Activities January - June 2008

THE JUNE GENERAL MEETING

Date: Thursday 12th June

Time: 10.30 am

Venue: Please contact Hospitality Officer

Cost: Members € 35 Guests €40

Programme: OLIVE TREES, OLIVES AND OLIVE OIL – everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask! Pantelis Tsouris will be speaking about olive trees, olives and olive oil. Initially, the history of the tree in Greece and its products will be outlined. Information will be presented on the different olive tree varieties noting the different properties that they have and their ability to grow at different environments and places. The talk will then concentrate on the olive oil itself. Briefly the nutrient properties of olive oil will be outlined and also its different uses. Special references will be given to different olive oils that can be found in the market. Finally, the presentation will close with a basic olive oil tasting session of different olive oils that can be found in the market hoping to pin point the difference in taste as a result of different olive variety and extraction process.

There will be a competition (with PRIZES!!!) for the best olive wreath or olive inspired decoration or costume – put your imagination to work and enter into the spirit of our wonderful program me so much part of Greek culture and heritage and, indeed, everyday life!

JUNE GENERAL MEETING DEADLINE IS MONDAY JUNE 9TH BY 5:00 PM Members who do not notify their absence by this date will be charged for the meeting.

TO NOTIFY IF UNABLE TO ATTEND Anna Amariotaki-Papachristou, Maria Freitas or Monika Kakaras

APOLOGIES BY E-MAIL AND SMS

Please make sure you receive an acknowledgment message when sending your apology by e-mail or SMS.

Messages do get lost in cyberspace and, this happens more frequently than we would like to. Messages pass through filters and can be diverted, and even deleted when they pass providers’ main ‘knots’ if they are suspicious of containing viruses.

E-mails and SMS apologies are an extra available tool for members in order to make their lives easier. However, it is their responsibility to ensure that the message has been delivered.

If you don’t receive an acknowledgment message back within 24h, this means your message has not go through. This also means that you should reconfirm that your apology has been taken.

The acknowledgment message is standard and reads like this: “Thank you for your message. Your apology has been taken and will be forwarded to the Membership Officer.We hope to see you at the next meeting”.

Remember, you will be counted as non-apology and charged for the meeting if you apology doesn’t reach us in time.

BUS FOR THIS MEETING There will not be a bus for this meeting in Halandri.

TO REGISTER GUESTS Please call by Monday, 9th June 2008. Please inform full name, country and who is sponsoring.

Friendly Reminders

General Meetings Please call only at the times requested and within the deadline to notify if you are unable to attend. Remember you will be charged if you can't turn up and haven't called in time. Bus Please abide by the booking deadline, otherwise you will be charged for this also. Special Wednesdays Please remember that you must pay in advance or you will forfeit your place. It will not be possible for you to be reimbursed, or for your place to be given to a friend as there are always many other members already on the waiting list. Mobile Telephones Please remember to turn off your telephones at the start of meetings as il can obviously be very unsettling for anyone who is speaking or giving a lecture or recital. Name Tags Please remember to return your nametags at the end of the meeting. If one is misplaced, extra time and money has to be spent to make a new one. Guests To avoid embarrassment, please make sure that you pay for your guests, or that they understand they will have to pay. If they don't come you will be asked to pay.

Thank you for all your help and cooperation so that the Club can run more smoothly.

COMMUNITY NEWS AND EVENTS

13th-23th March Our member, the artist Zoe Diamantopoulou, is having an exhibition of her work in oils, water colours and pastels, at the Municipality of Athens Cultural Centre (Pnevmatiko Kentro Dimos Athinon) at Acadimias 50 from 13-23 March. You are invited to the opening on the 13th at 19.30. The Title of her show is “Polichromia Eikonon Zois” (Pictures of Life’s many Colours). Zoe has had 10 previous exhibitions and the proceeds from this one will be donated to an old peoples’ home and the fund for neutering Athens’ stray dogs.

Monday 31st March at 20.30 For Venue, please contact Activities Officer Recital of Schumann, Fauré, Rachmaninof, Di Giusto Collaboration between Turkish and Greek musicians under the auspices of the Turkish Consul General. Tickets at € 10-15

Tuesday 1st April at 20.30 (until 5th April) For Venue, please contact Activities Officer Painting Exhibition “Journey into the Light”, under the auspices of the Vorres Museum and the Turkish Consul General, jointly by Marie Perrakis and Oznur Cevik. There will be a recital of piano and viola music during the opening.

Over the years, many of us have experienced the exhilaration of Gina Veale’s Song and Dance Shows – this is her latest – not to be missed! MAGICAL DREAMS – A Song and Dance Show. Annually, since the spring of 2006, a group of senior students from St Catherine’s British Embassy School and other Athens’ schools has very successfully staged a ‘Song and Dance’ show at various locations in the Attica area giving performances in orphanages, old peoples’ homes and children’s’ hospitals. Each year the ‘finale’ takes the form of a Gala Performance at St. Catherine’s British Embassy School. All proceeds from the Gala have been given to a worthwhile cause and 2008 will be no exception. The 2008 show is entitled ‘MAGICAL DREAMS’ ( A Song and Dance Show ) Gala Performance: Monday, 7th April 2008 - 7.30pm at For Venue, please contact Activities Officer

PLEASE SUPPORT – Come to the Gala Performances. All proceeds will be donated to worthwhile cause. Tickets donation: €. 10 Adults; € 5 Students. (Tickets also available at ‘the Door’) Enquiries and Tickets: Elaine Veale

Please let Jeaneth know if you wish something of interest to our members published in upcoming Newsletters.

INFOTEL: CONTACT INFORMATION BY TELEPHONE

This service for all our members is a liaison for various Ministries and SOS doctors, UNICEF, Hellenic Red Cross, Mother Theresa for Refugees, Orphanage in Nea Makri and animal welfare groups.

SOS Doctors 24 hour emergency service including all holidays-Telephone number is 1016. They also offer X-rays at home for very ill patients.

For information call Joy Markopoulou

PS from the Membership Officer: We have dispensed with the Membership Cards that used to be issued with your receipt for the Annual Dues. If you require identification at any venue, you will be asked to bring your ID or passport.

Congratulations and good luck to all the 2008 Vassilopita winners:

1. Preetee Bhagat 2. Laurence Forlano Kallergis 3. Anthea Gavoyannis 4. Marianne Georgopoulos 5. Dorothea Kalantzakos 6. Rania Kouloukakos 7. Edda Malios 8. Eileen Melissaropoulos 9. Denise Nairn 10. Avgi Pandehi 11. Tassoula Papakirillou 12. Olga Roupas 13. Leopoldine Theophanopoulos 14. Eva Veloudakis

Thank you to our clever Corresponding Secretary who arranged for the jewelry designer, Pasquale Penna (pasqpenn@yahoo.it), to generously donate the WIC Athena 2008 silver coins and the silver heart handbag charms for the Vassilopita winners. We are extremely grateful to him and send him our sincere thanks.

The International Women’s Club Sarajevo is organizing a WALK FOR LIFE, a walkathlon for breast cancer that is the first ever in Bosnia & Hercegovina and is the culmination of a fundraiser for the Club’s biggest project call Project Mammogram. What is Project Mammogram? It involves the purchase of one Siemens mammogram machine for the Institute for Health Protection of Women & Motherhood, a primary care hospital focusing on women's health and maternal care. We chose to espouse this cause because Bosnia has one of the highest, if not the highest incidence of breast cancer cases in the Balkans. For a population of under 4 million, 15% average is alarming statistics. What more, we see the rise of breast cancer occurring in women way younger than the average statistical age. The war in Bosnia has been over for 14 years. Sadly, the health sector has not caught up. Bosnia has only about 15 mammogram machines in government hospitalsover the country - half of which are obsolete models. The average waiting time before a woman can have a mammogram is 6 months. Worst, the law does not provide for annual mammogram screening. It is left to its decentralized Ministries of Health to initiate a screening and awareness campaign. One machine is not enough - but, it is the first step and we at IWCS, are taking that crucial step.

We invite you to join in our crusade. We invite those who are in neighboring countries to come and join the walk fielding your own team. If you so wish, we would also welcome donors. Bosnia's population is poor. For some, the KM 10 (Euro5) registration fee can already mean a hot meal for the family.

This can be an event that can bring us together in the spirit of mutual sharing, friendship and camaraderie.

Cheryl Romano co-President, IWCS If anyone is interested in participating in this splendid event or donating to their project, please contact Maria Freitas, our International Coordinator, or Bridget. Wouldn’t it be GREAT to send a delegation from Athens to support their efforts!

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The WIC of Athens website was launched under the Presidency of Mrs Sana Cherfan in 2005 in a coordinate effort with Dr. Maria Freitas.

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