As you may be aware, the General Assembly in Barcelona voted to create SERVAS YOUTH to continue the  great work of many people developing the youth project within Servas.

After Barcelona, a lot of good and hard work was done and these reports are on the SERVAS FORUM (go to "Servas Vision" then "Servas Youth"). Please take a minute to visit it and you are most welcome to share your input there!

Now SERVAS YOUTH is ready to share some great news:

Patagonia 2006

Working hard with the help of SERVAS Argentina, the first international youth conference in the southern hemisphere was held January 15 to 22, 2006. PATAGONIA '06 took place at Bariloche in the heart of the Argentinean Patagonia. The landscape was simply amazing, you can go here to see the place of our meeting. (Bariloche photos 1 2 3 4.) Our focus was not on the landscape, that's clear, but it helped.

As you already know, SERVAS YOUTH is not only for people under their 30s, if you are interested in the youth issues and want to help us and develop the youth project in Servas, you don't need to be a teenager.

This youth meeting helped us a lot to continue developing the position of the youth in SERVAS and at the same time to grow as people. There were three different topics during the meeting. The specific topic of Youth in Servas: how to develop the youth position, how to reach more young people, the programs that we are already doing and how to make them grow, how can we help developing the local activities in our national group, and how to get the youth involved, new programs that we can start implementing, and everything linked to the Youth issue inside Servas.

There was also workshops about different subjects, like Spanish lessons, arts, and regionals, and at last some short tourist trips and walks. The landscape was so marvelous: mountains, lakes, woods, everything was there.

I need to ask you for something: Please, help me spread the news. Put the info in your national web sites, or send it to your national secretaries, (or maybe you are a National Secretary, if so, please share it with the Servas members in your own country), you can also send it to any servas friend of yours, that you know could be interested in the youth issue.

I'm counting on your help! Goodbye for now and hope to see you soon!

In peace.
Espero que tu mundo este girando lindo, un abrazo.

Pablo Chufeni
–SERVAS INTERNATIONAL YOUTH CO-ORDINATOR

Other Links:

Pablo interviewed by Travel and Transitions