting c(ontinued from p. 1)

Student Travel Loans/Scholarships

A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one year and out the other.

~Author Unknown

Jerry WardEsther ConradBill ConradAltan KodanazJohn McCreadieGlenn Brown

Linda JacobsBarbara DolciGene JacobsSharon ValasekLarry Dolci

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A Guys' Trip to Southeastern Europe(continued from page one)

Contact Newsletter GKCPTP

more savvy by the end of our trip, the return from the hotel to the airport was only 5 Euros($7 US). We felt we made that money back by paying only 1 Euro for most of the Shumen-sko and Zagorka beer that we drank. The Downtown Hotel where we stayed was very nice and also was located near the main part of town. Planning to go to Skopje, Macedonia, the next day, we started our negotiations for the 4 hour trip at 300 Euros. Getting it done for only 180 Euros made us feel like real bargainers. Of course, the return trip from Skopje a few days later only cost us 120 Euros.

So off we went to Skopje, a city of 600,000 people and capital of Macedonia. About 65% of the people in Macedonia are ethnic Macedonians and 25% are Albanian. The rest are a mixture of Roma, Turks, and Serbs. Our hotel, the

Hotel Square, was located on the 6th floor of an old commu-nist-looking office building. But the hotel staff was accommo-dating, and we had a great balcony overlooking the main town square and the old fortress. There was also a refrigerator filled with all of the Skopsko beer we could handle. That helped ease the pain when we discovered that we didn’t have hot water. We spent some time walking around the square and exploring the town. It is an issue that is still being debated.

On Sunday morning we got up and realized that everything was closed. Rather than sit around all day, we contacted a driver named Abdullah to take us to Kosovo. The drive to Pristina, Kosovo, took about 3 hours. We couldn’t believe all the new hotels that were being constructed along the way. Of course, there are still NATO troops in certain areas of Kosovo to control any problems that might arise between the Alba-nians, (who make up 90% of the population) and the remain-ing Serbs. In Pristina, we drove around town and stopped at a couple of places. They certainly like Americans there because we drove on a street named after Bill Clinton and another named after Bob Dole.

After a few hours of sightseeing, we decided to visit Prizren on the way back to Skopje. Prizren was quite interesting with its cobblestone streets and architecture. When Abdullah told a local police officer that we were Americans, he touched his heart as if to say he really appreciated what America had done for his country. Although Prizren is an overwhelmingly Albanian city, we were a little surprised to see a couple of Orthodox priests walking peacefully through the town center considering the conflict that raged there in recent years. After visiting several landmarks, we returned to Skopje.

The next morning, we decided that we wanted to visit another town in Macedonia called Ohrid. It sits on a beautiful lake that is located in southern Macedonia on the border with Albania. Since Abdullah didn’t speak any English, we man-aged to communicate to him that we wanted to stay in a hotel that was right on the lake. He took us to the Hotel Alexan-

drija. The tourist season ended on September 15, so we were able to get single rooms for only 37 Euros a night. It was a great bargain because of the nice view and spacious rooms. Lake Ohrid reminded Tom and David of the lakes in North-ern Italy without the tourists. Ohrid has many old Ortho-dox churches and other historical sights. The fortress that overlooks the lake has a great view and there are many active archeological digs in the vicinity.

Being so close to Albania, we decided to hire a young driver named Igor to take us across the border on the south side of the lake. As we reached the border with Albania, we could sense that Igor’s supreme confidence was evaporating. After speaking with the Albanian border guards, he came back and told us we needed to pay one Euro each to cross the border. So we gave him the money, but he returned a few minutes later and said that they also wanted us to buy them some cof-fee while they considered our fate. After another two Euros, we were finally free to enter. Albania had been a closed society for many years, so they are markedly less prosperous than the rest of Eastern Europe. Following a pothole-filled road, we entered the border city of Pogradec. The traffic was interest-ing because there seemed to be three or four lanes of cars on a two-lane road. After drinking a couple of Korca beers at a local outdoor bar, we decided to return to Ohrid. On our way, a couple of policeman happened to be parked near the side of the road and signaled us to pull over. Of course we knew they

David de la Fuente, Tom Waggoner and Terry Smitka traveled to several countries in southeastern Europe

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www.gkcptp.org

Membership ReportKaren Haber

What wonderful news for the new year! I am happy to report the great success our membership recruit-

ing has had in recruiting new members—44 member units for the year 2008. Keep up the good work!

Membership renewals were sent in November and were due upon receipt. Thank you to all who returned their re-newals quickly; a number are past due. I hope that it was a “New Year’s Resolution” for the remainder to pay quickly. A reminder/past due notice has been sent out, and a phone team will call all outstanding members to confirm their desire to remain members.

These are new members since our last newsletter. Please go out of your way to welcome them when you can! We now have 170 member units.

would find something wrong and they did. We were fined 8 Euros on the spot for not wearing a seatbelt. We paid in cash and finally reached the border. Igor spoke to the guards again and came back saying they wanted more coffee. We were out of smaller change by this time, so they relented and allowed us to leave. Igor let out a big sigh of relief when we finally crossed back into Macedonia.

On Wednesday, we again hired Abdullah to take us back to Skopje and the Hotel Square. We spent two more days there exploring the city and people watching. The gypsies that we saw were particularly interesting as we watched the children begging for money. Most people just pretended they were not there, but occasionally someone would give them something. They immediately took the money to their parents who were in the general vicinity. We also visited the zoo in Skopje. We were able to view some of the local wildlife, but I don’t think PETA would be particularly impressed with the conditions.

By Friday, October 10, we were ready to return to Sofia and the downtown hotel. We hired a local guide to show us the prominent sights in Sofia and did some exploring on our own. Although Sofia is one of the oldest cities in Europe, it has only been the capital of Bulgaria since 1879. Conse-

quently, the city is lacking in historical sites and charm when compared to other European capitals. Both Bulgaria and Macedonia only use the Cyrillic alphabet, so trying to figure things out on our own was next to impossible. But we were able to get a general idea about this city of 2 million people. One thing is for certain: they really have a traffic problem here as there are no freeways that we could find. So it takes a long time to navigate through the town. They also have a problem with kidnappings. We noticed that there seemed to be several very large men hanging out around the outdoor bar at the hotel. When we asked our friend Slavi, the bellman, what was going on, he said the Russian owner of the hotel was in town and that prominent people in Bulgaria needed “babysit-ters.” We decided that we didn’t need to know any more than that.

By Saturday, October 11, it was time to return home. Terry is in the financial business and was distracted by the market being down every single day of the trip. Facing the prospect of coming home to the carnage in the stock market, he was briefly tempted to just live out his remaining years in Alba-nia. But he came home with Tom and David and we all had another interesting adventure together. Now we need to start talking about next year’s trip to sub-Saharan Africa.

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Remember to invite prospective members to GKCPTP events!

New member(s) recruitiNg member(s)

Kay Johnson and Bill Koenigsdorf Nelson and Paulette Markel

Richard Head and Daryl Peterson Alan and Pamela Felton

Robert and Linda Peterson Sharon Valasek

Karen Hoch PTPI

Alisa and Rick Meireis Gabrielle Reilly

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Last issue, we asked you, our readers, to share some of their favorite IMS haunts with us. Where do you like to take

your international officers and their families? What places work best for couples, singles and entire families?

Betty Bauer shared that their officers have enjoyed shopping at the International Market at 10328 Mastin (west side of Metcalf ), Overland Park, KS. She also suggested downtown Overland Park. They would enjoy Ten Thousand Villages on Santa Fe and Penzey's Spices with its international cook-ing spices. Both are interesting places for adults to browse. Across the street is the Culinary Center where a "staff lunch" is open to public for $10 on Tuesdays from 11:30-1:30.

She also likes the Strawberry Hill Museum (www.strawberry-hillmuseum.org) in Kansas City, Kansas. It has 16 countries represented in exhibits. Admission is $7.

Another member raved about a trip to see the holiday lights at the Plaza, followed by hot chocolate for the entire family at Starbucks. A great spot for a couples’ farewell at the end of the class year was an evening of appetizers and drinks at Skies on top of the Hyatt. It was fun reminiscing while watching the city twirl in all its nighttime glory below.

Please continue to send your great ideas to us, and we’ll post them in the next few editions of CONTACT. Send them to: Joan Barrett at jrcbarrett@aol.com, or call 816-746-7966. Leave a message if no one answers, please.

Contact Newsletter GKCPTP

This is the second in a series of articles about the goals and objectives of our strategic plan (developed last year). The

previous article talked about doubling chapter membership by 2010. The focus of this article is on a related goal:

“Develop two (2) additional programs and/or recurring events by 2009 that have significant value propositions and drawing power that entice prospective members to join us, and encourage present members to retain their memberships.”

The board is convinced that the chapter must offer interest-ing and stimulating programs on an ongoing basis in order to both attract new members and to retain existing ones.

While most of our members are actively involved in the International Military Student (IMS) program, many

are not. We want to get those members who are not active in

the IMS program more engaged with the chapter. In order to do that, we need to broaden our appeal and become more multi-dimensional.

I am happy to report that we have made great progress. Our program committee has been terrific. The appointment of Theresa Osredker as program chairperson and, following her departure for Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Candice McField as Theresa’s replacement has been great. Both have been full of ideas and enthusiasm. Our programs have been more frequent, varied and very successful.

You can help too. Watch the newsletter for upcoming events. Come out and join us. It is a wonderful way to meet other members, mingle with our international officers and have fun.

Strategic planning Nelson Markel

How Do We Entertain Them? (your answers)Joan Barrett

Brigadier General Edward Cardon, deputy comman-dant of the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, spoke about leadership in chal-lenging times, KC Library, January 15, 2009

Jim Fain explains sponsorship matters to new and existing members of GKCPTP, January 6, 2009

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www.gkcptp.org

NNEWSFROMEWSFROMPTPIPTPI WWORLDORLDHHEADQUARTERSEADQUARTERSJoinPTPIaswetravelacrosstheglobe! Registration isnowopenforPTPI’s2009EducationalandHumanitarian

Programs:

• JORDAN:GlobalPeaceInitiative(March26–April5,2009).Onlyafewspotsremain!

• CHINA:EducationalandHumanitarianInitiative(May8–20,2009)

• BALTICS:EducationalandHumanitarianInitiative(June18–29,2009)

• MEXICO:SchoolandClassroomProgramInitiative(June27–July5,2009)

Formoreinformationabouttheseprograms,pleasecontactCindyBaughatspecialprograms@ptpi.orgorext.117.

RemembertosavethedatesforPTPI’s2009BoardofTrusteesandAmericasRegionalMeetinginLasVegas,

NevadafromSeptember3–5,2009.Everyoneisinvited!Registrationwillopensoonandallchaptermembersare

welcome.Formoreinformation,pleasecontactKarenHochatkarenh@ptpi.orgorext.127.

Introducing PTPI’s new Adult Chapter Logo! Look for the new logo in all PTPI Adult Program materials and

publications.

PTPINoteCardsareavailabletosellforchapterfundraisers!Thenotecardsfeatureartworkcreatedbychildren

worldwideaspartofPTPI’sGlobalYouthMuralsprogram.Thecostis$12perset,withproceedsbenefitingPTPI’s

SchoolandClassroomProgram.Theycanbepricedhighertoearnmoneyforyourchapter!Visit

www.ptpi.org/programs/NoteCards.aspxtoviewphotographsofthenotecards.Formoreinformation,please

contactPaigeLeitnakeratclassroom@ptpi.orgor816.531.4701x128.

The board is pleased to an-nounce our newest board

member, Alisa Meireis. Alisa brings many wonderful talents to the board besides her very eloquent communication skills and charming personality.

Alisa was the first Miss Black Teenage Kansas and the first person of African descent elected as President of Girls’ Nation. She participated in many ‘student exchange days’ between students at her high school and others in the KC area, as a member of the KC Human Relations Commit-tee. Her family hosted three nurses from the Philippines for several years as they learned nursing skills at KU Medical Center. Alisa’s family participated in the AFS program, host-

ing students from Portugal, Italy, Finland and Brazil. During a USO Tour the Summer of her freshman year, Alisa traveled to Greenland, Newfoundland and Labrador as a member of the Columbia College “Double-sextette”.

Alisa’s appreciation and understanding of our global com-munity played a critical role in her success in designing and implementing the Diversity Initiative Process for KU Medi-cal Center and KU Hospital. The KUMC Intercultural Film Series Alisa developed was selected as a Promising Practice by President Clinton’s “One America” committee.

Alisa and her husband, Rick, have four adult children and enjoy weekends with their two granddaughters, Savanna and Anabel, who are 6 years old and 9-1/2 months old, respec-tively. They spend their free time doing yard work and wood-working projects. Biking is also a favorite activity, and they love to walk the trails that wind through Olathe’s subdivi-sions. Alisa has lived in Kansas her entire life.

Introducing our Newest Board Member

Alisa Meireis

or 816.531.4701, 117

or 816.531.4701, 127

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Greater Kansas City Chapter of People to PeopleP.O. Box 22365Kansas City, MO 64113

2009-2010 Proposed Slate of Officers and Board Members Greater Kansas City Chapter, People to People International

The Greater Kansas City Chapter of People to People International is successful because of the caring volunteer service of MANY members. The following individuals have agreed to serve on our board of directors for the next term. Please express your gratitude to them by voting on the ballot and mailing it no later than March 12.

Office Candidate

President .............................................Pat Burnett

1st Vice President .................................Karen Haber

2nd Vice President ...............................Candice McField

Treasurer ..............................................Siew Lau

Secretary .............................................Kim Nitz

Director (term expiring 2010) ...............Alan Felton

Nelson Markel

Alisa Meireis

Director (term expiring 2011) ...............Vacant

Gabrielle Reilly

Jerry Keith

Director (term expiring 2012) ..............Dan Karp

Jim Malouff

Jane Kohl

o Check this box to vote for entire slate, or enter write-ins for specific exceptions:

Your signature and date, please:

Mail to: GKCPTP P.O. Box 22365 Kansas City, MO 64113, no later than March 12, 2009.

A special thank you to our nominating chairs, Sonia Eichenwald and Mike Wood!