Dick Lyons and Andres Puky provided an update on the upcoming Open World program. The Rotary Open World program was established in 1999 and designed to foster cultural and political ties with Russia and other countries of the post-Soviet region. Longmont Rotary has hosted 18 delegations since the programs inception. This October Longmont Rotary will be hosting a team of five delegates from Serbia with the focus on education. On their application they stated, "Serbia needs to prepare its youth, especially girls, for new jobs that will be created in STEM fields. Fostering the development of STEM skills and competencies for college, career, and life will assist in combatting the "brain drain" in Serbia." Our club Open World committee has taken on the charge to host this latest delegation, coordinating the appropriate sites to visit, along with opportunities for information exchange. The club provides complimentary housing for our guests during this 10 day event . The Serbian delegation will visit October 13-21st.
To prepare our club for this upcoming visit, Dick offered a brief history lesson on Serbia along with some present day facts. He closed his remarks with how to say a "good-day" greeting-- "Dobra Den", also advising us on how to properly pronounce Nicola Jokic. And he suggested we not ask about Kosovo or their nice bridges (had to be there) ;-)