By Chuck Johnson, President
Next on the agenda for Friendship Force of Charlottesville will be the general meeting of the membership on Tuesday, March 9, at the JAG School. The meeting will begin at 6:30. Some of us will get together informally for dinner at 5:00 PM at Wild Greens restaurant in Barracks Road North. We welcome all members to join us there. Wild Greens has plenty of space.
Our featured speaker will be Carolyn Laquatra, Office Manager, International Studies Office at UVA. She will give us an overview of the International Studies programs at the University. Everyone should find this informative, even those of you who already have had some contacts with the University's international programs. Also on the agenda will be the second session of our tutorial program on exchanges. The topic for this meeting will be "Home Hosting."
The business portion of the meeting will include updates on the joint inbound exchange with San Diego and Calgary during the third week in April, and the outbound exchange to Turrialba, Costa Rica in September 2004. And don't forget to bring books that you can donate to the Winneba, Ghana library project (see the article by Cheryl Kasper in this issue of The Ambassador).
We welcome as new members to the club Bill and Phyllis Stewart of Earlysville and Sam Forrest of Louisa. Please introduce yourself to them at the March meeting. If you have any member prospects, they are welcome to come to the March meeting. Please let me know their names in advance so the can be added to the list at the security desk.
Results of the survey of your outbound exchange preferences for 2005 are in and here they are. Your top three choices of areas to visit are Western Europe, Central and South America and Eastern and Central Europe in that order.
The countries preferred in each of those areas are:
Western Europe: Sweden, Norway, Cyprus, Netherlands
Central and South America: Peru, Chile
Eastern and Central Europe: Russia, Austria
These preferences have been submitted to Atlanta. Now we wait with fingers crossed.
Calgary/San Diego Exchange, April 18-23
By Arlene Bandy & Rita Stoll
Plans for the incoming exchange from Calgary and San Diego are moving ahead.
The committee has information and a tentative schedule as follows:
Eighteen guests are expected from Calgary and fifteen guests from San Diego.
The Ambassadors from Calgary plan to fly to Richmond on April 18 and travel by van
to the Lake. Travel plans from San Diego are less certain at this time. As of
this article, the agenda is as follows:
Monday-April 19
Cheryl Kasper and Kathy Saurman are planning welcoming day activities which
include meeting with Charlottesville Mayor at 11:00 and a brunch at Christ Church
at 12:00.
Tuesday -April 20
Shirley and John Webster are planning for visits to the Academical Village Gardens
in the A.M. and Morven Gardens in P.M.
Wednesday-April 21
Free Day
Thursday-April 22
Friendly Gardens (250 West)
Small dinner parties in evening
Friday-April 23
Monticello (early tour)
Lunch on your own
Boat Rides at LM
Lake Monticello Clubhouse for Farewell Dinner. Babs Fickes and committee are
making these plans.
Because 16 of our club members did travel to San Diego in October, 2003, I know
you are anxious to learn the names of Ambassadors coming to Charlottesville. They
are Shirley Jobb, Jean and John Van Arsdale, Marilyn St. John, Bonnie Andrews, Jim
and Jacqueline Dowdy, Marilyn Hagen, Chuck and Julie Bras, Wanda Goeken, Virginia
Meyers, Helen Gagliardi, and Jim and Annelise Caraher. We look forward to seeing
them again.
At the time this article is being typed, we have not received the names of
Ambassadors from Calgary. Hopefully we will have the names and home hosts assigned
soon, so we can make a final effort to complete day hosts and small dinner parties
during our next regular meeting in March.
Charles Spreadbury, ED from Calgary wrote in his last e-mail that they had survived
the super cold weather of minus 35 C with wind chill factor to minus 48 C. They should
be ready for some Virginia April weather.
Help Winneba Read
By Cheryl Kasper
Nana Ghartey was the guest speaker at the January 2004 FFC meeting. His
topic was the need for books and a library in Winneba, Ghana, his hometown.
Winneba, a city with 13 schools and a University, has no adequate library and the
literacy rate in Ghana is extremely low. Nana is hoping to change that! His dream
is to create a library and computer center that will be stocked with everything from
"baby bedtime books to space books." He is also planning to refurbish computers and
is seeking funds for shipping the books and building a facility.
The FFC Board has decided to support this very worthwhile project with a donation
from our scholarship fund. We are also asking FFC members to contribute books or
donations. You can bring your books and checks to the meeting at the JAG School on
March 9. If you have a large quantity of books or a computer (boxed if possible)
to donate, please drop them off at the Christ Episcopal Church office at Jefferson
and 2nd St. E between 9 am-5 pm Mon.-Fri. The church is storing books for Nana's
project. If you wish to write a check, please make it out to VOP-Help Winneba
Read, 703 Concord Ave., Charlottesville, VA 22901, or bring it to the March 9th meeting.
How better can we meet our Friendship Force goals of promoting peace and friendship
throughout the world than by helping people become literate and educated!
Olive Kasinoff Needs Your Prayers
By Ken Smith
Olive Kasinoff is in the Intensive Care Unit at Martha Jefferson Hospital in a
coma. Olive's internal systems were "shutting down" according to reports from her
family. The did not appear to be much hope for her to turn things around. But Olive
is a fighter! We received a good report from her family on March 2nd.
Olive is not out of the coma yet, but her vital signs are much improved. Olive
and her family covet your prayers. Please send cards and direct phone calls to Olive's
home. The address is: 54 Jennings Drive, Palmyra 22963, and the phone number is
434 589-9694.
The Ambassador
Friendship Force of Charlottesville, Virginia
Kenneth G. Smith, Editor
9 Leisure Court
Lake Monticello, VA 22963
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