Servas Open Doors
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| Type | Non-profit, Interest group |
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| Founded | July 1949 by Bob Luitweiler in Askov, Denmark |
| Location | Global, settled in Switzerland, Zurich |
| Key people | President: Gary Sealey from Canada; Vice President: Pramod Kumar from India; General Secretary: Penny Pattison from Canada; Treasurer: Miroslaw Wasilewski from Poland; Host List Coordinator: Pablo Hernan Colangelo from Argentina; Peace Secretary: Kim Jong-Soo from South Korea |
| Services | hospitality among members, some meetings |
| Method | Peace, Travel, Friendship, Human rights |
| Members | 16,000 worldwide |
| Motto | Open Doors for Peace and Friendship |
| Website | http://www.servas.org |
File Servas Open Doors is an international, non-governmental, interracial hospitality association present in over 125 countries and run mostly by volunteers. Founded in 1949 by Bob Luitweiler and his friends as a peace movement, Servas International is a non-profit, worldwide, cooperative, cultural exchange network bringing people together to build understanding, tolerance, mutual-respect, and world peace. Like other hospitality organizations, it promotes world peace by encouraging individual person-to-person contacts.
Servas means "to serve", in the sense of "serve peace", in the language Esperanto. The organization was originally called Peacebuilders.
It operates through a network of hosts around the world who are interested in opening their doors to travelers, and through open-minded travelers who want to know the countries they visit from within. Travelers and hosts are usually interviewed when they apply to join the organisation according to branch (member country) practice; travelers write a self-introduction on a special form valid one year, that is shown to hosts upon arrival.
Servas International has consultative status as a non-governmental organization with the United Nations Economic and Social Council, currently with representation at many of the UN's hubs of activity.[1]
There are over 16,000 Servas 'open doors' scattered throughout almost every country in the world, but are more present in wealthy countries. Due probably to a lack of ability to use internet, and having a conservative basis, Servas has not grown as most similar hospitality organizations born recently. 30 year ago, Servas had 8,000 members worldwide; it has just followed the general increase of population in each country. There are not official general statistics, but in Italy in 2007 the average age of members was 52 years old with a slight predominance of females.
[edit] Activities
Servas activities may vary depending on the country, but they mostly consist in hosting and traveling (or both). Unlike many other hospitality exchange networks, Servas requires that potential members be interviewed and approved.
Decisions on activities (like meetings, election of representatives, fees required) are taken within local, national or international assemblies or from an elected group of members. The 2006 General Assembly established a set of Financial Policies since updated, which provide the basis of annual audits, and which include procedures for preparing and reporting on expenditures, officer reports, and revenues through fees.
[edit] Contribution policy
Servas United States
The most common activity in the U.S. branch is the Domestic and the International Travel. The individual fee (decided by the national committee) is for the Domestic Travellers $50 per year (or $25 for college students), and $85 per year for International Travelers. Within the travellers yearly membership, there is no limit to the number of trips even in different countries one can make. Members schedule their own trips and pay for their own travel expenses.
Host are not subject to fees, a $40 donation is only suggested (see official site [1] for more programs information).
Servas Turkey
Traveler fee for one year is about $20[2] A membership fee ($33) is required only for new members , there is no annual fee.
Servas Russia
Traveler fee for one year is 1500 rubles ($50). There is no membership fee[3]
Servas Denmark
Traveler fee for one year is DKR 130. There is no host membership fee. See the website of Servas Denmark for specific information[4]
[edit] Officially Registered Servas countries
- Servas Italy
- Servas Germany
- Servas Poland
- Servas Switzerland
- Servas USA
- Servas France
- Servas Spain
- Servas Sri Lanka
[edit] Servas International organisation
- General Assembly
- Servas Branches
- Executive Committee (President, General Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President, Peace Secretary, Host List Coordinator)
- Officers reporting to EXCO:
- Archivist
- Newsletter Editor
- Committees reporting to EXCO:
- Development Fund committee
- Statutes and Job Description committee
- Area coordinators
- Youth Committee
- Conflict Resolution Committee
- Committees reporting to General Assembly:
- Audit Committee
- Information Communication Team
- Nomination Committee
- Officers reporting to EXCO:
[edit] Servas International Exco Elected in General Assembly in Mar del Plata, Argentina 2009
President, Gary Sealey from Canada 
Vice President, Pramod Kumar from India 
General Secretary, Penny Pattison from Canada
Treasurer, Mirek Wasilewski from Poland 
Host List Coordinator, Pablo Hernan Colangelo from Argentina 
Peace Secretary, Kim Jong-Soo from Korea 
[edit] Servas international conferences
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[edit] First Servas international Conference
- Seeds of servas, Bob Luitweiler
First Peace Builders International Conference, Hamburg, Germany Out of which came the name "Servas" (1952) (L to R) Folke Hertling, Germany, Chris Smith, UK; Nana Fundar, Denmark, Claus Weiss, Germany, Leticia Grove, Bob Luitweiler, USA, Dagny Ingvorsen, Esma Boroughs, UK, Connie Jones, UK, August Budinski, Helmut Hertling, Germany, Krisun Ingvorsen, Denmark
Should I continue my planned trip through South East Asia, the Philippines and Japan or retrace my steps back to Europe? I canceled my plans to continue around the world and took the next ship back to Europe. The first International Servas gathering met at Claus Weiss' and the Hertling's house near Hamburg. Gertraud Hertling who had sowed the first seed for our program was not there but her father took us in like his family. Only England, Denmark and Germany were officially represented. Besides agreeing on some basic procedures, we settled on a name for our program. Esther liked "Open Doors." I liked "Peace Builders" but did not like using an English title. Esma Boroughs, the first International Setvas Secretaty, chose "Servas" that is Esperanto for "serve," in the present tense. We all agreed. The thought was that people who traveled would learn from their hosts how they could more effectively selVe in their home communities to develop programs and human relations that were free of the seeds of war. At no time did anyone suggest that choosing Servas meant we would abandon our original purpose of peace building. The stoty that choosing the name Servas meant we wanted to alter the aim of our program is wrong. We just wanted a name that was more international then Peace Builders which was exclusively English. By the time I returned from India, Claus Weiss with fellow students Joachim Wessloh and Gertraud's brother Volker had established a German working committee and had already gathered around 40 hospitality addresses. Joop van der Spek was leading the program in the Netherlands. Nana Funder who had an outstanding preschool in Denmark and had been a Servas traveler in the US along with Kristen Ingvorsen a manufacturer of roofing tiles, ran Servas in Denmark for many years.In those early years the leadership of Servas in most countries changed frequently.
[edit] Criteria for deciding where the Servas International conference is to be held
The 2001 GA in Thailand adopted a set of criteria for deciding where the Servas International conference will be held. The criteria are:
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[edit] Events
- 1973 UN placed Servas International on its roster
- 1972 Statutes were drawn up and accepted by 13 Servas branch countries, Wetzlar
[edit] Servas Youth Meetings
July, 2011, Kampala, Uganda
July, 2011 Copenhagen, Denmark
October, 2010 Bahia, Brazil
March–April, 2010 Xochicalco, Mexico
July, 2008 Istanbul, Turkey
July, 2007 Yorkshire, England
July, 2006 San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina
[edit] Servas countries
Servas International is a federation. Each country has its own rules and structure. Diversity is quite complex. Each National Servas country can have its own website, usually reachable from the main international site.
Some web pages of Servas member countries:
[edit] Notes
- ^ http://pages.intnet.mu/servas/Samoa/RecentArticles/C4.html
- ^ www.servasturkiye.org
- ^ www.servasrussia.ru
- ^ www.servas.dk
- ^ http://www.servas.org/siexco/index.php/Historical_Editions_SI_News
- ^ "Servas Workings." Accessed August 2011.
[edit] External links
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