Quick Look

President's Message

Exchange Updates

Australia Exchange

Membership

President's Message

By the time you read this, the tricks will have been shown and the treats will have been eaten or shared. And we'll be getting ready to put another great year in the FF Dallas history books. 

Thanks to Paula Rose, Jim Bourn, Henny Houston, Cathy Ignatin, and Zia Shamsy for organizing and carrying out our international and domestic exchanges during 2010 [Haliburton Heights, Harrisburg PA, Northern Colorado, Central Montana, and Izmir Turkey]. Thanks also to all those who organized home & day hosts, were home & day hosts, planned events, lead outings, decorated and/or helped with the welcome & farewell parties, were ambassadors, and created & shared friendship building experiences. And to those who attended or presented at our meetings this year. All in the name of forming friendships near and far, exploring and understanding peoples and cultures near and far, and serving those in our clubs near and far.

You are the reason FF Dallas continues to thrive and grow and share. I truly appreciate the time and energy you've spent and most of all, the friendships that we share. 

As you may remember from the Sept meeting, we didn't have a nominee for Vice-President Membership. After the meeting, two people literally stepped up to fill that role. so, a BIG THANKS and WELCOME to Carolyn Williams, Patty Niemeyer, and Brud Kisner for volunteering to lead the membership committee for 2011. As we have seen in other parts of our club, a team/collaborative effort is sometimes needed. Carolyn and Patty are fairly new members and Brud is one of our club's founding members. If you have any membership questions or suggestions or ideas, contact any one of them.

Along with your 2010 Officers and Board of Directors, I look forward to another year filled with many more friendship building opportunities. 

Our outbound exchanges next year will take us far and wide - Melbourne & Tamworth Australia and San Francisco Bay Area, while an inbound from Ottawa Canada will allow us to further explore and understand our neighbors to the north (Paula and I met some of them last January when we went to Bogota, Colombia to deliver two computers for the blind and visually impaired). Your program committee is working creatively and collaboratively to present a wide array of programs, some new, some familiar. We'll also be planning more community interactions as well as several small group member outings. Have ideas for programs or events or outings?? Send them to me and I'll pass it along to the appropriate board member. 

Board officers and members have begun planning for next year. If you have ideas or suggestions for exchange events, programs, outings, finances, publicity, etc, contact any board member.

Also, I encourage you to invite to our meetings and events your friends, members of groups you are in, other organizations, etc. We have FF Dallas business cards that you can give them [it has space for your name and contact info]. 

So, join us and participate in our events and spread the friendship!

In friendship,

edward perez

Friendship Force Dallas Meetings 

October Meeting - Oct 10
The October meeting was small group dinners in homes. Hosts were Lee Latham, Peggy Benton and Ken Walker, Marty and Diana BeHannesey, and Pat and Frits Andeweg. We had 35 in all attending.

At dinner with Pat and Frits Andeweg, 

Betty Mayeur, Jim Bourn, Henry Foster, (guest), Annette Dempsey; Frits Andeweg

November Meeting - Nov 14, 1:30 - 4 pm (note time)
Chimneyhill Clubhouse, 9223 Emberglow, Dallas
Photo Exhibit: Guests from Fort Worth. Photo exhibit of FFDallas’ and FFFort Worth's exchange photos 

Catered BBQ from Dickey's (2 meats, 4 sides, 3 kinds of cobbler) tea, wine, beer
Program: Izmir Turkey exchange slides and presentation by Mary Latham and Darlene Primm; Zia Shamsy was the ED. See Events.

December Holiday Party - Dec 12 - 3 pm

Home of Darwin and Myra Smith - Swiss Ave (contact Paula for the location)

Bring snack food - pot luck. 

No charge, but reserve to Paula Rose by Dec 9th. Drinks (wine, cider etc) provided by club. See Events.

Exchange Updates

Ray Enstam

I have just returned from the International Conference of Friendship Force International in Washington, DC. With approximately 500 participants, it had the largest number of attendees ever. We welcomed delegates from new clubs in Albania, China Morocco and Nepal, as well as large delegations from recently formed clubs in Azerbaijan, Burundi and Indonesia wearing their traditional costumes. Friendship Force International has many exciting plans for the future including the continued formation of more clubs in new countries and the promotion of themed exchanges sponsored on a national rather than a club basis. These are exciting times!

Meanwhile, back here in Dallas, the outbound exchange to Melbourne and Tamsworth, Australia is proceeding on due course. Jim Bourn, the Exchange Director has now set the dates March 14 to April 3 of 2011 for the basic exchange, which includes the travel time to and from Australia. He has arranged for two possible optional side trips, which could extend those dates for those electing one or the other. To sign up or to get more information, please contact Jim Bourn {(H) 972-699-7627, (C) 214-789-4555} 

The inbound from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada has now been set for April 27 to May 4, 2011, so mark your calendars and save the date to welcome our friends from Canada. Mary Williams is working diligently on arranging that, so stay tuned for more information. We need hosts, day hosts and volunteers (welcome and farewell parties, day planners) - please contact Mary Williams if you would like to help with the Ottawa Exchange. 

The international exchanges for 2012 have not yet been announced, but we expect to hear about those in late January 2011. Again, stay tuned in!

Except for the outbound to San Francisco, Exchange Directors have not yet been selected for any of the upcoming domestic exchanges. Please contact Dale Klosterman for more information. Hopefully we can have another Exchange Director training session in 2011. FFI has developed a new manual for Exchange Directors, available here. For the inbound exchange from Ottawa we will need hosts, day hosts and other volunteers (welcome and farewell parties, day planners). Please contact Mary Williams at txtravel@flash.net if you would like to help.

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Domestic Exchanges

Dale Klosterman

For 2011:

For 2012 :

Please contact Dale Klosterman at daleklosterman@sbcglobal.net if you are willing to take any of these Exchange Director positions. Without the participation of our members, we cannot offer these exchanges! As well as local help and mentoring, there is an Exchange Director's Manual available online at::
http://www2.friendshipforce.org/forms/exchanges/Exchange_Director_Manual_2010.pdf

Mary Williams has a printed copy.

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Melbourne and Tamworth Australia Outbound Exchange

The dates for the Australian outbound exchange are Monday March 14 - Sunday April 3, 2011 - 21 days that include two homestays and a 4-day Sydney stay. There is an optional pre-tour to Hobart and an optional post-tour to Cairns available as well.

See more information including itineraries, air travel options, and costs for the exchange and optional tours. Both clubs can accommodate 20 ambassadors. Applications are now available. If you are interested, contact Exchange Director: Jim Bourn - airbourn@tx.rr.com; he will send you an Ambassador Application Form, and individual data and emergency forms. You will need to supply a copy of your passport to get an Australian Visa (costs about $25).

Ottawa Inbound Exchange

Our inbound exchange dates from Ottawa, Canada have been set for April 27- May 4, 2011. Mary Williams has been named Exchange Director for Dallas, with Pierrette Benoit the ED from Ottawa. We made some wonderful new friends from Ottawa at the recent FFI conference in Washington, DC and we look forward to showing them a wonderful visit in our city.  Mary is looking for volunteers to be in charge of home hosts, day hosts, welcome party, farewell party, various day trips, welcome bags, and small group dinners. Please contact Mary at txtravel@flash.net if you would like to be a part of this exchange. There will be a planning meeting on Monday Dec 6, 7 pm at Mary's home for all those interested in volunteering.

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Membership

Membership Update

The club now has a total membership of 105. Please welcome our new members since the May - June newsletter report: 

• Virginia de la Garza
• Dot Marchesano

Membership Renewal

The deadline for membership renewal for 2011 is December 15, 2010. We must transmit the fees and member records to Friendship Force International (FFI). Your Membership Renewal Form will be sent by separate E-mail. By renewing your membership in the Friendship Force of Dallas now, you will continue to be a part of the Friendship Force International organization, and the Dallas club, one of the outstanding clubs in the entire organization. If you would like to join and do not have a form, contact Brud Kisner - bkisner@sbcglobal.net

Some of the benefits of membership:

Greater Izmir Turkey Exchange

October 7-24, 2010

Zia Shamsy, Exchange Director

Trip report and photos by Mary Latham

When your hosts take you to the spa to relax after a long bus tour, you know you are in good hands. That’s exactly what our hosts in Izmir did. We went for a refreshing dip in the thermal spring waters where Agamemnon sent his troops who were wounded during the siege of Troy. But that was only the start. The warm hospitality continued.

We toured the City of Izmir and were welcomed by the mayor who presented gifts to us. Then it was on St. Policarp Church and a visit with the Turkish American Association. We then drove with our hosts for an overnight excursion to Karsryaka and a tour of the Roman ruins of Ephesus and the surrounding area. Restoration is still underway at Ephesus but the work that has been completed is
impressive. We roamed among ruins and tried to image being in the city during the height of the Roman Empire, walking the same streets as emperors and soldiers and the disciples Paul and John.

Library of Celsus at Ephesus.
In the 1st century BC Ephesus was the second largest city in the world (behind Rome)

Cathy Ignatin

Roger and Sandy Kaiser
Mary Latham
Sheila Ledenham
- Watkinsville, Georgia
Stan and Taylor Stephens-
Parker
Darlene Primm
Samylu Rubin
Audrey Schlecht
Zia Shamsy (ED)
Ed and Dora Stahl
Lillie White
Mary Wilson

“Paradise on Earth” wall at Mary’s spring

Later we visited the Basilica of St. John in Selcuk which was surrounded and protected by a stone fortress. The Basilica and fort are near a museum where many of the treasures from Ephesus are on display. Our last day with the Izmir club was spent in the seaside village of Cesme enjoying a leisurely lunch and visiting with our host families while watching the boats come in and go out of the harbor. 

Izmir surrounds a bay is on the Aegean Sea coast with the brightest blue water you can imagine. The blue is so bright and vivid you have to keep reminding yourself that it is real. The farewell party was held in a restaurant in a tower overlooking the city and the bay. We could see the deep blue of the water and sunset sky of yellow, peach and orange- a perfect ending to our visit with the Izmir Club.

Of course this doesn’t cover all the things we did with our friends in Izmir but gives you a peek at the wonderful exchange. 

Here is a song the Ambassadors sang to our hosts in Izmir to express our feeling and thanks for the wonderful experiences we had on this exchange.

Turkish Delights  (Sung to the tune of “My Favorite Things”)
Sarays of sultans and vaulted tiled mosques
Soaring Minarets and callings for prayer
Riches of culture as old as mankind
These are the things that we keep in our minds!
Lush Harem quarters with echoes of laughter
Caravan sarays with tired old traders
Cave homes and chapels carved out of rock
Not enough minutes we find in our clock!
Rich saffron spices more precious than gold
Carpets and Kilims that last forever
One thousand wares tumbling out of bazaars
Memories we’re making as brings as the stars!
Bosporus cruise straddling Asia and Europe
Hot air balloons over bewitching chimneys
Dervish monks whirling on with a chant
We’d like to stay here but know that we can’t!
Cloudy Raki downed with fish and mezes
Red apple chai in tulip-shaped glasses
Donors and yogurt and Turkish Delight
That why the waists or our pants are so tight!
Cute kids and wise folks, a vibrant mosaic
Warm smiling faces--hospitable people
Backgammon players--shrewd bargain dealers
These to our hearts are the best of all healers!
Gentle wise planner stepped in Farsi teachings
Scholarly Recep with zest and wry humor
Skilled driver, caring considerate man
With these three fellows we are in good hands!
When the bags get lost
When the cough comes (cough, cough, cough)
When everyone disappears
We simply remember our Turkish delights
And think of our friends right here!

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The tour

But before we arrived in Izmir we toured Turkey, including Istanbul, the only city on two continents —Europe and Asia. We toured the Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia, and Topakpi. We cruised the Bosporus from the center of Istanbul to its mouth with the Black Sea. 

Then we were off to Anakara, the capital of Turkey and a tour of central Turkey.

Preparing to ride hot air balloons over Cappadocia

In Cappadocia we soared above the fairy chimneys in hot air balloons, crawled through an underground city and relaxed in charming villages of houses carved from the surrounding rocks. We wander through the Goreme Outdoor Museum of rock carved monasteries and chapels with remarkably preserved frescos. We joined the Whirling Dervishes for of their services and marveled as they gracefully moved around the floor in a trance.

Next we visited Konya the site of Melvana Rumi’s last home and tomb at the Turquoise mosque and saw many people on pilgrimages to this site. We stopped at a caravan saray, one of a number of rest stops placed nine hours by camel travel time apart along the Silk Road. Then it was time to head to the Mediterranean coast at Antalya, the Riviera of the Turkey. 

Antalya was quite a contrast to Konya. Konya is one of the most religiously conservative areas of Turkey and Antalya was much more secular with visitors from all over Europe and Russia who come for the beaches, mountain getaways and spectacular scenery. In Antalya we visited the ruins of Perge and the Archeological Museum. Our hotel was on a cliff and everyone had views of the Mediterranean Sea and the harbor.

The next day it was on to Pamukkale and the cotton castle travertine with pools from the thermal mineral springs adjacent to the remains of the Hierapolis, a Roman city destroyed by an earthquake.
After an evening of swimming in the thermal pools at our hotel, we started the last leg our tour and headed for Izmir. Along the way, we stopped at Afrodisias, another ruin being excavated and restored and the adjoining museum. This site was discovered in the 1950’s by two men on a motorcycle tour. They found a farming village where residents were using the empty sarcophagi to make wine and columns and other pieces of stone from Afrodisia to construct their buildings. The site is now preserved; the villagers relocated to another site although there is still evidence of their presence on the grounds. 

Of course, we have the obligatory shopping excursions for carpets, jewelry, pottery and leather goods which tempted us all--some more than others. We could not have asked for a better exchange or more warm welcome from the Izmir club. We left with sadness but invitations to our host and the Izmir club to join us in Dallas so that we can return the hospitality. 

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A Visit to Turkiye's Library for the Visually Handicapped

Taylor Stephens-Parker and John Hostettler

FFDallas Bridge Builders purchased two computers, modified by Bob Langford’s organization for use by the visually handicapped, and donated them to the library. Zia was responsible for delivering them. In order to deliver the 2 computers donated to this library, we visited this small library in Izmir.

Zia Shamsy recruited Stan Parker for help in getting them there. This library is the ONLY Library for the blind in Turkey!! Amazingly, there is no government support for this library----only private donations from interested persons keep their equipment working! The only other resource for the blind is the Turkan Sabanci Primary School and Vocational School for the Blind in Istanbul. 

Zia Shamsy with the library’s printers 

for Braille books and magazines

 Cathy Ignatin, Oya Yazgan 

 (Library Director), Leo Durst,

 David Horley (Canada) with our donated computers

Volunteer reader 

recording a book

The staff prepared Turkish tea and Turkish Delight for all of us who were gathered (about 12 of us) in the waiting room. You already know that tea is a must before you get down to business! Hospitality must be EVERY Turk’s middle name! 

Tulin Aksuner (president of the Greater Izmir 

Friendship Force Club) and Oya Yazgan 

(director of the Library in Izmir)

The Library was started 6 years ago by Guttekin Yazgan, a blind lawyer, because there were NO services for the blind. Now 84 yrs old, his niece, Oya Yazgan, has become the Director of the Library. Their purpose is to produce Talking Books on CD and Braille books and magazines in Turkish for global distribution. Computer courses are offered for the blind. Volunteer readers record books (novels, textbooks, etc). One CD can hold a 500 page novel. The reading speed is about 20 pages per hour, depending on the reader. At that rate, five-hundred pages would take about 25 hours of reading! 

In the process the CD is proofed for clarity of articulation and accuracy using earphones and a visual display of the sound wave spectrum by staff. Empty spaces created by the reader’s pauses are erased. There are over 200 volunteers who donate their time to read the books. One of their donors provides postage for about 2000 CDs each month, which is a real help to the Library. 

The Library also publishes three magazines by Braille printer. These are “The Little Honeybee”, which is appropriate for 1st thru 4th graders; “Honeybee” is for 5th to 8th graders, and “Friends” is for adults. Global Distribution is approximately 200 per month. About six students come for 2 hours a day, 2 days a week for six weeks in order to learn how to utilize the computers. 

Books are also generated by a Braille printer. These include textbooks to support students enrolled in various courses, (e.g., in English and in mathematics). Even though blind students are mixed into the public school system, they are without textbooks! 

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