 Newsletter
Working Together To Create The Friendship Force Of The Future
Now , more than ever, the global community needs the healing power of friendship. The world remains divided, and barriers of misunderstanding can lead to fear, hatred and conflict .By joining the friends all over the world, the Friendship Force reinforces their common humanity and celebrates differences of color, culture, language, food and customs. Friendship Force International offers a growing number of exchanges based on specific themes:
Professional Exchanges link teachers, farmers, doctors and others according to their occupation
Youth and Family exchanges offer every member of the family the opportunity to share a Friendship Force experience.
Hobby Exchanges allow Ambassadors to travel together around common interests such as gardening , sports, antiquing, music, dancing.
Humanitarian Exchanges link people who are motivated by helping others through service and the sharing of resources and expertise.
2007 International Conference
The annual Friendship Force International Conference was held in Atlanta March 1,2007 to coincide with FFI’s 30th anniversary. From our FFI club I, Farahim Sadigov, Mahbuba Islamova, Sevinj Ibrahimova, Maryam Azizova participated at the conference. We attended workshops, toured the FFI offices and heard from some of FFI’s newest board members.
The 2007 conference began with the sold-out Leadership Development Seminar ”Training the Friendship Force ED of the Future. Those that attended the seminar received a copy of the new ED training DVD and a draft- copy of the updated Outbound Exchange Director Guide. The seminar received great reviews from attendees.
We also took tours of Atlanta’s most popular attractions including the CNN Center and the Martin Luther King, Jr. historical site.
The second day of the conference started with a warm welcome from FFI President George Brown and Friendship Force of Greater Atlanta President John Wilhelm. George introduced the FFI Board of Directors including the three newest members Arifin Mochtar, Sherry Mueller and Mary Suther. Sherry Mueller, the current president of the National Council of International Visitors(NCIV), gave a speech ;titled” Citizen Diplomacy for the 21st Century”.
At the opening plenary, conference delegates were introduced by country .A total of 28 countries were represented from countries as far away as Indonesia, Azerbaijan and Nepal. I took the floor and spoke about our FFI, told 3 short poems :
All know, that you are mine.
You are my heart, my shrine.
My native land ,ever shine!
You are my heart, I am your son,
Azerbaijan, Azerbaijan!
Azerbaijan-our life,
True friends-our wings.
May we spend all the days,
In the surroundings of friends.
True friends are there,
In good times and bad.
When they are joyful,
And when they are sad..
I was very happy, that FFI members from 28 countries applauded me a lot
At the end I presented George Brown and FFI boardmembers our gifts-souvenirs, 100 newspapers , with my article in them, introduced conference attendees our Novruz cookies..
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Albuquerque, located in a high-altitude desert, has the Rio Grande running through the middle of town. To the east of the Park are the 10,678 foot-high Sandia Mountains and ancient volcanic cones are to the west. This geography creates a special effect called the “box”, where wind currents allow pilots to fly in almost any direction, sometimes landing right back where they started .Albuquerque’s high-desert location also translates into endless blue skies, great visibility and crisp mornings warming up to pleasant afternoons.
It was very interesting for me to participate at the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta- the biggest and best gathering of hot air balloons anywhere on this planet I arrived in Albuquerque ,New Mexico on the 9-th of October, 2007.My new friend Gail Beck met me at the airport and took me to the Marriott hotel. I stayed there for a week. Every day our friends took us to see the beautiful scenary of Balloon Fiesta. Early in the morning , after I was warmed up with a breakfast burrito and a steaming cup of hot chocolate, I walked right onto the grass field and became part of the action.I saw that , Balloon Fiesta was an amazingly diverse event that brings together huge numbers of balloons and pilots from all over the world.
Written by Solmaz Kazimova
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