A few years back, AEGEE-Dresden was erased from the list of antennae. Luckily, in the beginning of 2014, it became a Contact of AEGEE-Europe again and just a few days ago, Dresden was officially promoted to Contact Antenna at Agora Cagliari. Although these events are quite recent and the number of active members is limited, Dresden managed to build up a very successful Buddy Program for international students. The AEGEEan talked to Ingo Kaiser, current treasurer of the contact antenna, about the history and plans of AEGEE-Dresden and especially about their extraordinary Buddy Program.

In 2003 already, AEGEE-Dresden was established but became inactive seven years later due to a lack of active members. When Ingo Kaiser, by then already an experienced AEGEE member because of his work in AEGEE-Aachen, moved to Dresden in the beginning of 2014, he was very pleased when he found out that Jorge Sánchez Hernández, from AEGEE-Alicante, had registered a Contact of AEGEE-Europe in Dresden just a few weeks before. That was the first step to reviving AEGEE-Dresden! “We worked very hard in the last few months to start activities, gain members, transfer the old registered association from 2003 from the old board to the recent one, get funding from the University and prepare everything for the signing of the Convention d’Adhésion at Agora Cagliari”, Ingo tells us.

It was not an easy task to revive the old antenna, because they were lacking members and therefore were running out of time every single day. They had to deal with quite a number of obstacles, the biggest one being such a small thing as the name of the contact. While there actually was no such thing as AEGEE-Dresden in terms of AEGEE-Europe (by then, there was only a contact and AEGEEans in Dresden therefore should not use the scheme “AEGEE-cityname”), the registered association “AEGEE-Dresden e.V.” still existed on paper and the name was used. A situation which was quite confusing: “I think, I personally had to invest more time in discussing this specific topic, which is not covered by the CIA, with the Network Commission, Juridical Commission and the Comité Directeur than any other AEGEE-related topic in the last month”. In fact, during Agora Cagliari, a motion by the Comité Directeur and the Network Commission was proposed, in order to clarify the linkage that Contacts have with AEGEE-Europe.

Nevertheless, the process of becoming an official antenna is doing well right now. One aspect which helped a lot was the fact that both Ingo and Jorge were already experienced members who had a lot of contacts all over the Network. By now, the contact antenna has around eleven new and active members. And even some more people are helping them to organize the Buddy Program, a project which is quite extraordinary, especially taking into account how recently the contact antenna was re-founded and that there are not so many active members.

The idea behind the Buddy Program is easy. It is a program which brings together local and international students who come to Dresden to study at one of the Universities. Their two aims are to give the internationals a good and easy start in the city and to give the local students the chance to experience a more international flair “so they want to join AEGEE”, Ingo says smilingly. The idea of such a program came up quite instantly since Dresden was missing such a program when Jorge first came to the city. Later they found out that one of the very first International Buddy Programs in Germany was introduced in Dresden back in 2001 and that it had even won several prizes. Ingo explains the further process: “We were able to contact the “old” organizers of that program and even got a very nice and active new member that way”, meaning Nora, the current secretary of the contact antenna. Within the Buddy Program, many events are happening. The most successful idea was an event called “International Night” which took place only a few weeks ago. The concept resembles that of a European Night, only that is was even more international. More than 120 people attended. All in all, there are almost 400 international students taking part in the Buddy Program at the moment.

That so many people find out about AEGEE-Dresden is surely due to good advertisement. The AEGEE Contact Antenna advertises mainly on their own website and – very successfully – on Facebook, but also within the university on digital screens and on print media such as flyers. “We even got featured in several of the smaller newspapers”, says Ingo. Nevertheless, one of the biggest supporters and also advertisers is the University of Dresden. While normally the members of AEGEE approach the University and ask for help, it was different in their case: “They were approaching us with ideas of how to promote our association. I had never experienced it in this way, only the other way around”, says Ingo. For example, the University’s International Office sent the Buddy Program flyers to all the new international students together with the acceptance letters via postal service. Therefore, they actually reached 100% of the internationals, which was just “awesome”.

The Buddy Program works well, one can conclude. In terms of winning new members for their antenna, the internationals are not the main target audience though. Instead, the main target group are the local students, the local Buddies. “By organizing nice events, like all the stuff happening in the Buddy Program right now, we want to link them to AEGEE and the European idea. And – it works. The Buddy Program is a good magnet for getting new active members”, Ingo tells us. One can be sure that they will have no problems growing to a bigger local in no time.

Even though the Buddy Program is obviously a very big and successful project, it is not the only thing that the contact antenna has planned: Soon, a Regional Training Course (RTC) will take place in Dresden from 11th to 14th December. It will be a four day all-included training course for 25 local students and AEGEEans, and it will be the first international event for them.

AEGEE-Dresden seems more than motivated and obviously they manage to transform their motivation into actual success! And for all the support they got on their way they want to say thanks: “I want to thank all the people that made AEGEE-Dresden coming to life again and constantly support us, including the members of the old AEGEE-Dresden who we call “Dinos” and dedicated our mascot to, DresDino. My biggest wish for the future is that AEGEE stays alive here in Dresden.”

Written by Katja Sontag, AEGEE-Aachen

As you might know, four new locals signed the Convention d’Adhésion in the last Spring Agora Enschede: AEGEE-Sumqayit, AEGEE-Lanzarote, AEGEE-Sevilla, and AEGEE-Rostov-na-Donu. Let us focus our attention on a beautiful town in Andalucía, Spain: Sevilla!

You might know Seville, the capital of the autonomous community of Andalucía, for the beauty of its university founded in 1505, or for the numerous bars where you can go to see a typical dance like sevillanas while eating some nice tapas. But now you have a new reason to like this city even more: a new local has been created there with nice and very motivated members.

Who are they?

The board is composed by Andrés Monge Moreno (President), Miguel Fernández García (Treasurer), and Lorena Cortés Silva (Secretary) and they can count on the help of Kornelia Mazurczyk who is also an active member of AEGEE-Sevilla and comes from Poland.

It is not their first experience in AEGEE: in fact, Miguel was member of AEGEE-Las Palmas, and Lorena of AEGEE-Valencia, and they took part in many Agorae. For working or personal reasons they had to move to Seville and they eventually decided that it was time for it to be a part of AEGEE.

What are their plans?

AEGEE-Sevilla is a little local with around 15 members, and its first aims are to find more partners and to anchor the antenna. Indeed, the main purpose is to guarantee the sustainability of the antenna from now on, as the board members might move from Seville next year.

The idea to organise a European event is stuck in their minds – for example, a Local Training Course (LTC), where they would invite members from all over Europe to get to know them, their work, and the wonderful atmosphere which prevails in this city. As it is a brand new local, they will not organize any summer university this year, but they are already thinking about preparing many events on the local level, and one can see that their imagination and motivation will give birth to great events.

What is their recruitment strategy?

Regarding recruitment strategy, they want to make new members really understand what being a part of AEGEE means. One of the best ways to make someone see that is to push them to take part in a Summer University. Participating in such an experience is a great booster for motivation. The new incomers can feel the sharing and the spirit of friendship, and might want to get more involved in the organisation.

If you pass by or move to Seville, and you want to get to know a nice team of active and involved young people, and of course have a great time and lot of fun; or if you wish to have more information about AEGEE-Sevilla activities, do not hesitate to contact them through their Facebook group (AEGEE Sevilla).

Written by Kristel Jurado, AEGEE-Strasbourg

Photographs by Maria Arendt, AEGEE-Utrecht

If you ask me which adjective would describe AEGEE-Rostov-na-Donu the best, I would say “motivated”. Being their former Network Commissioner, I am happy to tell you about the new member in our AEGEE family and present to you this local, born at the Spring Agora Enschede – AEGEE-Rostov-na-Donu.

Unusual city Rostov-on-Don

AEGEE-Rostov-na-Donu is originated from the city of Rostov-on-Don, located in the center of the area which used to be known as Northern Caucasus, but currently it is proudly named Southern Federal District of Russia. The city itself is very unusual – it is a wonderful mixture of Caucasian spirit and truly Russian traditions, with old history, rapid river Don, and one more amazing thing – the bridge in the city center is the official geographical border between Europe and Asia.

Among other unusual things in Rostov-on-Don, there is also the public toilet. It is not mistake, as one might think. However, this is not your usual public toilet. In the beginning of the 20^th century, located in the so-called “red light district” of Rostov-on-Don, it was a place of art rebels and Bohemia with continuous exhibitions, public actions and art events, and in 2011 it was recognised as the most famous toilet in the world and the place where contemporary art in Soviet Russia was born.

Successes and failures of the contact

However, let us return to our AEGEE people in this unusual city. From the very beginning of their history, future Rostov-na-Donu contact was facing lots of difficulties and obstacles – first it was bureaucracy, difficulties in receiving a support letter from the University, later after they became a contact, it turned out to be extremely difficult to travel from the small city of Rostov-on-Don in Russia to the even smaller city of Struga where the Autumn Agora Skopje 2011 took place, and this made it impossible for them to sign Convention d’Adhesion there and to finally become an AEGEE local.

At this stage one can naturally ask himself “Why do I need this weird organisation, if so far it has only given me more and more problems?” Indeed, all these difficulties might demotivate anybody, but not future AEGEE-Rostov-na-Donu. Irina Burmistrova, their leader, somehow seemed to know the magic way to motivate everybody, to get them involved, and to not let people leave this AEGEE movement while facing difficulties.

Welcome!

Moreover, being motivated and “burning” so much with AEGEE spirit, while still not even being an AEGEE local, but only a contact, they already started to help in establishment of one more AEGEE contact in another Russian city at the Azov seaside – Taganrog!

After some time and local events organised as AEGEE Contact in Rostov-na-Donu, they finally became AEGEE-Rostov-na-Donu and with full rights of an AEGEE local, this summer they will organise a great Summer University with AEGEE-Voronezh, their mentors and close friends.

Telling about such an outstanding local is interesting, but getting to know them personally is much more interesting.

Do not hesitate to visit Rostov-on-Don and tell them personally “Welcome to AEGEE, our dear AEGEE-Rostov-na-Donu!”

Written by Olga Iatsyna, AEGEE-Dnipropetrovsk

Does the name Karolina Mazetyte ring a bell? It should. She is the new Network Commissioner of the antennae in the northern part of AEGEE and also the (re-)founder of AEGEE-Kaunas. A local that re-entered the Network at Agora Enschede. The AEGEEan talked with Karolina about the creation of the antennae and here are the results.

Take us back to the beginning. When did you start on working on creating AEGEE-Kaunas?

The idea to re-establish AEGEE in Kaunas came to my mind one year ago, when I was studying in Hungary and was a member of a Hungarian local that time, but the actual work started around October 2011. In December, Kaunas officially became a contact antenna. From that moment onwards I started working two or three times harder. Starting everything from scratch on your own takes a lot of time and its not so easy. When you finally see some resulsts it is worth all the efforts.

What inspired and motivated you to start the project? 

AEGEE and our members. I fell in love with AEGEE from the very first moment and I realised that we must have it here in Kaunas. Seeing so many active, motivated and creative people in our organisation, working on several projects or events is what inspired me and motivated me to put AEGEE-Kaunas back on the map.

Were there any difficulties in the process? 

Yes, of course there were. You are facing difficulties in any kind of work you do, but it makes you stronger and shows in which field you can improve yourself. The main problem we were and still are facing was attracting and motivating people to join the organisation. Now we already have 13 members, but you have still to motivate them from time to time, a push into the right direction or telling how to improve their work, but its a normal processess in any organisation.

How does it feel to finally have signed the Convention d’Adhésion?

New Year celebration in Kaunas

It was not the first time for me. The first time I did it for AEGEE-Szombathely-Koszeg, but this time was really special. Just before leaving to Agora Enschede one of our members pointed out the excitement of being able to participate in projects and exchanges after signing the contract. The moment of signing the Convention d‘Adhésion I was very excited as well, knowing that we now can do everything and I texted our members right after the signing. It was a really amazing feeling.

How is the interest for AEGEE in Kaunas and Lithuania in general?

I cannot really talk about Lithuania in general, because AEGEE is not a visible organisation in Lithuania. It will be hard to make it visible, because AEGEE does not really have a few clear goals, clear vision, or a steady direction into which it is heading. In general, people in Lithuania are more willling to join an organisation with one or two clear goals. When people get to know AEGEE, they are interested. One of the main goals for the next one or two years should be making AEGEE visible in Kaunas, Lithuania and in other parts of northern Europe.

What is special about the city of Kaunas? 

Kaunas is a student town, so it is full of live and fun all the time. What I really like about Kaunas is that the city has lots to offer. You can find a lovely old town here, relax in the park where two rivers meet each other, play basketball in front of the city castle, sail in the lagoon, or just go camping by one of our water basins and you will feel like being at the seaside. The the best thing is that Kaunas is the heart of Lithuania, so you can reach all other places in the country very easily.

If you were to point out something special about AEGEE-Kaunas, what would that be?

Board elections in Kaunas

We do not have any special traditions yet, but we all love nature, so what we often organise picnics in connection with the meetings. Another interesting thing could be that we will probably have an office in an old factory, which was recently renovated by the local council and became a center of artists. Furthermore, the building has a garden on the top of the factory so it is environmental friendly as well, which is quite cool!

What are the plans for the near future of AEGEE-Kaunas?

In June we are organising green workshops about recycling in Kaunas in a garden on top of a factory. During the workshops we will try to make some interesting things from our rubbish and of course try to make people aware of the importance of the recycling. That will be our last event this semester and we all will move to spend a nice summer somewhere in the world till early September.

I am not able to give a lot information but what is interesting is that we are also working on organising a Summer University in collaboration with AEGEE-Ogre in 2013. The concept would be something like ”Get to know the Baltic cultures”, so it would include history, arts, languages, traditions and trips in nature, because in the Baltics people are crazy about canoes and camping.

The AEGEEan gives AEGEE-Kaunas warm welcome to the Network!

Written by Patricia Anthony, AEGEE-København

At the Spring Agora Enschede, AEGEE welcomed new “babies” in its family – it ratified previous contracts of new locals and signed the Conventions d’Adhésion (CdA) from the latest Network Meetings, as well as the new ones.

However, among all the new locals, there was one which started its history long before Agora Enschede – AEGEE-Sumqayit.

The AEGEE Contact in Sumqayit was started in April 2011, right before Spring Agora Alicante, and during the year that passed until the signing of the CdA, the contact managed to organise more events than an average AEGEE local would in a few years.

Every month, the AEGEE Contact in Sumqayit had more and more surprises in its activity reports  – several presentations in a row at the biggest universities, the “Broad Hearts” Charity Campaign for children with heart diseases, the “Brain Ring” championship in Sumqayit schools, a round table for the “Human Rights Day”, the International Forum of Young Leaders, a big Youth UnEmployment Action Day, training camps and lots more – this was all done in the first 6 months after the contact was approved by the Comité Directeur.

“We want to make Sumqayit a center of youth in Azerbaijan,” said Azer Maharramov, the President of AEGEE-Sumqayit, during the first Skype meeting with me, their Network Commissioner. It sounded ambitious and unlikely to happen in such a short time… But it wasn’t the case with Sumqayit.

The city of Sumqayit was founded a little bit more than 60 years ago and now it is already the third largest city in Azerbaijan. Located on the shore of the Caspian sea, at a distance of 31 km from the capital, the city had all the chances to merge with the capital and become a part of Baku in a short time. However, this didn’t happen, and so far the city is developing very fast and independently, being a city of young people and youth activity.

Does this situation remind you of our new-born local? Indeed, AEGEE-Sumqayit started its development extremely fast, the same its city did many years ago, and it seems that there’s only a little bit left until it can become a big competitor of the oldest and biggest local in Azerbaijan, AEGEE-Baki. Competition? No way! Only friendship and extremely effective cooperation exists between those two wonderful locals and the clear evidence of this is the Summer University of AEGEE-Baki and AEGEE-Sumqayit, which they are organising together this summer.

Not for the first time, the whole AEGEE Network can observe the real boost of European activity in the geographically far located Caucasian region. One time we may call it an accident, two times – coincidence, but after the third time it becomes a rule. Welcome to our newest Caucasian miracle: AEGEE-Sumqayit!

Written by Olga Iatsyna, AEGEE-Dnipropetrovsk

You saw them on stage at the Spring Agora Enschede, signing the Convention d’Adhésion, waving their chili flag and happily smiling. Those were the guys from AEGEE-Reggio Calabria, a new part of the AEGEE family!

The AEGEEan will let you know this newborn contact better, through an interview with Andrea Cannuni, its president.