| Exchanges | ||
| Zagreb Outbound Report | Peru Report | Fortaleza Inbound |
| SW Conference/FFI News | BridgeBuilders | Officers |
| Other Events | Committees | Fund Raiser |
| Newsletter | Board Meetings | Exchange Recruiter |
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Sunday,
July 9 - 5 PM Cuba
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| Place: | Tukta Thai Restaurant, 9625 Plano Rd., Ste 500, Dallas (SE corner of Plano Rd. and Walnut Hill Lane) |
| Menu: | Four selected Thai dishes set on each table so you may sample each. Vegetarian will be provided. |
| Program: | Paula Rose and Edward Perez will present a special program about their recent FFI work exchange to
Cuba, including photos and music. |
| Cost: | $13 - for the meal, tax and tip. Soft drinks and desserts are not included but will be available at extra charge. The club will provide wine for a small donation. |
| Reserve:
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Check made out to Friendship Force of Dallas; send to Wendy
Whaley;
contact her at whwhaley@yahoo.com
for mailing address or questions. Please reserve by July 6 (allow for the holiday weekend!) **************************** |
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Sunday, August 13 - 5 PM Small Group Dinners |
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| In August, members and guests will meet in several members' homes for
small group dinners. These smaller groups are a great way to learn more about
your fellow members, share travel & life stories, and enjoy a great meal!
Often, the dinners are almost like a mini-exchange.
If you want to host, let the Ed and Dora Stahl know how many people you can comfortably entertain (usual number is about 6 to 10). The host will contact those
coming to their home to coordinate the meal courses. If you have any dietary restrictions, let the Stahls know so they can
relay the information to the hosts. |
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| Places: | Homes - to be arranged |
| Cost: | None - bring a side dish, coordinated with the host/hostesses main dish |
| Reserve: | Contact Ed and Dora Stahl at edstahl@swbell.net by August 4, so we can place people at different locations |
| Purpose: | Conversation, get to know each other better |
| Top |
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NOTE: See Events for September and October Meeting information.
Future meetings
We've shifted to a coordinator/assistants form for program planning this year. Many of this year's programs have been planned. If you have ideas or preferences, or would like to present a program, contact Ray Enstam, program coordinator - enstam@sbcglobal.net.
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Paula's Roses Hello FFD and Happy Summer to you! I've acquired a new skill - predicting the future. Well, sort of. I do want to share upcoming FFD events for the rest of 2006 and into 2007, as some exciting and varied things are in the works. During our Sept. 10th meeting, we will be electing new officers for 2007. Ed Edgren is chairing the nominating committee for these officers. The list of nominees will be sent to you in August. If you are interested in serving FFD in any capacity, contact Ed by July 15. I predict we will have some fine folks who will do a great job of running FFD in 2007. In early October, FFD will be hosting ambassadors from Fortaleza, Brazil for a week. Gary Paramore is assembling his team to make this a great, successful exchange. Let him know NOW that you want to help (see article in this newsletter). I predict this will be a fun-filled week of friendship and fiestas! FFI holds their annual international conference this year October 13-15 in Dublin, Ireland. There are also pre- and post-conference tours available. Find registration info at http://www.friendshipForce.org/Ireland2006. I predict several from our club will go and have a great time! UPDATE: Or you can see our Events Page for information on this conference. Towards the end of February/early March 2007, we will be hosting a very large group [maybe as many as 40!] of ambassadors fro Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada. March 1, 2007 will also be the 30th anniversary of Friendship Force! There will be a huge celebration and International Conference in Atlanta, GA, followed by a four-day homestay offered by clubs in the Atlanta area. In late March or early April 2007, we hope to be hosting new club ambassadors from Romania. Ed Edgren facilitated the start of these new clubs and has volunteered to be the ED for this special inbound exchange [their first exchange]. Then, in June 2007, up to 40 of us from Dallas and Houston will be going to Bogota, Columbia for a week's homestay and then a tour. Hasta la vista! I predict that 2007 will be a banner year for FFD with lots of new friendship and lots of fun!
Paula
Rose
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In Friendship,
| Outbound Exchange to Zagreb, Croatia Mary Williams, Exchange Director 
The Friendship Force of Dallas has just returned from an outbound exchange to Zagreb, Croatia, which took place from May 27th to June 3rd.
Dallas ambassadors included Jim Bourn, Ava Rowe, Pat Peters and Mary Williams. Joining the group were Bonnie Byrd from Florida, Aric Drott from Georgia, and Linda Schulman from New York.
We found that this small club had several hosting members gone while we were there, and the club had just returned from an exchange to Japan. Many young people in the club are following their parents into participation and membership in Friendship Force, a practice I wish we would see here. In fact, the Zagreb Exchange Director, Petar Dekanovic (son of club president Pjerina Dekanovic who is shown below with Ava Rowe) married the daughter of other club members just before we arrived.
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We learned that the country that is now Croatia has a long history. It was inhabited by local tribes, Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Ottoman Turks and the Austro-Hungarian Empire at various times. We saw remains of a Roman wall in the City of Zagreb Museum.
Croatia has about 4 ˝ million people, about 1 million of whom live in the capitol, Zagreb.
Croatia is slightly smaller than West Virginia, with a long coastline and over 1100 islands. The coast has a Mediterranean climate, while inland Zagreb has more of a central European climate. It was unseasonably cold when we were there, and we had three days of sunshine, three days of rain. Several people bought or borrowed heavy jackets and/or rain gear.
About 90% are Roman Catholic and we were fortunate to be there on June 1st when the citizens of Zagreb celebrated the feast of St. Mary of the Stone Gate. When it got dark, thousands of people with candles walked a route from the Cathedral to the Stone Gate to the old city – about a mile – singing hymns. It was a moving experience to see people in traditional costumes, priests, nuns and children walking through the streets. 
Our first day was sunny and was perfect for a visit to an antique market followed by a picnic and tour of Trakoscan castle, north of Zagreb near the Slovenian border. 
We had arranged for us a visit to the Institute for the Blind, where we met with their director and other people, to determine whether we could be of any assistance with our BridgeBuilder project of supplying computers to blind students in other countries. There may be such an opportunity and Bob Langford in following up on that.
Our tour guide and host for two of us was Pjerina’s daughter, Djurdja, a law student (shown
in the center-right with Mary Williams and Linda Schulman). 
At the farewell dinner, the Zagreb club voted for their favorite ambassador from our group – Ava
Rowe (below-left). Gifts were exchanged and we had a nice party. Though we both had small groups, we had a great time and made new friends.
| Peru "Outbound" - May 2006 Mary and Lee Latham, Ambassadors 
Lee and Mary Latham recently completed their 2005 exchange with the La Libertad Club and tour of Peru, which was cut short due to a death in their family. We watched the sunrise at Machu Picchu, visited the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, and shopped in the Indian markets. The highlight of the trip was our last two days with the friends we had
made in Trujillo.
We had intended a quick visit with Jamie and Louisa Rodriquez (the couple we hosted on the Trujillo Oct 2003 inbound) as well as Hermes, Gloria, and Dante Vega (the family that had hosted us on the Mar 2005 outbound). A message at our hotel suggested that would not happen. The visit started when a caravan of Trujillo club members picked us up for lunch,
another group (pictured) had dinner with us at one home, and another group had
breakfast with us at another home. A caravan also took us to the airport!
It was wonderful visiting with everyone in Trujillo. They asked about everyone including the club from Austin and sent their best wishes and warmest regards to all their friends here.
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| Fortaleza, Brazil - Incoming
Exchange Oct 2006 Gary Paramore, Exchange Director UPDATE: Plans were well underway for the inbound exchange from Fortaleza, Brazil for early October. However, the Brazilians have canceled the exchange, due to dwindling numbers of participants. Many were denied visas and others were put off by the possible airline bombing scare. Stay tuned for alternate plans for October.
Other Events Friendship Force Comitan Mexico inbound to Ft. Worth - Dallas Day
Fort Worth Anniversary Celebration The Fort Worth club will celebrate its 20th Anniversary on Friday and Saturday, September 8-9, 2006:
See details on the Events page.
Other FF Exchanges Here are some of the upcoming exchanges: To receive monthly updates about future exchanges, send your name, postal and/or email address to ffi@friendshipforce.org. Mention you'd like to receive the FF exchanges updates. |
| Member News
Condolences
Name Badges, Yearbooks
FFD Fun Fund Raisers
See, pretty simple!! So, contact Edward to sign up as a driver or request a ride - eperez@acm.org. Board Meetings For information about our financial condition, contact Wendy Whaley (whwhaley@yahoo.com)
or any board member. 2006 Friendship Force of Dallas, Texas Board Officers Secretary: Lillian Fipps Parliamentarian: Edward Perez Ways and Means: Mary Suther Romania Inbound (tentative): Ed Edgren Bogota,
Columbia Outbound: Ray Enstam
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| FFD BridgeBuilders Here is some news about the Tulio Herrera School for the Blind in Trujillo, Peru that we've given computers and supplies to over the years. Tape Cassettes Bob Langford's group (Texas Center for Physically Impaired) recently sent about
1,000 audio cassettes to the school. The teachers can record lessons on them and the students can record their schoolwork, listen to music, trade them to friends and
practice their English. He also sent an erasure so that they can clean them and use
them indefinitely. Ray reports that he received an email from Sister Nelida that she received the cassettes and sends her
thanks. NOTE: The following is from a newspaper in Trujillo. Telefonica Foundation [associated with Telefonica of Spain] recently donated twelve computers to the school. Ray Enstam believes that if FFD had not helped set up the original center at the school, Foundation Telefonica may not have gotten involved. Sister Nelida Orbegoso (Director of the Institute) told Ray that the many computers previously donated by FFD would still be
used in a separate classroom for the younger students and beginners before they move into the more advanced internet
classroom.
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| FF Southwest & FFI News Friendship Force Southwest Regional Conference Mark your calendar for the next FF SW Regional Conference - January 26-28, 2007, San Antonio, TX. Details will be coming later. Friendship Magazine Featured articles from Friendship are now available on-line! Check out: http://www.friendshipforce.org/Events/Features.html FF World Exchange Recruiter |